Cepo Sets Up Teammates at Record Pace
April 10, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
For the second straight season this past fall, Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central sophomore Zachary Cepo tallied 48 assists – tying the MHSAA record he set in 2016 as a freshman.
He’s also put together a career-full of assists – with two more years to play.
His 96 career assists already rank fifth all-time, and Cepo also finished 2017 with 71 points to push his career total in that category to 129.
See below for more recent record book updates in boys and girls soccer and softball, and click on the sport headings to view those record books in full.
Boys Soccer
Midland Dow senior goalkeeper Kyle Hop had a string of 10 straight shutouts from Sept. 25-Oct. 21 this past season and finished the fall with 18 shutouts – tied for fourth most in MHSAA history. That string of 10 straight and 19 overall for the Midland Dow also made team record book lists, as did its 108 goals in finishing 21-4-1.
Comstock’s Evan Veenhuis earned four entries for his work in the fall, starting with six goals in his team’s win over Niles Brandywine on Sept. 13. Veenhuis also was added for 52 goals and 62 points over 22 games, and he’s on the career points list as well with 121 over his first three years on varsity and with one more to play.
Brooklyn Columbia Central junior Micah Sonnenberg added a pair of season and career entries to his previous two for goals in a game from 2016. Sonnenberg had 45 goals this past fall to make the single-season list, and his 101 goals are on the career list with one more season to play. He also had 60 points in the fall and has 130 total to make the season and career lists, respectively, in that category.
Cadillac’s Alexus Little capped her three-year varsity career last spring with a pair of goal-scoring entries. Her 35 goals in 2017 made the single-season list, as did her career total of 80 from 2015-17. She finished with 111 points total.
Softball
A trio of Vicksburg four-year standouts graduated last spring with their accomplishments all over the MHSAA record book. Shaidan Knapp capped her career with 13 entries, including for 247 runs scored (fifth all-time), 234 hits, 63 doubles (10th all-time), 20 triples, 25 home runs, 173 RBI and 95 walks drawn. Teammate Carlie Kudary was added for her 189 runs and 223 career hits, plus a 37-game hitting streak in 2016 that is tied for fifth longest in MHSAA history. Grace Stock made career lists with 179 runs, 224 hits, 55 doubles and 195 RBI – those RBI rank 11th all-time. Knapp is continuing her career at Central Michigan University, while Kudary is playing at University of Missouri-St. Louis and Stock is playing at Calvin College.
Mattawan celebrated the final campaign for three record-setting four-year seniors last spring with one of the most impressive offensive runs in MHSAA history. The Wildcats, who finished 32-8 in 2017, set an MHSAA record with 126 doubles, while their 492 hits total ranked 10th, their 46 home runs ranked sixth, their 348 RBI came in ninth and their .437 batting average is tied for ninth all-time. Joanna Bartz, Alexis Taube and Meaghan Markus left their marks all over the records as well. Bartz had 75 hits and 22 doubles last season and 229 hits, 54 doubles, 29 home runs and 194 RBI over her career. Taube had 71 hits, 20 doubles and 13 homers last season and 42 doubles, 30 homers and 164 RBI for her career. Markus had 41 doubles and 23 homers over her career to go with a single-season 11 home runs in 2016. Junior Emily Koperdak also was added for her 21 doubles last spring. Bartz is now playing at Michigan State, with Taube at Kent State.
Byron’s Parker Viele capped her career last spring with five record book entries, including for 56 career doubles and 29 career triples over 143 games. She also had two single-season marks for doubles and another for career pitching strikeouts. She’s playing at Lake Erie College in Ohio.
Mercede Daugherty capped her Watervliet career in 2017 with eight record book entries, including for 48 career doubles, 24 career home runs and 157 career RBI over three seasons and 104 games. She’s continuing her career at Trine University.
Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard’s Julia Kennedy has entered her senior season this spring with 33 career home runs, 16 off the record, and with a career-high of 18 as a sophomore in 2016. Her total that season is tied for sixth-highest in one season, and she’s already tied for 15th on the career list. She will continue her career after high school at Miami University (Ohio).
PHOTO: Monroe St. Mary's Zach Cepo surveys the field during a game last season. (Photos courtesy of Monroe News.)
Roeper Standouts Climb Scoring Charts
April 17, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Birmingham Roeper’s first MHSAA boys soccer championship run included an expected number of key performances – especially from its top two scorers.
Sophomore Simon Roennecke this fall tied an MHSAA Finals record with four goals in the Division 4 championship game, and also made the MHSAA record book listings with 40 goals and 36 assists (and 76 points) – his assists ranking eighth for one season and the points 11th.
Teammate Max Whipple was added for a number of season and career milestones – 39 goals in 2013 and 46 this fall, 102 career goals, 49 career assists, 67 points this season and 151 over his four on varsity. Roeper as a team ranked second all-time for one season with 104 assists in 2014 and also made the team goals list with 107.
Click the “Boys Soccer” heading below to see those record listings in full, and read on for more recent additions to records for other sports.
Boys Soccer
- Cassopolis’ Dylan Armstrong became the latest of 20 who have had at least five assists in a game. He helped on five goals in his team’s 8-0 win over Watervliet Grace Christian on Sept. 25. Armstrong also scored in the victory.
Girls Basketball
- Here’s the highest-scoring individual performance we know of at this point from this winter; Kentwood Grand River Prep’s Mariah McCully scored 51 points in her team’s 79-52 win over Fruitport Calvary Christian on Dec. 8. She had three 3-pointers and only four free throws (making all four attempts); the rest of her points were scored on 19 two-point field goals. She scored 17 points in the first quarter.
- Edwardsburg sophomore Savannah Dixon placed herself among the top shooters in girls hoops history with two seasons to play, making 69 3-pointers this winter. She had a high of seven in a 56-45 victory over South Haven on Jan. 30.
- East Jackson fell in a Dec. 12 game to Grass Lake, 68-55, but Kassidy Blough had a headlining performance. She made 18 of 20 free-throw attempts to make the list for most successes from the stripe in a game. She scored 24 points total.
Boys Basketball
- East Jordan junior Jordan Weber is on his way to finishing as one of the top perimeter shooters in MHSAA history. Weber made 91 3-pointers (13th most) in 262 attempts this season – when he also went over 1,000 points for his career – and has 205 3-pointers after three varsity seasons to rank 21st on the career list. He averaged 26.7 points per game this winter as East Jordan finished 17-6.
- Troy Athens’ John Van Hoef was added to the career rebounding list with a four-season total of 822 and despite grabbing only 42 as a freshman. The 6-foot-5 post player averaged 12.8 rebounds per game this season and 11.8 per game as a junior. He also scored 15.2 points per game this winter.
Football
- Longtime Battle Creek Harper Creek coach Ed Greenman retired from the sideline after the fall and leading his team to a sixth straight playoff appearance. He finished with a 203-108 record over 30 seasons and despite starting 0-18 over his first two. He took nine teams to at least 10 wins, with his 2011 squad finishing 12-1.
- Holt’s Trent Stone achieved record-list numbers in back-to-back games this fall. On Sept. 12 he ran for seven touchdowns in his team’s 69-28 win over Lansing Eastern (total he carried the ball 21 times for 301 yards). The next week, Sept. 19, Stone ran 47 times – this time for 180 yards, in a 42-41 overtime loss to Lansing Everett. The seven touchdowns and 47 carries both made record book lists, the seven scores tying for second most rushing in one game.
Softball
- Pinconning finished last season as one of the top power-hitting teams in MHSAA history on the way to a 27-10-1 record. The Spartans hit 37 home runs – fourth-most for one season – and despite no player hitting more than eight (Gabby Yanoski and Katlyn Blake tied for the team lead with that total). Pinconning also made the records list with 64 doubles, including 15 by Millie Talaga.
PHOTO: Birmingham Roeper's Simon Roennecke looks for space during his record-setting performance in this season's MHSAA Division 4 Final.