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Grace-fully Setting MHSAA Records

September 9, 2014

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Saginaw Swan Valley’s Alex Grace opened the 2014 football season two weeks ago with what has become a typical performance – 195 rushing yards and four touchdowns.

The Vikings’ senior running back already tops one MHSAA record book list, and could sit atop a few more when this fall is done.

Grace set the MHSAA single-season rushing record in 2013 with 2,962 yards on only 295 carries – an average of 10 yards per carry. Adding in his 2,163 yards rushing as a sophomore, Grace entered this fall with 5,125 total – good for 15th on the career list, and he’s already jumped to 10th with 324 yards he’s gained in two games this fall.

Grace also scored 36 rushing touchdowns in 2013 – 12th most for one season – and with his 27 as a sophomore has 63 total. He’s committed to sign with Western Michigan University for after graduation.

Those are just some recent additions to the MHSAA record listings; read on for more, and click each heading below for the complete records listing for that sport. 

Football

  • Logan Huff’s incredible Friday night (Sept. 5) – six touchdowns in Johannesburg-Lewiston’s 75-14 win over Pellston – included a pair of interception returns for scores to make him the latest of 15 players to accomplish that feat. He also scored on two rushes, a reception and a punt return, will all six TDs coming during the first half.

Baseball

  • Zach Fish’s reputation as one of the top high school power hitters in MHSAA history got a boost with the addition of career numbers from his two seasons each at Kalamazoo Central (2008-09) and Richland Gull Lake (2010-11). Fish ranks second for most career home runs (47) and RBI (203) in MHSAA history, eighth for career runs scored (184) and fifth for hits (204). He also made the lists with three home runs and 10 RBI in a game against Portage Northern his senior season. Fish was named Big 12 Player of the Year this spring playing for Oklahoma State University, was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 11th round of the June Major League Baseball amateur draft, and just finished his first season as an outfielder with the franchise’s short-season rookie level team in Great Falls, Montana.

Boys Basketball

  • Wyoming West Michigan Lutheran 6-foot-4 forward Jeffrey Hilliard finished his high school career averaging a double-double – 19.8 points and 15.7 rebounds per game – and grabbed 314 boards total to make the MHSAA records in that single-season category. He just missed the single-game category, grabbing 29 in an 85-45 win over Holland Black River. He’ll continue his career at Concordia University-Ann Arbor.

Girls Basketball

  • Crystal Falls Forest Park’s Lexi Gussert finished her career in March with a Miss Basketball trophy and having carried the Trojans to the Class D Final at the Breslin Center. She also appears 14 times in the MHSAA girls hoops record book: most notably, she finished fourth in career scoring with 2,630 points, set the record as a senior for single-season 3-pointers (105) and finished second with 274 career 3-pointers, finished eighth as a senior on the single-season assist (193) list and is ninth on the career rebounds list with 1,108. She also tied for sixth with 104 varsity games played during her career, and will continue at Michigan State University.

Boys Lacrosse

  • Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern’s run to the Division 2 Semifinals this spring included outstanding offensive performances from a pair of field players and strong play in net by a junior goalie. Bob Pelton tallied the third-most assists in one season, 64, and finished with the eighth-most points, 110. Teammate Luke Malec also made the single-season points list with 89, and both made a number of single-game lists. Goalie Grant Lardieri posted three of the top nine single-game saves totals, topped by 23 against Detroit Catholic Central on May 17, and also has posted three of the top eight season saves totals – his 232 this spring were the third-most. He has 657 career saves – 62 from tying the MHSAA record – with a season left in his high school career.

  • Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard’s Matt Kolevar finished a solid career in 2010 with 57 goals and 38 assists – with his 95 points making that single-season list. He also made the career points list with 200, including 137 goals.

  • Connor Flynn graduated from Rockford in 2012 with 715 career saves in goal, which now ranks second in MHSAA history. He had 24 in a 2012 games against South Lyon, with that total tying for third-most in a game. He’s now playing at the University of Detroit Mercy.

Girls Soccer

  • Pontiac Notre Dame Prep’s Taylor Timko scored more than 30 goals twice and 124 during a four-year career that finished this spring. Her career goals rank 21st in MHSAA history, and her 176 total points (including 52 assists) rank 14th on that career list. Timko, who also was a track standout and the football team’s kicker and was crowned Homecoming queen last fall while in uniform, is starting for the University of Michigan women’s soccer team this fall.

Softball

  • Gladwin sophomore Lauren Mose achieved a top-10 spot in the MHSAA softball record listings, scoring 71 runs this spring – good to tie for eighth-most in one season. She also hit .496 in 137 at bats. Sophomore teammate Dayna Fennell made the MHSAA single-season doubles list with 16 and hit a team-best .514 in a team-high 138 at bats. 

PHOTO: Saginaw Swan Valley's Alex Grace (9) carries the ball during this season's opener against Saginaw Nouvel. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)

Russell Rates Among Top MHSAA Passers

May 8, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Grand Rapids West Catholic went a combined 34-8 over the last three seasons with back-to-back MHSAA Division 5 championships and a runner-up finish – and quarterback Travis Russell had two of the largest hands in that success. 

He threw for at least 2,400 yards and 22 touchdowns all three of those seasons; his career passing yardage of 7,634 ranks fifth in MHSAA history, with his 435 attempts in 2012 second on that single-season list, his 987 career attempts also ranking second, his 224 completions in 2012 ranking seventh and his 546 career completions third on that list. 

Russell’s 80 touchdown passes in 43 games tie for third on that career list, and he also ran for 2,269 yards and 32 scores during three full seasons plus four games as a freshman. He has signed with Ferris State University.

Click the football heading below to see the record book in full and read on for more of this week's additions in five sports.

Football

  • Russell's three-season teammate at West Catholic, Bryce Witham, was added for his 16 touchdown catches this fall and 22 for his career, and running back Andy Corey made the single-season carries list with 336 (for 1,682 yards) in 2012. Witham signed with the University of Minnesota, and Corey plays at Saginaw Valley State University.

  • The four-year career of Coleman quarterback Adam Stremlow coincided with the most successful four-season run for the Comets in two decades. Coleman finished 26-14 and made the playoffs three times from 2011-14, with Stremlow playing in 30 games including all 10 this fall as the team finished 7-3. He finished with 18 entries in the MHSAA football records, including for 2,438 passing yards and 274 attempts in his final season. His 6,780 passing yards rank 10th on that career list, and his 735 career attempts are 17th.  He also threw for five touchdowns in a half this fall and for six in two games, with his 78 career scoring passes are fifth all-time on that list. Teammate Mitch Franklin was added for a 99-yard touchdown run against Charlevoix on Sept. 13 and for 1,119 receiving yards this fall. 

  • Record-listing performances recent and old were added for Lansing Catholic and two now-closed Catholic schools in the city. Junior quarterback Tony Poljan led the Cougars to the Division 5 Final in the fall throwing 263 times, completing 171, for 2,802 yards and 35 touchdowns. His career yardage total, 4,373, also makes that list with a season to play. Zac Baker had 13 interceptions as Lansing Catholic made the team list in that category with 30 total, and kicker Jon Foy made lists with 58 extra points and nine in a game. Mario Villarreal (1987), Paul Rashid (1977) and Marty Castellon (1989) all were added for carrying at least 40 times in a game, and Don Blair of Lansing St. Mary Cathedral was added for his two 1958 interception return touchdowns against Bath and three total that season. Lansing O’Rafferty was added for three straight and four ties total in 1958, when it finished 2-2-4. Also, longtime Ithaca and current Lansing Catholic coach Jim Ahern was added for his 249-128-7 career record, including a 13-1 finish with the Cougars in 2014.

  • Erik Pohlmann added to Menominee’s strong recent kicking tradition, making 82 of 85 extra points in the fall to rank fourth for most made in one season. That run included a streak of 41 straight and 10 in a game against Milwaukee Morse-Marshall.

  • New Lothrop’s Logan VanSumeren joined a list of only 13 with kick return touchdowns listed when he ran 95 yards for a score in his team’s 60-26 loss to Detroit Loyola in a Division 7 Regional Final in the fall. He has signed with Stetson University in Florida.

  • Macomb Lutheran North graduate J.J. McGrath already had three listings in the MHSAA records for longest field goals (his 57-yarder in 2012 is third), but was added for his 22 career field goals (tied for 11th-most) and 85 extra points from 2009-12. McGrath is on the Grand Valley State University football roster after previous stops at Mississippi State University and the University of Michigan.

Baseball

  • Grand Ledge had another fine season in 2014, finishing 30-8, and ranked as a team with 305 strikeouts. Pitchers Tyler Waldrop (0.69) and Nick Kamrada (0.81) also were added for single-season ERA. Keefer Johnson was added for getting hit by a pitch 13 times in 2013.

Girls Basketball

  • Imlay City’s Ashton Combs made two record book lists after making 17 straight free throws Dec. 6, 2013, in a 53-50 win over North Branch. Her 17 were among the most made in one game, and she made 17 in a row to make another listing, missing only her final free-throw attempt of the night. Combs ended with 33 points total, including 17 during the second quarter. She was a freshman at the time and currently is a junior.

Boys Soccer

  • St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic’s Danny McEachen capped his career in the fall with six listings in the MHSAA boys soccer records after scoring 41 goals and tallying 54 points in his final season. Both of those numbers made respective single-season lists, with his 144 goals over four seasons ranking ninth on for a career and his 197 career points ranking eighth.  

Softball

  • This spring, Marlette sophomore Hannah Kady became the latest of six players to knock in at least nine runs in one game, tallying nine RBI against Memphis on April 14. She had a three-run home run, plus three doubles – and each double brought home two runs in the 15-5, five-inning victory.

PHOTO: Travis Russell celebrates a Grand Rapids West Catholic touchdown during last season’s Division 5 Final win over Lansing Catholic.