Logo

Dow's Szabo Serves Up 3 Tennis Records

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

November 13, 2015

Michael Szabo capped his Midland Dow tennis career this fall with his name all over the MHSAA record book.

Szabo won 37 matches for the second straight season, this time playing No. 2 singles for the Chargers, to finish with an MHSAA record 150 victories (against seven losses) from 2012-15. He also set records with 33 tournament championships and 49 matches won by 6-0, 6-0 scores and became one of seven players to earn four MHSAA Finals singles championships.

A number of teammates also are now listed in the MHSAA records: Daniel Magno was added for 69 career doubles wins over four seasons before graduating last spring. Colin Angell was added for 32 singles wins in 2014 to go with his 61 career doubles wins from 2012-13. Noah Nichols and J.J. Kirkman were added for 30 doubles wins this fall, Ryan Killmaster was added for 32 doubles wins and Daniel Zhang was added for 28 doubles wins this season. Armin Vallazza-Margl is listed with 28 doubles wins in 2014 and Nichols is listed for 27 that season. As a team, Dow won its 24th MHSAA Regional title this fall.  

Click to see the boys tennis record book in full, and see below for more recent record book additions.

Football

  • Khari Willis, now a safety at Michigan State University, capped his Jackson Lumen Christi career in 2014 with four accomplishments now noted in the MHSAA record book. His 2,800 rushing yards as a senior were the third-most in MHSAA history and came on only 241 carries. He also made the single-season rushing touchdown list with 30 and single-game lists with 50 carries and 412 yards in his final high school game, a playoff loss to eventual Division 6 champion Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central. Willis finished his high school career with 4,558 yards rushing.
  • Genesee’s Scott Smith joined only two others in MHSAA history when he recovered four fumbles on Sept. 20, 1996, in his team’s victory over Ashley. He also ran for a touchdown and kicked four extra points.

Boys Lacrosse

  • Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard’s Matt Johnson graduated this spring among the highest scorers in MHSAA history with 272 points and 179 goals over his four seasons on varsity. He had 59 goals and 96 points as a senior this spring. He’s currently a member of the University of Indianapolis men’s lacrosse team.

Softball

  • Onaway’s Madison McLean joined a list of big hitters with back-to-back home runs, knocking hers during the second and third innings in a 20-5 win over Posen on April 25. McLean was a freshman, and the homers came in her first two varsity at bats, according to the Presque Isle Advance.
  • Courtney Quade played four seasons for Marlette, graduating this spring, and made the career walks list earning 79 over 115 games. She also hit .429 over her career and .542 as a senior.
  • Kelcie LaTour completed her junior year at Macomb Dakota with multiple entries in the MHSAA record listings; she hit back-to-back home runs during the sixth and seventh innings of a game against Southgate Anderson on May 2, and finished the season with 11 home runs. She also batted .403 and drove in 38 runs.

Girls Soccer

  • Grosse Ile’s run to the Division 3 Regional Finals this spring included impressive seasons by a pair of three-year varsity juniors, plus some impressive totals put up by the team as a whole. Caroline Fleming scored 39 goals to go with 33 assists for 72 points total in 25 games and moved up the career goals (82) and assists (73) lists with a season to play. Olivia Reckley posted the second-most shutouts in one season, 22, and has 55 over her first three seasons. Total, Grosse Ile gave up only five goals – tied for sixth fewest – and scored 138, which ranks eighth for one season. In 2014, the team gave up nine goals and had 18 shutouts.
  • Fenton’s Abby Quesnelle finished her sophomore season in net at the Division 2 Final, and had 15 shutouts in 22 games to help her team to its first MHSAA championship game. She gave up only 12 goals during the season.
  • Grandville Calvin Christian’s fourth straight MHSAA championship run this spring included the sixth-highest team goals total, 139, with Hilary Curry making the individual single-season goals list with 30 in 25 games. Teammate Emily VanVliet made the single-season assists list with 30 and career assists list with 65. Curry is playing at Hope College and VanVliet is playing basketball at Calvin College.

PHOTO: Midland Dow's Michael Szabo prepares to serve during this fall's Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final at No. 2 singles. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)

Mendon volleyball

Smith's Record-Caliber Swing Lifts Mendon to Multiple Titles

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

August 12, 2021

Anna Smith’s four-year varsity career capped in November included helping Mendon to back-to-back Division 4 championships in 2018 and 2019, and she finished last season among the top hitters in MHSAA history.

Smith graduated with 2,234 kills to rank 18th all-time since the start of rally scoring. She has eight record book entries total, also including for a career-high 740 kills as a junior, a tied-for-second 24 aces in a match last fall, and a career total of 398 aces to rank 13th on that list.

She’s continuing her career at College of Charleston (S.C.).

Click to see the volleyball record book in full, and read on for more recent record book updates in baseball, football and girls lacrosse.

Baseball

Saugatuck’s baseball success over the last three seasons has been tied in part to its work on the base paths – with its total steals in 2018, 2019 and 2021 all making the record book. Saugatuck’s 222 steals in 248 attempts in 2018 remain the second-most steals for one season, while its 182 steals in 2019 rank 10th and its 166 steals this spring were tied for 22nd-most.

11-player Football

Belleville senior quarterback Christian Dhue-Reid became the first to be added to the football record book for the 2020 season after throwing for seven touchdown passes – including six during the first half – of his team’s win over Dearborn Fordson last Sept. 25. The first-half TD passes tied for sixth-most in a half, and the seven total tied for eighth-most in a game.

Mitchell Middleton showed his powerful leg in Middleville Thornapple Kellogg's Sept. 17, 2019, win over Wyoming. The then-senior booted a 52-yard field goal to make the list for longest.

DeWitt’s championship run last season included a number of record book performances, on both sides of the ball. Then-junior quarterback Tyler Holtz made the records for 2,396 passing yards over 12 games, and for a single-game high of 405, and also for 35 passing touchdowns. Senior Tommy McIntosh was added for 245 yards and four touchdowns in the same game, against Grand Ledge, and Nathaniel Deppin was added for a 96-yard kickoff return in that same game. The Panthers as a team made the touchdown list with 70, and also for giving up only 80 points over the season. Additionally, senior Brandon Soltis finished his two-year varsity career with 78 extra points and also was added for his 45 as a junior. A number of others were added for accomplishments over the last four seasons, including Blake Gatfield, Noah Koenigsknecht, Alan Smith, Jack Horan, Carson Hayes and Luke Bresser. Koenigsknecht and Bresser play for Northwood.

Then-junior Nick Kay earned his first record book entry last Sept. 25 with a 52-yard field goal for Walled Lake Central against Troy. Also added was past quarterback Nick Krumm, who scored eight total touchdowns (six rushing) during a 2013 game against Waterford Mott. Krumm was a junior that season; he went on to play at Michigan State.

North Muskegon then-senior Brendan Moat navigated some tough weather in his team’s 2019 playoff loss to Pewamo-Westphalia to drill a 74-yard punt, tying for 17th longest in MHSAA history. Moat is playing currently at Kalamazoo College.

Despite a shortened 2020 season, Brady Hessbrook finished his four-season Ithaca career with record-book highlights. He made the single-season passing yards list with 2,002 over eight games, and the career list with 4,091 over 37 games total. He made the lists for passing touchdowns in one half and a single game with six against Michigan Lutheran Seminary on Oct. 9, on the way to making the single-season passing TD list with 30 and career list with 51. Hessbrook is continuing his career at Wayne State.

Livonia Stevenson senior Caden Woodall put together one of the most impressive rushing seasons in state history over just eight games last fall. On just 186 carries, Woodall ran for 2,228 yards and 34 touchdowns, making single-season lists for both. He scored six touchdowns in a game twice and totaled more than 200 yards rushing in seven straight games. He’s continuing his career at Harvard.

Girls Lacrosse

Three Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central players earned single-game entries during the 2021 season. Sophomore Gabriella Hendricks was added for eight goals in a May 19 game against East Grand Rapids, seven goals on May 14 against Ann Arbor Skyline and five assists on May 10 against Grandville. Sophomore Shannon Murphy also had seven goals in that Skyline game and seven against Grand Rapids Christian on May 20, and sophomore Delaney Smith had five assists against Holland West Ottawa on March 29.

PHOTO: Mendon’s Anna Smith follows through on a kill attempt during the 2019 Division 4 championship match against Leland.