Ansel On Target for Record Book Rise
April 23, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Comstock junior Daisy Ansel will be one of the seniors to watch in Michigan next girls basketball season after she joined the state’s top shooters of all-time already as a junior this past winter.
Ansel is tied for 24th for career 3-pointers with 181, with that total recently added to the MHSAA record book. She’s made 38 percent of her long-range tries over the last three seasons, and also was added to the records for connecting on 86.5 percent of her free-throw attempts (64 of 74) over 21 games in 2017-18 as the Colts finished 19-2.
Below are more recent record book additions in girls basketball and boys soccer. Click the sport headings to view those record books in full.
Girls Basketball
Traverse City Central senior Margot Woughter earned a spot in the record book with 15 free throws on 19 attempts in a Jan. 19 game against Alpena. She finished with 40 points total in the 62-55 win. Woughter will continue her career at Indiana Wesleyan University.
Former Posen star center Korynn Hincka ranks among the all-time best in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots. She was added for 2,198 points, 1,224 rebounds (eighth-most) and 360 blocks (10th) over 98 games from 2011-14, along with a number of single-season entries and a single-game 19 free throws against Fairview during 2012-13. Younger sister Jenna Hincka was added for 170 steals as a senior during the 2015-16 season, which rank eighth. Korynn went on to play at Grand Valley State, and Jenna played a season of softball at Alpena Community College.
Ishpeming set an MHSAA record this winter making 77.6 percent of its free-throw attempts on the way to a 20-4 finish. The Hematites made 274 of 353 tries, led by senior Madigan Johns with 115 makes in 131 attempts. She was added to the individual list for highest free-throw percentage in a season at 87.8 and for her career at 82.2 over the last three seasons.
Coldwater junior Malorie Rzepka made the list for most free throws in a game with 15 in 16 tries against Kalamazoo Central in a 69-63 overtime win Dec. 19. Rzepka’s free throws all came during the second half and overtime.
Westland Universal Learning Academy then-freshman Zahraa Cherkaoui scored all but two of her team’s points Feb. 1, 2017, in a 49-23 win over Hope of Detroit. Her 47-point performance included seven 3-pointers.
Niles Brandywine’s run to the Class C Regional Finals and a 22-3 record included some record 3-point shooting. The Bobcats connected on 153 3-pointers in 639 attempts, making record book lists in both categories. They also made the single-game list with 14 3-pointers against Saugatuck in a 73-37 win on Dec. 5.
Kent City made the Class C Quarterfinals and finished 22-4 also on the strength of 3-point shooting. The Eagles made 198 3-pointers – fourth most in MHSAA history – on the third-most attempts, 737. Kent City made at least 13 3-pointers in three games, with a high of 16 against Hesperia on Jan. 19.
Boys Soccer
As reported last fall on Second Half, Lincoln Alcona senior keeper Conner McCoy broke the national saves record in late September – and finished his high school career with 1,280 over four seasons. His 365 last fall rank fifth for one season after he set the record as both a sophomore and junior. He will continue his career at Finlandia University.
Ryan Wiesniewski capped his four-year Gladwin varsity career in the fall tied for 10th all-time with 144 goals and eighth with 202 career points. He also made the career assists list with 58 and with highs of 46 goals and 64 points as a junior in 2016. He made the single-game goals list with a school record six against Houghton Lake last September.
PHOTO: Comstock’s Daisy Ansel lines up to attempt a free throw during the 2016-17 season. (Photo courtesy of the Comstock athletic department.)
Heivilin Caps Three Rivers Career in Powerful Fashion
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
August 11, 2021
Kali Heivilin graduated from Three Rivers this spring with 20 record book entries and as one of the most accomplished hitters in state softball history – despite not being able to play as a junior because the season was canceled due to COVID-19.
She tied her single-season runs record with 88 and set the single-season home runs record with 29, to go with a number of single-game and career accomplishments as well. She ended her prep career with 238 runs (10th all-time), 201 hits, 66 home runs (second), 208 RBI (15th), a .568 batting average (14th) and 86 walks, all over 118 games and three varsity seasons.
Her senior teammate Shantel Blyly also was added to the record book five times for achievements this season, including finishing a three-year career with 33 doubles and hitting 19 this spring, and sophomore Ava Forman was added for her 17 doubles this season. Three Rivers as a team was added for 447 hits, 73 doubles, five homers in a game May 7 and 48 total, and 308 RBI this season over 39 games.
Heivilin is continuing her career at Alabama, and Blyly will play at Calvin.
See below for more recent additions to the softball record book.
Otsego’s Kendra VanderLugt closed her varsity career this spring among the most accomplished run producers in MHSAA history – and despite also not getting to play a junior season because of COVID-19. Over three seasons and 108 games she scored 173 runs, hit 43 doubles, 49 home runs (tied for fourth all-time) and drove in 229 runs (tied for seventh on that career list). Her 26 home runs last season broke the previous record and are now tied for second all-time for one spring. Additionally, Otsego junior Jada Bolhuis added two more record entries with 82 hits and 79 runs, the latter tying for seventh-most in one season. VanderLugt will continue at University of Toledo.
Novi picked up a pair of record book entries early this season. Sophomore Reganne Bennett struck out 14 in a five-inning no-hitter against Livonia Churchill on April 16, making the list for most strikeouts in a five-inning game. Junior Ally Sharnowski make the single-game home run list with three in an April 15 game against Livonia Franklin.
Junior Haley Scott and freshman Julia Babcock became the latest from Niles Brandywine to earn record book entries, both doing so with six RBI in a game this spring. Scott drove in six runs during a win over St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic on May 5, with a grand slam part of her total. Babcock’s against Cassopolis on May 19 included a three-run walk-off homer.
Kamryn Troyer earned four record book entries with a powerful performance against Brandywine on May 7. The Centreville junior hit two first-inning home runs, tying a state record, and then a third in her third at bat of the game to make two more lists. She also made the single-game RBI list with six total in the victory.
A pair of Warren Fitzgerald standouts also earned single-game entries this spring. Sophomore Clarice Chapaton tied the record with four triples during an April 19 win over Clinton Township Clintondale, and junior Alexis Lesh drove in seven runs during her team’s May 5 win over Warren Lincoln.
Center Line teammates Emma Hastings and Harley Limberger had a pair of matching accomplishments during an April 26 win over Madison Heights Lamphere. Both drove in eight runs – Hastings on a pair of home runs and Limberger on three hits including two homers. Hastings was a senior this spring and will continue at Ohio Christian University, while Limberger was a sophomore.
Liberti Fair also tied the single-game record for triples this season, hitting four in four at bats (and scoring three runs with four RBI) in Clinton’s win over Hillsdale on May 18. A senior this spring, she’ll continue her career at Grand Valley State.
Sophomore Madison Jamrog was near-perfect in making the MHSAA record book with 14 strikeouts in Hamilton’s five-inning win over Holland Christian on May 17. She allowed just two hits.
Recent Napoleon grad Becca Daoust had to miss out on her junior season as well, but she made the most of the rest and landed on two record book career lists – with 27 triples over her other three seasons, and a .619 average that ranks sixth all-time. Her .747 average this spring ranks second on the single-season list, and she also made the runs scored list with 69. She also will continue at Toledo.
PHOTO: Kali Heivilin’s many Three Rivers accomplishments were on display during an interview this spring with State Champs! Sports Network. (Photo courtesy of State Champs! Sports Network.)