Delacher Set Rockford Up for Success

April 13, 2018

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Hailey Delacher finished her high school volleyball career in the fall with 17 entries in the MHSAA record book – and as one of the most successful setters in state history.

Delacher’s 5,106 career assists over the last four seasons rank third since the beginning of rally scoring during the 2004-05 season. She added 1,310 assists as a senior to make the single-season list for the third time. She also bested her previous single-match MHSAA record by three with 70 in a five-set loss over Grand Rapids Christian on Nov. 9, her final high school match.

Delacher’s main hitter this past season was junior Lindsay Taylor, who made the records with 609 kills. Delacher will continue her volleyball career at Bradley University.

See below for more recent record book additions in volleyball and also boys lacrosse, boys tennis and wrestling. Click on the sport headings to view those record books in full.

Boys Lacrosse

Then-junior Alexander Bourgeois faced a number of shots for the Sterling Heights/Warren Mott United team last spring, totaling the fourth-most saves in MHSAA history with 250 over 13 games. He also was added to the records for a number of single-game performances, including 27 saves (tied for second most) against St. Clair on May 9, 2017.

Volleyball

Troy senior setter Kelsey Moeller and junior hitter Jessica Robinson enjoyed career nights Sept. 19 against Oxford. Moeller had 54 assists and Robinson 32 kills as their team won 28-26, 23-25, 25-11, 25-16. Both totals made single-match record book lists.

Boys Tennis

Hudsonville won all but two events (matches and tournaments) this fall and tied for 11th in Lower Peninsula Division 1 in part on the strength of four powerful doubles pairs that made the MHSAA record book – Brendan Bentley and Pierce Arangua (37-1) at No. 1, Nolan Perrin and Nick Beery (33-4) at No. 2, Bennett Elling and Evan Elling (36-2) at No. 3 and Bret Bentley and Chris Cooper (33-4) at No. 4. Bentley and Arangua’s win total is tied for seventh highest in MHSAA history, and Bentley finished his career 89-12 over three seasons of doubles; he was 24-6 playing singles as a junior. In addition to this season’s standouts, Bentley and Brandon McEachern were added for 28 wins in 2015, and the pairs of Riley Costen/Isaac Bylsma and Eric Hull/Jared VanNorman both were added for 27 wins that season. Trey Elling and Brendan Costen were added for 34 wins in 2013.

Okemos senior Karthik Kolisetty was added to the doubles career wins list with a 92-31 record over the last four seasons. He and partner Aditya Kandula won the No. 4 doubles title this fall in Lower Peninsula Division 2, helping the Chiefs to the overall team championship.

Traverse City St. Francis’ back-to-back third-place finishes at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 Finals were keyed by a number of strong performances, especially in doubles. Ryan Navin, who finished his career in 2016, was added for the most career wins in doubles at 145 after capping his career with a 35-2 record with partner Joe Primeau that fall. (Navin and Jackson Richmond set the single-season doubles win record of 46 in 2014). Primeau was added for 109 doubles career wins after capping his career this past fall, and Jack Kleinrichert also made the doubles career wins list with 70 after going 38-4 this past season. Alex Thelen (35), Brendan Chouinard and Adam Chittle (37), Sean Navin (41), Luke Krcmarik and Charlie Schmude (36) and Tyler Tafelsky (39) also were added for single-season doubles wins coming off this past campaign. Richmond (30) joined Primeau/Ryan Navin, Sean Navin, Thelen, Chouinard and Kleinrichert with worthy single-season doubles totals in 2016. Primeau also was added for singles wins in one season after claiming 32 matches in the fall, and Nathan Sodini was added after winning 37.

Wrestling

Donte Rivera-Garcia was a three-time Division 1 Finals runner-up over the final three seasons of his four-year varsity career at Southgate Anderson, finishing with a 203-18 record to make the list for career wins. He competed for Muskegon Community College this season.

Blain Wood – the Division 3 112-pound runner-up in 2016 – capped his Caro career with 28 pins this winter and a career 207-27 record. Teammate DJ Daniels, this season’s Division 3 152 champ, also was added for season records of 59-4 and 58-2 over the last two, respectively. He had 43 pins this winter as a junior.

Three recent Birch Run graduates were added to the career wins list – Jerry Fenner (210-18 from 2012-15), Caleb Slavik (200-38 from 2009-12) and Lake Bennett (199-32 from 2010-13). Fenner is wrestling at Ashland University in Ohio, and Bennett is competing at Olivet College.

Marysville senior Doug Ferrier finished his four-season career with 117 pins in 213 matches. He wrestled his final three seasons with the Vikings after competing for Port Huron as a freshman, and had a high of 31 pins as a junior. He was the Division 2 runner-up at 152 pounds this season.

PHOTO: Rockford’s Hailey Delacher celebrates a point during the 2016 Class A Final against Novi at Battle Creek’s Kellogg Arena.

Aggies' Hodgson Climbs Career Record Lists

June 26, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Dansville senior Caleb Hodgson completed one of the most statistically-stacked careers in state history this winter among the leading rebounders and shot blockers in MHSAA history.

The 6-foot-10 Central Michigan recruit graduated with 10 record book entries, including for 1,192 rebounds (fifth all-time), 374 blocks (fifth), and also 504 free throws (sixth) over 91 games from 2016-19. He also was added for 16 blocks this past season against Potterville, with those blocks tying for third most in one game.

See below for more recent record book additions in boys basketball, girls lacrosse, softball, boys tennis and wrestling.

Boys Basketball

Morrice’s Zach Markell has joined two others with the record for steals in a game, grabbing 14 against Webberville on Dec. 21, 2010. Orioles Griffin Lewis (725 career rebounds, graduating in 2014), Charley Rothney (31 rebounds in a 1972 game) and Jeremy Freed and John Carr (both for 20 points in a quarter, in 2002 and 1966, respectively), also were added to the record book. Lewis went on to play at Olivet College.

Jalal Baydoun finished his Dearborn Edsel Ford career this winter among the most accomplished players in school history and with multiple notable entries in the MHSAA record book. His 178 free throws this past season (in 228 attempts) rank 16th on that list, while his 476 over four seasons rank 11th for a career. His 262 steals are 15th for a career, and he also made the career 3-pointers list with 210.

Ewen-Trout Creek’s Jacob Witt is all over the 8-player football record book for receiving, and now also mentioned four times for basketball rebounding. Witt graduated in 2018 with 1,310 rebounds, the third most in MHSAA history, with a season high of 396 (15th all-time) as a senior. He’s continuing his career at Michigan Tech.

Girls Lacrosse

A pair of Hartland standouts were added after helping their team reach the Division 1 Semifinals in 2018. Then-senior Emily Beazley scored 51 goals that spring and also was added for 81 points that season, 165 career goals and 221 career points from 2015-18. Elena Salazar, then a sophomore, scored seven goals in one game twice, 75 for the season and finished with 113 points total. Beazley plays at University of Detroit Mercy.

Softball

Allen Park’s Kelsi Littleton powered into the record book in 2018 with 15 home runs over 34 games. A junior that season, she finished this spring and will continue at Madonna University.

Boys Tennis

Hudsonville junior Bret Bentley advanced to the semifinals at No. 4 singles at the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals last fall before suffering his first and only loss. He was added to the records for 32 wins (with that one defeat) and for winning 32 straight matches.

Wrestling

Monroe standout Carl Antrassian was added as one of the elite to win 200 career matches. He finished his career in 2016 with a record of 200-26, just missing the single-season wins list with a high of 57 as a junior. He finished Division 1 runner-up at 103 pounds as a sophomore and was a three-time Finals placer, and is continuing his career at University of Pennsylvania.

Zach Young finished his Otisville-LakeVille career this winter as the second-winningest wrestler in school history at 196-41. A three-time Finals placer, Young capped this season at 55-3 and by taking third in Division 3 at 130 pounds.

St. Johns’ then-junior Braxton Parks tied the fastest pin in MHSAA history at 171 pounds with his win vs. Owosso on Feb. 7, 2018. By getting the fall in five seconds, he tied Mike Smith’s record while wrestling for Fenton in 2002.

PHOTO: Dansville's Caleb Hodgson finished his high school career among the all-time leading rebounders and shot blockers in MHSAA history. (Photo courtesy of Lansing State Journal.)