Logo

Extra, Extra: Seymour Sets PAT Record

May 1, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Griffin Seymour will head to Eastern Michigan University this fall as one of the most successful kickers in MHSAA history.

Seymour capped a 29-game career this fall with two MHSAA football records and nine listings total in the record book after helping Muskegon Catholic Central to back-to-back Division 8 championships.

He set both records during the Division 8 Final against Munising – in making all four of his extra-point attempts, Seymour set the season extra point record of 87 (surpassing the previous of 85) and the career extra point record of 165 (the previous was 164). Seymour kicked in one game as a sophomore and then 14 each the last two seasons.

He’s also listed for 85 straight extra points, the fourth-longest streak, making 10 of 10 attempts in two games and 75 total as a junior. He had five extra points in his team’s 2013 Final win over Beal City. Seymour reportedly will walk-on as a kicker on the EMU football team.

See below for more of this week's additions to the MHSAA record listings, and click on the headings to see those sports' records in full. 

Football

  • New Lothrop senior Grant Steinborn also placed himself among the top extra-point makers in MHSAA history during a two-season varsity career. He booted 135 PATs in just 24 games over the last two seasons to tie for eighth on the career list, with his 74 as a junior ranking ninth and his 61 this fall also making the single-season list – he had nine in a game as a junior to make that ranking as well. New Lothrop finished a combined 22-2 over the last two seasons, making the team points list with 577 in 2013 and 539 this fall and for its average of 48.1 in 2013.

  • West Bloomfield’s 9-2 finish in the fall included a pair of record-listing performances. Junior quarterback Trishton Jackson threw for 2,046 yards – completing 124 of 210 passes – to make the season yardage list. Junior kicker Ari Goldberg connected on 46 extra points in 53 attempts.

  • Olivet freshman quarterback Parker Smith moved up to the varsity during the fall and into the record book with a 99-yard touchdown pass to Wyatt Smith in the Eagles’ 27-0 win over Parchment on Oct. 24. Olivet won the Greater Lansing Activities Conference title and finished 8-3.

Baseball

  • Portland’s Tanner Allison capped his prep career in 2014 with some of the highest hitting marks in MHSAA history on his way to joining the Western Michigan University program. His 155 career runs, 189 career hits and 54 career doubles from 2011-14 made those respective lists, as did his 23 doubles last year for one season. The hits tied for 13th most, the season doubles tied for fifth on that list and the career doubles are fourth in MHSAA history. Portland’s team average of .372 last spring also made that category, and Josh Pleyte was added for his seven triples in 2009.

Girls Basketball

  • Jessica Murphy scored 30 points to go with eight rebounds and five assists in Oxford's Feb. 10 win over Bloomfield Hills – and also entered the MHSAA records by making all 17 of her free throws. Her total is fourth-highest for consecutive free throws made in one game. Murphy has signed to continue her hoops career at Wayne State University.

  • Breckenridge’s Erika Wendling accomplished much during her career ending in 2014, including a 15-steal game as a senior, Dec. 12, 2013, against Saginaw Valley Lutheran. She also ended as the first 1,000-point scorer in her school’s history and played this season at Mid-Michigan Community College.

Boys Basketball

  • Ben Carlson graduated from Manistique in 1996 but still holds six school records for this sport, including two that make MHSAA lists – his 201 career 3-pointers and 556 career assists over four seasons. The assists total ranks ninth in MHSAA history. Carlson also owns the school’s career scoring record of 1,495 points.

Boys Soccer

  • His totals would’ve stood third when he graduated from Bay City John Glenn in 2008, and Ty Richards now stands fifth in MHSAA history with his 159 career goals entered into the records. His 53 goals as a senior and 40 as a sophomore made the single-season list. His 52 career assists also ranked, and he’s sixth with 211 career points. Former teammate and 2009 grad Stefan Michalsky also was added for 55 career assists over four seasons, and John Glenn’s Connor Windiate was added for 50 goals in 2013. Windiate now plays at NAIA University of St. Mary in Kansas and Michalsky played at Delta College.

Wrestling

  • Sparta’s Jason Brew and Matt Armock have been added to the MHSAA list for 200 wrestling wins – Brew with a record of 204-16 from 2002-05 and Armock 202-11 from 2004-07. Armock was the 140-pound title in Division 2 in 2007 and 2006, while Brew was the 145-pound champion in 2005 and 140-pound in 2004. Brew later wrestled at Olivet College. 

PHOTO: Muskegon Catholic Central's Griffin Seymour connects on an extra point against Beal City during the 2013 MHSAA Division 8 Final at Ford Field. 

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.)