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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.)

FHC star Clay Tops Every Scoring Chart

November 8, 2018

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central standout Bryce Clay rewrote the MHSAA boys lacrosse record book over the last four seasons.

He graduated this spring atop the career goals list with 385, with the most career assists at 224 and far beyond the pack with 609 career points – 154 more than anyone else has achieved.

Clay’s single-season high of 166 points rank second on that list, with his 66 assists this spring tied for fourth in that category and his career-high 105 goals in 2016 also ranking second.

He helped Forest Hills Central to the Division 2 title in 2016 and runner-up finishes the last two springs. He’s continuing his career at University of Michigan.

Click to check out the lacrosse record book in full, and read on for more recent additions in baseball, football, girls soccer, volleyball and wrestling. Click on the headings to view those record books.

Baseball

Homer’s 37-2 season this spring included a string of 48 scoreless innings that topped its previous MHSAA record of 44 set in 2005. The Trojans had 20 shutouts, a record-setting team ERA of 0.78 and 377 strikeouts, which were the second-most on that list. Homer also hit .368 with 83 doubles and 308 RBI, all three accomplishments making record book lists. Jordan Sherman capped his four seasons on career lists with 151 runs scored and 136 RBI, while Joe Roth was added for a career ERA of 1.59 over the last three seasons and Zach Butters was added for a 1.22 ERA with a fourth season to play next spring. Brock Ridgeway was added for 33 pitching wins from 2013-16. Sherman is continuing his career at Concordia University-Ann Arbor, Roth is playing football at Indiana Wesleyan University and Ridgeway plays baseball at Central Michigan University.

Birmingham Groves was added for games with 13 and 11 stolen bases this spring and for 12 steals in a game in 2017. As a team, Groves also made the season hit-by-pitch list in 2018 with 49 in 36 games. Chaise Ford completed his career in the spring with 33 times hit by pitches over 110 games and three seasons. He’s playing football at Ferris State University.

Jack Pramuka became the second player in Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart history to be hit by three or more pitches in one game when he was hit in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings April 21 against Battle Creek Harper Creek. Pramuka was a senior.

Four four-year varsity players left record-book milestones in graduating from Frankfort this spring. Brett Zimmerman has eight record book entries, with his .640 batting average this past season ranking third all-time. He made career lists hitting .506, getting hit by pitches 55 times (third all-time), stealing 115 bases, scoring 184 runs and driving in 135. Griffin Kelly also was added to the career runs list with 156, and teammates Jack Morrow and Kirk Myers made the career ERA list at 1.50 and 1.36, respectively. As a team, Frankfort was added for getting hit by pitches 49 times this spring, and also for tying the MHSAA record with eight straight shutouts and ranking third all-time with 45 straight scoreless innings. (Frankfort was one of three teams to break the scoreless innings streak record this spring, with Homer finishing with 48 as explained above and Brownstown Woodhaven ending its record run May 17 with 60 straight.) Zimmerman is playing baseball at Wayne State University, Morrow and Myers are playing at Albion College, and Kelly is playing football at Northern Michigan.

Football

Clinton Township Chippewa Valley made the team defense record book a second time by holding Utica to only four first downs in a 49-0 victory Oct. 19. Chippewa Valley previously had been added for holding Utica to five first downs in their 2017 meeting. Also, senior Niko Kepi was added for connecting on 61 straight extra points beginning near the end of 2017 and carrying through his first attempts in Friday’s District Final win over Macomb Dakota.

Despite falling 67-37 to eventual Division 5 champion Grand Rapids West Catholic on Oct. 16, 2015, Belding’s special teams shined. Connor Barker, a senior, returned kickoffs 90 and 88 yards for touchdowns to make the list for multiple kickoff return touchdowns in one game.

Girls Soccer

Kristi Vandeberghe has taken her rightful place among the leading scorers all-time, with the addition of her single-season goals for her sophomore (50), junior (40) and senior (48) seasons to go with her record 66 as a freshman. The former Mount Clemens star finished with 204 career goals from 2001-04, which ranks second. She went on to play at Grand Valley State and then Oakland University.

Softball

St. Joseph’s Courtney Farrish enjoyed a power-packed spring, making the MHSAA single-season home runs list with 14 over 31 games. Farrish is a senior this fall and will sign with Western Michigan University.

Wrestling

Hunter Machus finished his four-season varsity career at Bronson in 2013 on career lists for wins and pins. He ended 209-25 with 111 of those victories by fall. Machus went on to wrestle at Alma College.

PHOTO: Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central’s Bryce Clay begins a run upfield during last season’s Division 2 Final against East Grand Rapids.