Bronson's Ratkowski True Record 'Setter'

March 31, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Bronson senior Alexa Ratkowski was honored over the weekend at the Breslin Center as one of 32 MHSAA/Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete Award winners, and she’ll also leave high school this spring as an MHSAA volleyball record holder.

The Vikings’ senior setter finished a four-season varsity career with the most assists, 5,610, during the rally scoring era (2005-) in leading Bronson to the Class C championship in the fall.

She had 1,675 as a senior, with that total third-highest for one season. Ratkowski also made the career aces list with 320, and teammate Jill Pyles made the single-season list as a junior in the fall with 184.

Click to check out the volleyball record book in full, and see below for more recent listings in basketball, football, softball and wrestling.

Boys Basketball

Jackson Schrameyer became one of 15 players to make at least 20 free throws in a game when he connected on 20 of 21 attempts for Traverse City Central in a game against Traverse City West on Dec. 15.

A performance from nearly 40 years ago was added for most points in a quarter. Bronson’s Rod Hathaway scored 27 during the fourth quarter of a 1977 Class C District Final win over Cassopolis, tying for what remains the second-most points in one quarter. He finished the game with 45 points.

Football

Tyler Santangelo started for his third season in the fall for Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, and the junior led the Cranes to a 9-2 record, its best since 2004. He made the MHSAA records six times, for 180 completions, 291 pass attempts, 2,085 yards, 26 completions in a win over Madison Heights Lamphere on Aug. 27 and six touchdown passes in both a half and for the game in a win over Madison Heights Bishop Foley on Sept. 13.

Despite a 55-28 loss to Boyne City, senior receiver Tyler Case made the records for Kingsley catching six passes for 253 yards; two receptions ended in touchdowns, and his yardage made up all but 44 for his team in the game. Case finished his season with 14 catches for 423 yards and five touchdowns.

Longtime Millington football coach Tim Furno finished his career with a 208-110 record after the 2009 season to rank among the winningest coaches in the sport. He took over the program in 1978 and led the team to five seasons of at least 10 wins, with a best 11-2 finish in his final season.

Longtime Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart coach Rick Roberts retired after this fall with a 202-145-1 record over three decades and tenures at four schools – Saranac from 1978-85, Vestaburg 1986, Stanton Central Montcalm 1987-89 and Sacred Heart from 1993-2015. His Irish finished 6-4 in his final season.

Softball

Rochester’s Haley Lenderman struck out 21 Oxford hitters on April 1, 2015, although her team lost 4-1 (only two of the runs were earned.). She’ll continue her career this spring at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington.

Jordyn Look is in line for a strong finish to a great career at Tawas. She’s in the MHSAA record listings for doubles in a season twice – 18 as a freshman in 2013 and 16 last season – and also for career doubles with 48 and with a season to play. Former teammate Courtney Flory also was added for her 17 doubles in 2014. The 2014 Tawas team was added with 66 doubles and the 2015 team with 82 doubles and 244 runs batted in, and Look also made the hitting streak list for a 20-game run during April and May of last season.  

Wrestling

Dearborn Heights Annapolis coach Victor McGuire has joined the list of winningest coaches in his sport. His team finished 38-4 this winter to push McGuire’s coaching record to 548-184 dating to the 1992-93 season. 

Mancelona's Derrer Delivers Nat'l Record

September 9, 2013

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Mancelona’s Dakota Derrer will enter her final high school softball season as an MHSAA and national record holder.

The senior shortstop has been added to the MHSAA record book for 20 triples she hit in 2012 as a sophomore, which bested the previous single-season high of 18 by LeAnn Covey of South Haven in 1993 and Alex Price of Beaverton, also during 2012.

Derrer's total also has been submitted to the National Federation of State High School Associations and when added will tie the 2003 total by Alabama’s Haley Wilkins for tops on the national record book list.

Derrer’s biggest hit as a sophomore might’ve actually been a single – she drove in the winning run in a 2-1 District Final win over Boyne City that gave Mancelona its first District title. The Ironmen didn’t advance this spring, but Derrer earned significant recognition with a Division 4 all-state honorable mention from the Michigan High School Softball Coaches Association.

She also plays volleyball and on the Traverse City Bay Reps boys ice hockey team, a nine-school co-op headed by Traverse City St. Francis that includes players from smaller schools in the Traverse City area. 

See below for more recent additions to the MHSAA record books. (Click on the heading for each section below to view the full MHSAA record book for that sport.)

Softball

  • Erika Underwood’s quote in the May 31 edition of the Adrian Daily Telegram sums up her power-hitting approach well: “I don’t go up thinking about hitting a home run. If I do, I usually hit a pop-up. I think more about hitting line drives. Sometimes, I hit them right over the fence.” She hit 17 home runs this spring as a sophomore at Addison to tie for second all-time for one season, and also made the single-season triples list with 14 as freshman.
  • Burton Bentley’s Angel Campbell became the latest to hit home runs in consecutive at bats, doing so during the fourth and fifth innings of her team’s 4-3 win over Byron on April 25.
  • Olivet’s Renae Morton made the single-game strikeouts list for extra-inning games, tallying 24 in an 11-inning game against Dansville on April 27.

Boys Basketball

  • Kraatz is a well-known sports name in Allen Park, and Evan Kraatz is carrying on the high-achieving reputation at Inter-City Baptist. Kraatz, a senior, has multiple listings on the single-season steals (high of 93) and assists (high of 239) lists, and his career numbers of 243 steals and 585 assists also make those all-time lists with a season to play. Next up on the all-time career assists list, in third place, is his father Mark with 679 tallied at Inter-City Baptist from 1982-85. 
  • Kris Smith, a standout as a player at Morrice who has gone on to successfully coach the girls varsity team, had 257 steals during his three-year career from 1995-98. He had a high of 96 as a junior in 1996-97.
  • Fulton-Middleton’s Tyler Walden led the Pirates to the 2011 Class D Final with sharp 3-point shooting, and now ranks fourth all-time for career 3-pointers with 272 in 695 attempts for his career covering 2008-12. He also made the single-season list with 83 during the 2011 season, and teammate Corey Hungerford made the all-time career rebounding list with 798 during his four varsity seasons at Fowler and then Fulton.
  • Some of the most impressive totals from Leslie’s basketball history have been added: Chuck Finkbeiner’s 25 rebounds in a game during the 1968-69 season, Rod McMichael’s 335 rebounds total during 1967-68 and Derick Ward’s 188 assists in 1999-2000. 

Girls Basketball

  • Byron’s Calla Bartlett had multiple games over the last two seasons during which she attempted at least 20 free throws. And she sank nearly all of them. Bartlett made the single-game free throw lists for making 15 of 20 against Dryden during the 2011-12 season and then 16 of 21 on Jan. 30 of this winter. She finished with 29 and 24 points, respectively, in those two games.

Volleyball

  • Brittany Cherwinski of Johannesburg-Lewiston earned her second listing on the single-match aces list thanks to 10 over three games against Gaylord St. Mary last season. Teammate Julia Nieman made the single-match assists list with 45 over five games against Fife Lake Forest Area.

Girls Soccer

  • New Baltimore Anchor Bay’s Michelle Dear was added to all-time single-season scoring list for her 30 goals during the 2012 season. Her 30th came in a 4-1 District Final win over Macomb L’Anse Creuse North.

Football

  • Oxford’s Prescott Line put together one of the strongest offensive seasons for a running back in MHSAA history in 2011 with 2,457 rushing yards on 362 carries and 38 total touchdowns for 230 points; he ran for six touchdowns in one game. All are listed in the MHSAA football record book. He now plays at Southern Methodist University in Texas. 

PHOTO: Mancelona's Dakota Derrer will enter her senior season as an MHSAA record holder. (Photos courtesy of Derrer family.)