Achievements New and Old Uncovered
December 11, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Sometimes it takes a year or two for records and appropriate documentation to find their way to the MHSAA office in East Lansing.
Sometimes it takes a little bit longer – or in the case of former Ionia receiver Adam Kerr, more than two decades and only after a chance uncovering in a school yearbook.
Kerr’s MHSAA record for receptions in one game set in 1992 is part of an impressive group of football achievements that have been added over the last week. You’ll also find the names Tyree Jackson, Drake Harris, Joel Schipper and Alex VanDeVusse much more prevalent, plus recent additions for boys tennis, baseball, girls basketball, softball and boys soccer. (Click the headings below to see the record books for those sports in full. More record book submissions will be added in weeks to come.)
Baseball
A pair of Homer standouts finished their careers over the last two seasons with a number of entries. Alex White, a senior in 2014, finished with 178 runs, 187 hits and 118 stolen bases. Nate Sitkiewicz, a graduate this spring, finished with 181 hits, 49 doubles, 160 RBI, 37 times hit by pitches, a .479 career batting average and four career grand slams; he also made the single-season list with 17 hits by pitches as a junior. Teammates Brock Ridgeway (29 HBP from 2013-15) and Dylan Thomas (1.61 ERA from 2011-14) also were added, as was the team for its 37 wins, 307 RBI, .387 average, 45 hits by pitches and 1.52 ERA in 2014 and its 55 hits by pitches this spring. Sitkiewicz now plays at Spring Arbor University, and White plays football at Kalamazoo College. Thomas plays at Jackson College, and Ridgeway is a senior this school year.
Girls Basketball
Taylor Richards played five seasons of varsity basketball for Fruitport Calvary Christian – allowable because of the school’s small enrollment. But even though those eighth-grade statistics don’t count for these purposes, her totals from her final four seasons placed her all over the MHSAA record book. She qualified with 2,043 career points (22.7 per game) from 2012-15, 468 free throws (ranking eighth) and 1,261 rebounds (ranking seventh). She also made the single-season rebound list three times, with a high of 363 as a junior, and the single-game list with 26 in a win over North Muskegon on Feb. 2. Richards also was part of two of the highest-scoring games in MHSAA history, an 89-72 win over Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian on Jan. 20 and an 89-71 loss to Holton a week later. The 6-foot-1 forward is a freshman on Cornerstone University’s team.
Football
The heroes of Grand Rapids Christian’s 2012 Division 3 title run have their places in the MHSAA record book. Receiver Drake Harris, a junior that fall who ended up not playing a down as a senior because of an injury, set the single-season record of 2,015 receiving yards and also is listed for 243 yards in a game, 3,133 career receiving yards (fourth), 91 receptions in 2012 (fifth for one season), 148 career receptions, 25 touchdown catches in 2012 (second for one season) and 37 career touchdown catches (tied for sixth-most). Quarterback Alex VanDeVusse also is listed seven times: for 413 yards passing in one game, a Semifinal win in 2012 over Zeeland West; for 3,837 yards that season (third-most for one year), 5,043 career passing yards, 359 pass attempts and 205 completions in 2012, 41 touchdown passes that season (tied for fifth) and 56 for his career. Kicker Joel Schipper set records with 173 career extra points, over three seasons, and including a record 145 consecutive. He also is listed for 14 field goals in 2012, tied for seventh-most in a season, 19 over his career, and 72 extra points in 2012. Harris now plays receiver at Michigan, Schipper plays both football and baseball at Grand Valley State and VanDeVusse plays baseball at Davenport.
Muskegon Mona Shores quarterback Tyree Jackson graduated this spring as one of the most accomplished passers in MHSAA history after taking the Sailors to the Division 2 Final in his final season. Jackson made the MHSAA records for 2,338 yards passing in fall 2014, but his career numbers stick out most – his 8,028 yards in 42 games over four seasons rank fourth, his 845 attempts are fifth, his 475 completions sixth and his 85 touchdown passes rank third on that career list. Jackson now is a freshman quarterback at the University of Buffalo.
Research for the school’s Hall of Fame unearthed an MHSAA record for receiver Adam Kerr set in 1992. Kerr had an MHSAA-best 18 receptions for 307 yards (fifth-most for one game) in a 43-37 win over Belding on Oct. 23 of that year. The Bulldogs finished 4-5 that fall.
Muskegon’s Miguel Flores drilled 42 and 53-yard field goals in a 2014 Semifinal win over Zeeland West; the 53-yarder made the MHSAA records. Click to see both via hudl.com. Flores went on to play soccer this fall at Muskegon Community College.
Boys Soccer
Hunter Edwards became the latest of a number of players tied for third-most assists in one game when he had five for Grand Ledge in a 9-0 win over Lansing Waverly on Aug. 26. Edwards, a senior defender, earned all-league honors in the Capital Area Activities Conference Blue this fall.
Softball
Romeo blasted past the single-season team record for home runs this spring, bashing 59 in 35 games to break the previous record by eight. Romeo’s Madison Jones made a huge impact as only a sophomore, tying the MHSAA single-season record for home runs with 18 in helping her team to a fifth straight District title. Now-senior Morgan Gardner made the records with 12 home runs including three in a May 26 game against Croswell-Lexington. She’s signed with Central Michigan.
Boys Tennis
Otsego’s Luke Ford capped a four-year career at No. 1 singles this fall that saw him rise from 20 wins as a freshman to a 37-1 record and MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 championship as a senior. Ford also finished his career with 38 wins by scores of 6-0, 6-0, third most in MHSAA history.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central’s back-to-back LP Division 2 championships the last two years (this fall shared with Portage Central) were driven by a number of players who made the MHSAA records for wins in a season. Freshman Jacob Wiltjer won the No. 4 singles championship this fall and made the singles list with a 36-2 record. Tim Spurlin and Jack Ziegler (29-7) won No. 3 doubles and Justin James and Aidan Rynbrandt (29-8) won No. 2 doubles, and both made the records for doubles wins, while No. 4 champion Peyton Herbert and Mike Battiste made it with a 35-1 record. Forest Hills Central won three of four doubles flights at the 2014 Final, and all four doubles pairs made the wins list: No. 1 champion Nico Finelli and Joey McClure at 28-9, No. 2 Andrew Fox and Carson Schmidt at 33-3, No. 3 Humzah Azeem and Ryan Conner also at 33-3 and No. 4 Joey Preston and Reed Aleck at 31-4.
PHOTO: Muskegon Mona Shores’ quarterback Tyree Jackson celebrates a touchdown with teammates during the 2014 Division 2 Final at Ford Field.
Ingram Joins All-Time Strikeout Leaders in Pacing Northwest's Record Run
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
April 4, 2023
Jackson Northwest’s Nevaeh Ingram capped her magnificent high school softball career last spring among single-season and career strikeout leaders.
The 2022 grad totaled 415 strikeouts in her final campaign and 1,011 over three seasons (with 2020 canceled due to COVID-19). She also made the single-season shutouts list with 26 last season, and is continuing her career at Grand Valley State.
Northwest teammate Campbell Kloack, a junior this school year, was added for 18 doubles last season. Jackson Northwest finished 39-4 in 2022, making the team record list for wins, and the Mounties also made the team lists for 449 hits, 88 doubles, 32 home runs, 327 RBI, a .401 team average, 26 shutouts and 458 strikeouts.
See below for more recent additions to the MHSAA softball record book:
Softball
Laingsburg’s Hailey Bila set two MHSAA records and tied one more with one big inning May 18, 2022. She hit two grand slams during the second inning of a win over Webberville, becoming the first with two in an inning while setting a record as well with eight RBI in one inning. She also tied the record for homers in one inning, and finished with nine RBI total for the game – seventh on that list. She’s continuing her career at Michigan State.
Hemlock’s Averi Hall earned her first record book entry last June 1 when she drove in seven runs against Carrollton. She’s a senior this school year.
Lawton’s Ella Richter reached the record book for the first times last spring, hitting .640 for the season and with 12 of her 48 hits being triples to also make that stat list. She’s a junior this school year.
A pair of Warren Fitzgerald hitters joined the RBI single-game list last season, Clarice Chapaton with seven against Eastpointe on May 4 and Cheyenne Panek with eight against Hazel Park on June 3. Both are seniors this school year.
A pair of Zeeland East hitting performances from the last two seasons were added. Now-senior Katie Carlson joined the hitting streak list with hits in 30 straight games from May 8, 2021 into May 10, 2022. Then-senior teammate Ali Holman made three home run lists with her power-packed performance on April 20, 2021, against Grand Rapids Union – for three home runs in one game, two in one inning and three in three consecutive at bats. Holman plays at Lansing Community College, and Carlson has signed with Aquinas College.
Hamilton earned six record book listings for offensive success during the 2022 season, with 410 hits, 85 doubles, 30 triples, 33 home runs, 279 RBI and a .411 team batting average over 36 games. Now-senior Madison Jamrog also made the records lists with 11 home runs, and then-senior Tiernan Nykamp did as well with six RBI in a May 21 game against Shepherd. Jamrog has signed with Akron.
Rachel Cairo had a memorable junior season for Southfield Christian last spring, making the record book in three categories and ranking among the top listings in two. Her .737 average over 23 games ranks third all-time, and her 23 doubles are tied for 20th. She also was added for 10 home runs, and teammate Sophia Paryaski was added for 11 as a freshman. Cairo has signed with Central Michigan.
Bad Axe’s Haley Newland previously had reached the record book with 19 doubles as a junior in 2021. She added one more entry as she finished her career last spring, for 40 career doubles over three seasons and despite the 2020 season being canceled.
Leslie’s Jalen Fossitt moved onto the career doubles list in 2022 after just two seasons with 33 over her first 72 games. Teammate Ava Bradford also was added to the records for 10 home runs for the season including two in consecutive at bats last April 19 against Michigan Center, and eight RBI in that game as well. Leslie also was added to the team RBI list with 253 over 34 games. Fossitt and Bradford both are juniors this season.
PHOTO Jackson Northwest’s Nevaeh Ingram winds up during her team’s record-setting 2022 season. (Photo courtesy of the Jackson Northwest softball program.)