KINGSFORD — A four-year reign as Great Northern Conference tennis champions came to an end for the Escanaba girls as they were runners-up to Marquette here Thursday.

“Today’s tournament was tremendously close from the beginning to the end,” Esky coach Chris Ogren said. “Going into the final round, Escanaba and Marquette were tied, with each team having four flights in the finals. Unfortunately, Marquette was able to win all four of theirs while we won one.”

Esky’s Sophie Hill and Bella Nobert earned top honors in No. 2 doubles while the other doubles teams placed second.

“Sophie and Bella came into this tournament as the No. 2 seed which meant they got a bye into the second round,” Ogren said. “They took down a solid West Iron County team in the semifinals (6-4, 6-4). It was a back and forth match and Sophie and Bella did well to stay composed when they made mistakes and finished off the win.

“In the finals they met Kingsford who they had just lost a three-set match to last week. They knew they’d have to stay focused from the first point today. They came out well and won the first set decisively 6-2. They then got into a close second set just like they did last week. This time though, they were able to rise to the occasion and finish off the second set 6-4. It was great to see those two finish with a win, especially over a team that had just gotten the best of them last week.”

Aubrey Elliott and Brooklyn Hackleman were runners-up in No. 1 doubles. Hailee Cloutier Clouttier and Claire Jacobsen were second at No. 3 as were Carly Gorenchan and Katie Kievit in No. 4.

Esky’s Emma Landwehr placed third in No. 4 singles.

“Emma came into this tournament seeded sixth, but was able to pull an upset over the No. 3 seed in three sets,” Ogren said. “She then lost in the semifinals, but was able to pull off a win in the third place match. Emma is one of our newer players to the lineup and today felt like a coming out party for her. She has grown significantly as a tennis player in the last week, and I’m excited to see her keep at it for one more week.”

Anna Martin took fourth in No. 1 singles. Varrah Veeser also placed fourth at No. 3 and Olivia Vogel was fifth in No. 2.

“Olivia gave us an early thriller as she went three sets with the eventual second-place finisher,” Ogren said. “Olivia found herself down 5-2 in the third set before battling back to it at 5-5. She eventually lost the third set 7-5, but her resilience was incredible and I was very proud of her performance.”

The Eskymos conclude their regular season at Iron Mountain Monday prior to Wednesday’s U.P. Division 1 Finals at Ishpeming Westwood Wednesday.