2-Time Champ Earns 1st Records Mention
May 10, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
This winter, sophomore Bree Salenbien registered the first of what no doubt will be a number of MHSAA record book entries during her Adrian Lenawee Christian basketball career.
The all-stater made 27 free throws – second-most for one game – against Ann Arbor Pioneer on Feb. 16. Meanwhile, junior teammate Libby Miller was added to the records for 69 3-pointers over 28 games this season as the team won its second straight MHSAA Finals championship, this time in Division 4.
See below for more recent record book additions in baseball, girls basketball, hockey, girls soccer and volleyball. Click on the headings to see those record books in full.
Baseball
A pair of Concord athletes joined the list of most frequently hit batsman. T.J. Stevens was hit by pitch 18 times as a senior in 2014 and 26 over 56 games and two seasons. Teammate Chevy Burk was hit 15 times also as a senior in 2014 and 24 times over 107 games and three seasons.
On April 23, 2001, Armada’s Steve Girodat hit three home runs during his team’s 10-3 win over Memphis, tying a long list for seventh-most homers in one game. Girodat went on to play at Adrian College.
On April 22, 1960, Morrice stole 26 bases in a game against Birch Run. Nearly 60 years later, that performance has been added as an MHSAA record for steals in a game. Jim Hursh also was added to the individual steals list after leading the way that day with six stolen bases.
Girls Basketball
Adrian Madison’s Laura Teunion-Smith has been a softball standout and will continue her career in that sport at Tiffin University. But she also contributed her athleticism to the basketball program, making the record book this winter with 304 rebounds over 25 games. She also was a standout in volleyball.
Hockey
Tawas goaltender Ethan Haire worked through some busy nights this season, tying the record for most saves in one game with 96 in a 9-3 loss to Walled Lake Northern on Dec. 21. He came back with 94 saves in an 8-1 loss to Fenton/Linden on Jan. 19. Haire was a junior this winter.
There are not many recent entries for goals or assists in the MHSAA hockey record book, making Zach Robinson’s 135 assists over 107 games the last four seasons for Brownstown Woodhaven even more impressive. His total ranks 11th on the career assists list.
Girls Soccer
For the second season in a row last spring, Muskegon Mona Shores ran off 10 straight shutouts to make the MHSAA record book. The latest streak began April 11, 2018 against Spring Lake and concluded after a win over Muskegon on May 8.
A pair of Swartz Creek standouts graduating 17 years apart were added. Casey Allessie graduated in 2017 with 77 goals over four seasons, good for second-most in her school’s history. Just ahead of her was 2000 graduate Haley Henry at 83; she also was added for 26 assists her senior season, 184 career points from 1997-2000, and for 101 career assists that would’ve ranked second on the list at the time and now sit tied for third. Allessie is playing at Delta College.
Volleyball
Onaway added to its successful group of standouts in the record book from the last decade with career assist (3,328) and ace (296) totals for Taylor Ehrke, who played from 2013-16. Additionally, Lexi Szymoniak was added for 605 kills in 2014, and Calley Selke (120) and Mallorie Neelis (111) were added for aces this past fall. Szymoniak went on to play at Lawrence Tech University. Selke is a senior this year, and Neelis is a junior.
PHOTO: Adrian Lenawee Christian’s Bree Salenbien attempts a free throw during this season’s Division 4 Final at Calvin College.
Dunn Finishes Among Scoring Leaders
April 24, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Blake Dunn is one of the finest all-around athletes in Michigan, a four-sport star for Saugatuck who will go on to play baseball at Western Michigan University this fall.
But his most notable accomplishments may have come on the football field, and his name appears 19 times in the MHSAA record book for that sport.
Dunn, as quarterback this past fall, scored 323 points – third most in MHSAA history – to graduate with a four-season total of 827 points, which ranks second all-time for a career. He scored 42 total touchdowns as a senior to finish with 113, fourth on that career list, and his 101 career rushing touchdowns also rank fourth in that category. His 6,954 career rushing yards rank eighth all-time, and his streak of 26 straight 100-yard rushing games ranks third.
Dunn also made lists for kicking extra points, passing touchdowns, kickoff return touchdowns (four this past season tied for second-most) and for a 100-yard interception return.
As might be expected, Saugatuck as a team scored more than 500 points each of the last two seasons, finishing both 10-1. Its 53.5 ppg average this past fall ranks eighth all-time.
Click to see the football record book in full and read on for more of the latest additions for girls and boys basketball, hockey, softball, volleyball and wrestling.
Girls Basketball
Alma’s Maddy Seeley capped her high school career in 2014 with a record-setting performance in a 68-62 Regional loss to Freeland. Seeley made all 21 free throws she attempted, breaking the previous girls basketball record by one for consecutive free throws in one game. Those 21 free throws also are tied for third most in a game, as she scored 39 points total. Seeley currently plays at Northwood University.
New Lothrop teammates Monica Confer and Amber Sammons graduated in 2010 among the winningest players in MHSAA girls hoops history. The two four-season standouts finished with a career record of 97-11 and Class D titles in 2008 and 2009. Confer went on to play at Davenport and then Northwood University, while Sammons played at Schoolcraft and then Rochester College.
Boys Basketball
Trenton needed a big fourth quarter to come back against Wyandotte Roosevelt on Jan. 17 – and got one of the biggest in Michigan high school history. Trenton scored 42 points – tied for fifth most in a quarter – to edge Roosevelt 73-72 after trailing 50-31 heading into the final period. Joel Childers scored 13 points with four 3-pointers to lead the barrage.
Hockey
New Baltimore Anchor Bay senior Joey DeMarte played himself into the MHSAA records for scoring prowess twice within four days this winter. On Jan. 21, DeMarte score three goals within 37 seconds – at 8:06, 7:54 and 7:21 of the second period – in an 8-0 win over Utica to move into second place for fastest three goals by one player in one game. On Jan. 24, he had five goals during the second period of a 14-0 win over Port Huron to also rank second for most goals in a period.
Girls Soccer
Middleville Thornapple Kellogg keeper Aly Miller capped her career last spring on the MHSAA career shutouts list despite missing all of the 2014 season with an injury. She graduated with 39 shutouts over 60 games in 2013, 2015 and 2016, and was added for single-season shutouts for a second time with 13 a year ago. Middleville Thornapple Kellogg as a team made the list for fewest goals given up with seven in going 16-2-2 in 2016. Miller plays now at Webster University in Missouri.
Softball
Manistee then-junior Sydney Arendt joined the single-season doubles list last spring, knocking 18 in 36 games. She batted .537 overall last season.
Volleyball
Rockford setter Hailey Delacher upped her number of entries in the MHSAA record book to 12 in leading her team to a Class A runner-up finish in the fall. Delacher, who already had the record for most assists in one match (67 in 2015), added four more entries to the category as a junior while coming on especially strong during the playoffs – her season-high 54 came in the Semifinal, with 49 in a Quarterfinal, 46 in a Regional Final and 53 during the regular season. Her 1,635 assists this past season rank fourth since the start of rally scoring in 2004-05, and she moved into 10th on the career list with 3,802 assists and a season still to play.
Wyoming Godwin Heights enjoyed a strong senior season to end a record-book career for senior middle Mya Jordan in the fall. Jordan made the single-season kills list with a career-high 622, and with those also made the career kills list with 1,569 over four seasons. Senior teammate Tony Henry also made the record book with 128 aces for the season, including 11 in a three-set match against Wyoming Lee. Godwin Heights won its first league title in the fall in 17 years.
Wrestling
Grand Rapids Christian junior Desean Bryant became the first in MHSAA history to achieve a pin in six or fewer seconds at 112 pounds when he did so in a match during the Traverse City West Invitational on Dec. 28. That win was Bryant’s ninth straight to start the season.
PHOTO: Saugatuck’s Blake Dunn rushes toward an opening upfield during a game his junior season. (Photo courtesy of the Saugatuck athletic department.)