Forest Park Runs to 8-Player Records
May 14, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Crystal Falls Forest Park ran away, literally, with its first 8-player football championship this past fall.
The Trojans set the MHSAA 8-player records for 5,327 total yards, 77 total touchdowns, 686 rushing attempts, 4,350 rushing yards and 65 rushing touchdowns on the way to claiming the 8-player Division 2 title. Forest Park also played just 12 games, with an open date during the regular season.
Individually, senior Connor Bortolini was added for a record 54 carries, 402 rushing yards, seven rushing touchdowns and seven total touchdowns against Powers North Central on Sept. 1. Senior teammate Peter Ropiak was added for five tackles for a loss against Eben Junction Superior Central on Sept. 15 and a record 28 total in just nine games for the season. Sophomore Noah Gilner earned the record for tackles for loss in a game with seven against Phillips, Wis., on Sept. 22.
Bortolini will continue his career this fall at Finlandia University.
See below for more recent record book additions in football, plus baseball, girls and boys basketball and boys lacrosse. Click on the headings to view those record books in full.
Baseball
Grand Ledge was added for 420 hits, 87 doubles, 337 RBI, a .389 average and 1.62 ERA as a team in 2017, over 41 games. Senior Wyatt Rush was added for 0.69 ERA over 70 2/3 innings pitched; he now plays for Lansing Community College.
Jesus Becerra did not get a hit during his record-book worthy performance last season. But the Stephenson now-senior did reach four times on errors against Peshtigo, Wis., and turned those opportunities into seven stolen bases – tying for second most steals in one game in MHSAA history.
After giving up two singles to start a May 9 game against Warren Fitzgerald, Madison Heights Madison junior pitcher Austin Brown struck out 20 of the next 21 hitters. He’s tied for seventh most strikeouts in a seven-inning game.
Girls Basketball
Sophomore Kelynn Kujat made 66 3-pointers this past season to set a Frankenmuth record. She scored a team-leading 332 points for the Eagles.
Boys Basketball
Clinton Township Clintondale’s Richard Washington was added to the single-season steals list with 111 over 21 games this winter. The junior also averaged 20.3 points per game and made 63 3-pointers.
Football
Hunter Spence capped a two-season varsity career at Comstock Park in the fall with six record book entries, with his 18 catches against Grand Rapids Catholic Central on Oct. 6 tied for third-most in one game. Spence finished with 136 catches and 1,948 receiving yards over the past two seasons. Senior Logan Serba was added for 245 yards receiving and four touchdowns in one game against Belding. Junior quarterback Chase Brown is up to 18 entries in the record book after two seasons and with one more to play – he ranks on career lists already with 592 passing attempts, 373 completions and 5,126 yards. Senior kicker Nathan Hughes also was added for making 56 extra points in 58 attempts this past season. Hughes will play baseball after graduation at Aquinas College.
Jacob Witt finished his career in the fall with 12 entries in the 8-player record book while playing for Ewen-Trout Creek in 2016 and then a co-op of E-TC and Ontonagon last season. Witt added 31 receptions for 759 yards and 14 touchdowns to finish with two-season career totals of 102 catches, 2,457 yards and 39 scores. Witt will play basketball next season at Michigan Tech University.
Eben Junction Superior Central added to its list of accomplishments in the 8-player record book, including for 643 total yards and 635 rushing against Felch North Dickinson on Oct. 6. The Cougars’ latest listings also include 72 rushing attempts against Rapid River on Aug. 31 and 3,301 total rushing yards last season. Junior Beau Rondeau was added for 41 carries and six rushing touchdowns against Rapid River.
Boys Lacrosse
Howell senior Jack Radzville scored more than half of his team’s goals in a 20-15 loss to Brighton on April 19, tallying nine to tie for sixth most in one game in MHSAA history. He added two assists, and his 11 points total also made that single-game list.
PHOTO: Crystal Falls Forest Park's Connor Bortolini high fives a teammate after scoring during last season's 8-player Division 2 Final at the Superior Dome. (Photo by John Johnson.)
Ansel On Target for Record Book Rise
April 23, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Comstock junior Daisy Ansel will be one of the seniors to watch in Michigan next girls basketball season after she joined the state’s top shooters of all-time already as a junior this past winter.
Ansel is tied for 24th for career 3-pointers with 181, with that total recently added to the MHSAA record book. She’s made 38 percent of her long-range tries over the last three seasons, and also was added to the records for connecting on 86.5 percent of her free-throw attempts (64 of 74) over 21 games in 2017-18 as the Colts finished 19-2.
Below are more recent record book additions in girls basketball and boys soccer. Click the sport headings to view those record books in full.
Girls Basketball
Traverse City Central senior Margot Woughter earned a spot in the record book with 15 free throws on 19 attempts in a Jan. 19 game against Alpena. She finished with 40 points total in the 62-55 win. Woughter will continue her career at Indiana Wesleyan University.
Former Posen star center Korynn Hincka ranks among the all-time best in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots. She was added for 2,198 points, 1,224 rebounds (eighth-most) and 360 blocks (10th) over 98 games from 2011-14, along with a number of single-season entries and a single-game 19 free throws against Fairview during 2012-13. Younger sister Jenna Hincka was added for 170 steals as a senior during the 2015-16 season, which rank eighth. Korynn went on to play at Grand Valley State, and Jenna played a season of softball at Alpena Community College.
Ishpeming set an MHSAA record this winter making 77.6 percent of its free-throw attempts on the way to a 20-4 finish. The Hematites made 274 of 353 tries, led by senior Madigan Johns with 115 makes in 131 attempts. She was added to the individual list for highest free-throw percentage in a season at 87.8 and for her career at 82.2 over the last three seasons.
Coldwater junior Malorie Rzepka made the list for most free throws in a game with 15 in 16 tries against Kalamazoo Central in a 69-63 overtime win Dec. 19. Rzepka’s free throws all came during the second half and overtime.
Westland Universal Learning Academy then-freshman Zahraa Cherkaoui scored all but two of her team’s points Feb. 1, 2017, in a 49-23 win over Hope of Detroit. Her 47-point performance included seven 3-pointers.
Niles Brandywine’s run to the Class C Regional Finals and a 22-3 record included some record 3-point shooting. The Bobcats connected on 153 3-pointers in 639 attempts, making record book lists in both categories. They also made the single-game list with 14 3-pointers against Saugatuck in a 73-37 win on Dec. 5.
Kent City made the Class C Quarterfinals and finished 22-4 also on the strength of 3-point shooting. The Eagles made 198 3-pointers – fourth most in MHSAA history – on the third-most attempts, 737. Kent City made at least 13 3-pointers in three games, with a high of 16 against Hesperia on Jan. 19.
Boys Soccer
As reported last fall on Second Half, Lincoln Alcona senior keeper Conner McCoy broke the national saves record in late September – and finished his high school career with 1,280 over four seasons. His 365 last fall rank fifth for one season after he set the record as both a sophomore and junior. He will continue his career at Finlandia University.
Ryan Wiesniewski capped his four-year Gladwin varsity career in the fall tied for 10th all-time with 144 goals and eighth with 202 career points. He also made the career assists list with 58 and with highs of 46 goals and 64 points as a junior in 2016. He made the single-game goals list with a school record six against Houghton Lake last September.
PHOTO: Comstock’s Daisy Ansel lines up to attempt a free throw during the 2016-17 season. (Photo courtesy of the Comstock athletic department.)