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Bubacz Sets Whiteford Up for Success

October 22, 2014

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Ottawa Lake-Whiteford senior Jessica Bubacz has helped the Bobcats to three straight Tri-County Conference championships and 41 straight league victories, after Whiteford’s wins Tuesday against Clinton.

This fall has been a continuation of her strong play as a junior that sees her now listed in the MHSAA record book in two assists categories – including as the co-record holder for assists in a match.

Bubacz had 65 assists in a 3-2 win over Clinton on Oct. 22, 2013, good to tie for the single-match record during the rally scoring era, which began during the 2004-05 season. She finished 2013 with 1,460 assists, fourth-most for one season since the start of rally scoring.

She’s continued with 810 assists over 86 games so far this fall, an average of 9.4 per game. She had 80 assists over seven sets Tuesday. Whiteford, a Class C team, is 29-7-1 overall.

For more on Whiteford and all things Tri-County Conference, click for the league’s blog by historian and journalist Doug Donnelly. Also, click to view the MHSAA volleyball record book in full, and see more recent submissions to other sports’ listings below (click each sport heading for that record book).  

Girls Basketball

  • Madison Heights Bishop Foley coach Dave Joseph has joined the list of coaches with at least 300 victories, with a 322-271 record dating to 1987. He coached at Pontiac and Oakland Catholic from 1987-93, then at Pontiac Notre Dame Prep from 1994-2003 and has coached Bishop Foley since 2005, including to a 15-9 finish in 2013-14.

Football

  • Don Robinson capped Genesee’s 1983 season and his three-year varsity career with three touchdowns in a 33-19 win over Flint Academy. His final score came on a 95-yard kickoff return, one of now 11 of that distance or longer listed in the MHSAA football records.

  • Brendon Fitch put up “video-game numbers” as the Flint Journal reported Sept. 14, 2013, of his previous evening’s performance. Fitch threw for a then-record 603 yards, completing 26 of 41 passes, as Swartz Creek edged Flint Kearsley 77-61. Six of those completions went for touchdowns. Fitch died unexpectedly Dec. 10.

  • Dylan Walker and Jeff Mainhardt entered the record book at the end of September as one of six pairs on record to complete a 99-yard pass – Walker to Mainhardt for a touchdown in Fraser’s 42-25 win over New Baltimore Anchor Bay. Walker threw for 242 yards for the game.

Boys Lacrosse

  • Jason Alessi’s senior season was one of the finest in the MHSAA’s decade-long history of boys lacrosse. The Birmingham Brother Rice standout finished with 85 goals – tied for third most in MHSAA history for one season – to go with 46 assists, and his 131 points rank third for one season. Also a standout kicker and defensive back during the fall, Alessi is playing his first season of football at Yale University.

Softball

  • Wayland’s run to the Division 2 Semifinals this spring featured outstanding performances from a number of contributors – including one of the best run-producers in MHSAA history. Shortstop Sierra Mutschler not only scored 71 runs (tied for ninth for one season) but drove in 86, fourth most for one season. Her 81 hits also were ninth-most in that category. She finished her four-year varsity career with 229 RBI, second-most all-time, 184 runs, 51 doubles and 30 home runs (tied for 14th). Teammate Britt McLain scored 80 runs this season, second-most in MHSAA history, and Mallory Teunissen made the season pitching wins list with 35. Other Wayland standouts past and present added to record lists included Autumn Anderson, Samantha Merren, Macy Merchant, Hailey Houck, Abby Phillips, Nina DeCesare, Becca Phillips, Kaitlin Graczyk and Heidi Warmelink, whose 78 shutouts from 2007-10 tied for fifth-most on that list.

  • Hudsonville Unity Christian’s Madeline DeGroot had a game for the record books – literally – against Byron Center on May 1. She hit three home runs, including a pair in consecutive at bats, and drove in seven runs total in her team’s 14-6 victory. The team’s leadoff hitter, she also had a single to finish 4 for 4.



Boys Tennis

  • Kalamazoo Loy Norrix’s Jake Gumbleton didn’t lose a match over his final three seasons before graduating this spring, an MHSAA-record string of 84 straight wins. He played No. 2 singles almost exclusively and finished with a 96-4 high school career record, slotting again last season in the second spot behind eventual Mr. Tennis winner Davis Crocker. The previous consecutive wins record was 80.

Wrestling

  • Longtime Gaylord coach Jeff LaJoie has been added to the growing list of wrestling coaches with at least 500 match wins. LaJoie, who took over the program for 1993-94, took a season off and then returned for 1995-96, has a 519-125-2 record after leading Gaylord to a 30-2 finish last winter.

PHOTO: Ottawa Lake Whiteford's Jessica Bubacz (10) finishes a block during her team's victories Tuesday against Clinton. (Photo courtesy of Tri-County Conference blog by Doug Donnelly.)

Record-Ranking Defense Sets Title Tone

April 24, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Grandville Calvin Christian’s girls soccer program has been arguably the most consistently successful in Michigan this decade, winning MHSAA championships the last three seasons.

Of course, offensive prowess has played a big part – the Squires’ 137 goals last season were recently added to the MHSAA record book, ranking seventh among girls teams for goals during one spring.

But defense – led by goalkeepers Jordyn Postema and Allison Keizer – also played, as one would expect, a significant role.

Both keepers were added to the record listing for shutouts in one season – Postema for 18 in 2013 and Keizer for 16 last spring. The team had 19 shutouts total in 2013, including 11 straight, and gave up only nine goals that season. The 2014 team had 20 shutouts in 25 games and gave up only seven goals.

As for offense, Calvin Christian did have one more recent addition to the records – Sarah Klunder, for her 24 assists a year ago.

Click to see all of the MHSAA girls soccer record book in full, and see below for more of this week’s record listing additions. (Click on the sport headings for those record listings.)

Baseball

  • Ovid-Elsie’s first entries in the MHSAA baseball records are the product of deep research by Paul Goebel, whose father John was the longtime coach beginning with the first season after the former Ovid and Elsie schools combined, in 1967. Paul Goebel, searching his father’s old scorebooks, found five entries that qualify in the ERA categories – pitcher Dave DuBois for season (1.10 in 1967) and career ERA (1.49 from 1967-69), Tom Hachlinski also for career (1.57 from 1970-71), and the 1967 (0.98) and 1968 (1.14) teams. The 1967 team, which finished 12-3 in its inaugural season, ranks third on the team ERA list. DuBois finished 20-9 over his three-season varsity career, and Hachlinski was 12-8 over his two seasons.

Girls Basketball

  • Reese finished a combined 81-10 over the last four seasons, in no small part because of the contributions of 6-foot center Reyna Frost. The Central Michigan University recruit scored 1,475 points during her four-year career, and made the MHSAA record book with 1,110 career rebounds (ninth all-time) and 387 career blocks (eighth on that list) as well as 327 rebounds and 128 blocks this winter.

  • Kent City enjoyed another successful run this winter, finishing 19-4 and winning the Central State Activities Association Silver championship – and kept the scoreboard popping along the way. The Eagles made the MHSAA’s season 3-pointers list for the third straight, this time connecting on 171, to go with 167 in 2012-13 and 187 in 2011-12. Kent City made a high of 14 3-pointers in a 73-28 win over Hesperia on Jan. 30 – Kaitlyn Geers led with five – and also was part of one of the highest-scoring games in MHSAA girls hoops history when it defeated Morley Stanwood 83-78 in double overtime Feb. 27. Bailey Freeland scored 30 points for Kent City in that game, including eight during the extra period, and Lindsey Veersma led Morley Stanwood with 21 points including nine during the team’s fourth-quarter comeback. 

 

Football

  • A total of 19 accomplishments for Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart athletes were added, with the majority celebrating a pair of four-year standouts who helped the Irish to combined 36-10 record from 2009-12 and an MHSAA title in 2010. Running back Nick Hire was added for seven rushing touchdowns in a 2012 game against Coleman, 74 career touchdowns and 450 career points, and also 124 career receptions. Quarterback Mitchell Myler was added for 410 completions, 602 attempts, 6,158 passing yards and 68 career touchdown passes – plus 157 completions (and 28 in one game), 2,576 yards and 28 TD passes as a senior in 2012. His career yardage ranks 14th on that list, and he now plays at Division III Alfred University in New York. Former QB Mike Lilly was added for 25 touchdown passes in 2008, and Brooks Hyble made the career TD reception list with 21 from 2010-13. Lilly also made 10 extra points in a 2008 win over Baldwin, while Kip Hartman was added for nine in 1998 game and Matt Kornexl was added for nine in a 2012 game. Kornexl’s 66 extra points in 2012 also made the single-season list.

  • Crystal Falls Forest Park’s Lee Graff put together one of the most impressive scoring careers in just two varsity seasons. Total he amassed 412 points, with 61 touchdowns and 23 two-point conversions over 2013 and 2014. He made the single-season MHSAA rushing TD list with 30 as a junior and also the single-season scoring list with 216 as a senior. Graff has signed with Michigan Tech University.

  • Randy Hyduk’s record addition came after 30 years of waiting, the discovery and then conversion of video of his 75-yard punt for Warren Woods-Tower against Sterling Heights Stevenson on Oct. 26, 1984. Hyduk’s kick, launched at the 10 where he received the snap, traveled nearly 90 yards in the air before landing near Stevenson's goal line.

  • Ben Stankovic took over kicking Saline’s extra points early during last season’s run to the Division 1 Final, and was perfect in points-after through the Hornets’  MHSAA runner-up finish. Stankovic made all 53 extra-point attempts over 12 games in which he kicked – and with a season to play, he’s tied for the 20th-longest consecutive extra-point streak in MHSAA history.  

Softball

  • Amanda Steig stole 162 bases during her four-year career at Reed City from 2009-12, but more than half of those as a senior – her 87 steals that spring rank second in MHSAA history for one season, and she also stole 72 straight during that run. Steig also made record listings with 84 career walks and a 20-game hitting streak from the end of her junior season through April 13 of her senior campaign. Steig went on to play at Grand Rapids Community College and now plays at Cleary University, a member of the United State Collegiate Athletic Association.

Wrestling

  • Three Leslie wrestlers with a combined six MHSAA championships, plus a two-time Finals runner-up, were added for a number of single-season and career accomplishments. Two-time champion Zehlin Storr was added for his career record of 220-12 and undefeated seasons of 2012-13 (59-0) and 2013-14 (61-0). He also made the season pins list with 44 as a senior in 2013-14 and career pins list with 126, and his 792 takedowns rank third in MHSAA career history. Younger brother Kanen Storr, also a two-time champion, was added for his 58 victories in going undefeated in 2012-13 and his 44 pins that season, and two-time champion Cody Dunn was added with his 192-31 career record. Nick Atwood was a two-time runner-up during his career from 1996-99; he made the career wins list finishing 198-8, and his 153 career pins are tied for 12th in MHSAA history.

PHOTO: Calvin Christian’s Allison Keizer (right) made seven saves in last season’s 2-1 Division 4 championship game win over Clarkston Everest Collegiate.