Brown City Standout Joins Spiking Elite
June 29, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Brown City senior Becki Krause finished off a celebrated three-season varsity career with a memorable run last fall, leading her team to its first Class C championship game and a runner-up finish.
Her 36 kills in a Semifinal win over Adrian Madison made the MHSAA record book single-match list, and she made the single-season kills list as well with 661 total. Brown City finished 45-9-6 after also advancing to the Semifinals in 2015.
Read on for another recent volleyball record book entry plus more additions in baseball, boys and girls basketball, football, girls soccer, softball and wrestling, and click on the headings to see those record books in full.
Baseball
Three straight no-hitters during the final weeks of the 1973 season earned Robert Nowotny from tiny Carsonville a paragraph in the Detroit Free Press and a shared MHSAA record for most consecutive no-hitters. His came over Kingston, Peck and Kinde North Huron.
Boys Basketball
Powers North Central rewrote the record book section for victories over the last four seasons, breaking its previous records by going 56-0 over the last two and 83-0 over the last three while also setting the record (that remains active) with an 83-game winning streak through this past season’s Class D Final. Standout senior Jason Whitens finished his career on record book lists for 2,062 points, 770 rebounds, 601 assists and 264 steals and set a record for 109 varsity games played. His career assists rank fifth all-time. He will continue his career at Western Michigan University.
Girls Basketball
Kelsey Wyman and Brooke Henning finished successful four-season varsity careers this winter by leading Blissfield to a 23-3 record and run to the Class C Quarterfinals. Wyman made the records with 175 assists and 578 (eighth all-time) for her career, while Henning made lists for 25 rebounds in a game twice, 402 this season (seventh all-time) and 303 as a junior, and 1,007 rebounds for her career. Wyman will continue at Ferris State, and Henning will play softball at Grand Valley State.
Football
A trio of Frankenmuth kickers entered the MHSAA record book, led by recent graduate Jack Lee after he made all 54 extra points he attempted last fall. Aaron Krafft was added to the career list for 76 extra-point kicks during the 2013-14 seasons, and Bryce Frahm joined Lee on the single-season list with 47 PATs in 2012. Running back Kyle Raycraft also was added for tying the longest rush with his 99-yarder against Caro in 2003. Lee will play soccer this season at Calvin College.
Frankfort junior Griffin Kelly also was added for a 99-yard run, for a score on Sept. 16 against Mancelona. He scored twice more that game, including on a 75-yard reception.
Girls Soccer
Christina Wynn led Trenton on an impressive run over her four-year career that ended this spring with 55 shutouts, good to tie for seventh most all-time, and with three entries for single-season shutouts including a high of 18 as a junior. Her Trenton teams earned five record book entries, most notably for 145 goals (fifth most all-time) this spring and an 18-game shutout run in 2016 that set an MHSAA record. Junior Sara Vinca also was added for her 33 goals this season.
Morgan McKerchie capped a three-season varsity career at Flint Powers Catholic with 34 assists in 2014 to finish with 72 – both earned record-book listings, as did teammate Heather Rolls’ 18 shutouts in 2012. Powers also made the team shutouts list with that total that season, and for giving up only eight goals in 21 games in 2014. McKerchie plays at Michigan State and Rolls went on to play at Georgetown.
Softball
Kelsie Swanson finished up a four-year varsity career at Flint Powers Catholic with a number of entries, mostly for career accomplishments – a .529 average, 198 runs, 244 hits (tied for 12th most), 55 doubles (including 21 as a senior) and 28 triples. She started this season for Oakland University.
Volleyball
Madison Dowd had 59 assists for Bloomfield Hills Marian in its four-set win over rival Farmington Hills Mercy last Sept. 15, good to tie for ninth-most assists in a match. A sophomore, Dowd finished the season with 1,434 assists, 15th-most all-time.
Wrestling
Longtime Blanchard Montabella coach Shaun Balhorn was added to the career wins list as his total went over 400 this past winter. Balhorn has led Montabella to a 409-192 record since taking over in 1997-98, with a high of 33 wins in 2003-04.
PHOTO: Brown City’s Becki Krause winds up for a kill attempt during last season’s Class C Semifinal against Adrian Madison.
Tabit Tops MHSAA, National Record Lists
August 13, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Mount Morris’ Sarah Tabit soon will have a national record to celebrate as part of one of the most impressive runs through MHSAA volleyball history.
The 2016 graduate had 1,076 kills in 181 games as a senior to set MHSAA and National Federation records for kills in one season, and she finished her four-season varsity career with 2,835 kills – which would’ve ranked second in MHSAA history at the time during the rally scoring era (beginning in 2004-05) and now sit fourth on the list.
She’s joined by a number of Mount Morris greats past who were recently added to the record book, including Spencer Stokes, whose 1,782 assists in 2011 rank second all-time. Stokes also was added for 3,833 assists from 2008-11, while Hannah Tabit (2,835 from 2012-15) and Brooke Watts (2,766 from 2008-10) also made that career list.
Lauryn Gibbs’ 212 aces in 2015 rank fifth all-time, and Sarah Tabit made the list in that category for 166 that season. Tabit’s 428 aces are seventh on the career list, while Stokes is eighth with 425 and Gibbs 12th at 393. Hannah Tabit also is on the career aces list with 309.
Additionally, Katee Farlow was added for 161 blocks in 2009, and Brittney Childers made the kills list with 834 in 2007. Sherrell Atkins is 13th on the career kills list with 2,244 from 2008-11, and Margo Joubran also made that list with 1,667 kills from 2010-13.
Both Tabits have continued their careers at Saginaw Valley State University, while Stokes played at Cornerstone University, Childers and Farlow played at Mott Community College, Atkins at Oakland Community College and Joubran at Adrian College. Gibbs is beginning her career at Michigan State this fall.
Click to see the volleyball record book in full and read on for more recent record book additions in baseball, boys basketball, girls lacrosse and softball.
Baseball
Ryan Sharpley (0.90 in 2007), Logan Brigham (0.93 in 2016) and Evan Asselin (0.75 in 2018) all were added to the single-season ERA list after shining for Marshall. Sharpley went on to play at Notre Dame.
Bryce Davis finished a fantastic four-season varsity run for Sparta in 2017 with four record book entries. As a senior he went 9-1 with a 0.34 ERA and 162 strikeouts, the latter two figures making single-season lists, and he made career lists with a 0.99 ERA and 365 strikeouts over 204 2/3 innings pitched. Davis plays at the University of Toledo.
Grand Ledge’s Cal Johnston finished his four-season varsity career this spring on the MHSAA career lists with 30 home runs, 134 RBI and 32 times hit by a pitch. He will continue his career at Central Michigan. As a team, Grand Ledge made the records with a .377 average, 75 doubles, 312 RBI and a 1.66 ERA in finishing 34-4.
Boys Basketball
With three seasons down and a season to play, Dansville 6-foot-10 senior Caleb Hodgson is climbing career records lists in free throws (353), rebounds (838) and blocked shots (258). His blocks rank 12th all-time and include 12 in a game last season against Fowler.
The evening of January 8, 1988, was memorable for Birmingham Seaholm as it scored 109 points in a win over Berkley. It also was a record-setting night for a pair of Maples. Steve Sheckell made 11 3-pointers, one of two players statewide to connect on that many in one game during the first season the MHSAA employed a 3-point arc. Teammate David Marcinkowski finished with 34 rebounds in the game to make the single-game list in that category. Sheckell for the season connected on 88 3-pointers – at a 55-percent success rate – and remains on the list for most 3-pointers in a season. Both teammates went on to play at Albion College
Girls Lacrosse
Then-junior Cameron Stilson stopped 24 shots as Brighton downed then-undefeated Hartland 15-9 on May 1, 2017. Stilson’s saves rank third all-time for a single game. She will continue her career at Northern Michigan University.
Softball
Midland’s Allison Gray finished her four-year varsity career in the spring with a pair of entries reflecting her team’s offensive punch. She made the career lists with 79 walks and 176 runs beginning in 2015.
Clare sophomore Brooklyn Tocco joined a group of players tied for second with three homers in one game when she drilled three in a 26-15 win over West Branch Ogemaw Heights on April 24. She also made the list for RBI in one game, finishing with six.
Frankfort sophomore Haley Myers added another season’s worth of accomplishments to a growing record book resume with 75 runs, 17 doubles and 13 home runs this spring to make single-season lists in those categories – and with the runs tied for 10th all-time. She also moved up the career doubles list with 35 over two seasons. Additionally, junior teammate Natalie Bigley was added for 10 home runs this spring.
PHOTO: Mount Morris’ Sarah Tabit aims to split a pair of blockers on a kill attempt during her high school career that concluded in 2015. (Photo courtesy of the Mount Morris athletic department.)