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Grace Graduates Among All-time Greats

July 7, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Alex Grace graduated from Saginaw Swan Valley this spring with 15 listings in the MHSAA football record book.

And he became one of the most accomplished running backs in Michigan high school history despite playing only three varsity seasons.

Grace’s 7,551 career rushing yards rank third in MHSAA history, only 880 yards behind record-holder Kevin Grady of East Grand Rapids – although Grady played 51 games over four seasons and Grace played only 36 games from 2012-14. Grace also finished with 102 rushing touchdowns, trailing only the 114 scored by Livonia Clarenceville’s Tim Shaw, who played in 11 more games during his career from 1998-2001.

Grace already held the single-season rushing record with 2,962 yards over 12 games as a junior, and set another record with eight straight games of at least 200 yards rushing during his final season. His 23 straight 100-yard games rank third on that list – Grace failed to reach 100 yards in only two games, both as a sophomore.

Grace, who will begin his college career this fall at Western Michigan University, also finished eighth with 616 career points, fourth with 102 career total touchdowns (rushing, receiving, etc. combined), and his 812 career carries are sixth on that list. He spent his freshman season cheering on his brother Jonathan, who ran for 1,790 yards and 21 touchdowns as Swan Valley’s lead back.

Click for the football record book in full and see below for more recent additions to MHSAA record listings (click on the sport heading to see those respective record books).

Baseball

  • Potterville’s Trevor Jones reached base three times in a three-inning, 22-0 win over Lansing Sexton in 2012 – all three times after being hit by pitches (once in the first inning and twice during the second). He’s one of 24 listed for having been hit by at least three pitches in one game.

Boys Basketball

  • Millington advanced to the Class C Quarterfinals this winter led by a pair of standouts in senior Austin LeVan and junior Shawn Pardee. LeVan capped his career with 1,714 points this season and earned six entries in the MHSAA records for 20 points in a quarter against Birch Run on Jan. 23, 197 career 3-pointers, 403 career free throws in 504 attempts, an .834 free-throw shooting percentage this season and an .800 percentage for his career, and for grabbing 249 steals over the last four seasons. His steals total ranks 14th and came in 89 games. Pardee similarly is an ace from the free throw line; he made the record listings with 18 free throws in 18 attempts against Caro on Jan. 30 (and just missed another entry with a perfect 17 for 17), 52 straight free throws over the course of four games this winter, 196 free throws in 222 attempts and his percentage of .883, which tied for 15th-best for a single season. LeVan will continue his career at Delta College.

 

Girls Basketball

  • Brooklyn Columbia Central 6-foot-1 senior Ashleigh Shay never made the MHSAA blocked shot records list for a single season, falling just shy with a career-high 105 as a junior in 2013-14. But she finished 16th on the career list with 319 over 82 games and four seasons, finishing her career this winter. Shay has signed to play volleyball at Siena Heights University.

Boys Lacrosse

  • Johnny Wagner finished his high school career with the winning goal for Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood in its Division 2 championship game win over Okemos last month. He also ended this season with 69 goals and 41 assists for 110 points – all made MHSAA records lists – and career numbers of 177 goals, 99 assists and 276 points. The career points rank seventh on that all-time list. He’s signed to continue his career at Marquette University.

Girls Soccer

  • Portland sophomore Jordyn Spitzley had experienced stopping a barrage of shots already during her high school career, having made the MHSAA record book with 35 saves in a game as a freshman. On April 14, she set a single-game record with 49 saves in a 7-0 loss to Ithaca.

Softball

  • A pair of Coloma standouts have finished their careers the last two seasons with performances that stand among the elite. Jenna Faultersack finished her four-season varsity career this spring with 253 hits, 203 runs and 58 doubles (including 18 as a sophomore). Her hits count as the ninth most in MHSAA history. Emily Najacht finished her four-season career in 2014 with a pitching record of 111-33 and 999 strikeouts. Her career wins tie for 13th most and her 38 as a sophomore in 2012 are tied for 10th on that list. Faultersack will continue her career at Western Michigan University, and Najacht played last season at St. Mary’s College in Indiana.

  • Gladwin junior Lauren Mose stole 95 bases straight without making an out over two seasons before finally getting caught during a May 23 game against Midland Bullock Creek – ending the second-longest consecutive steals streak in MHSAA history. Mose fell only four more steals shy of the record set by Grass Lake’s Kellyn Herendeen from 2009-2012. She had two steals against the Lancers in that game, and after stealing second after a seventh-inning single, was thrown out then trying to steal third base. Mose finished this season with 53 steals total.

Volleyball

  • Meredith Norris hit it big as a sophomore in the fall, literally, for Corunna. Norris set an MHSAA rally-scoring record with 53 kills in a five-set match on Nov. 8 and had the third-most on the list, 42, against Durand on Nov. 3. She also had 38 in five sets against Byron on Sept. 11 and finished the season with 754 kills, 19th most for one season since rally scoring was adopted in 2004-05. Junior setter Skylar Napier started those offensive outbursts, making the single-match assists list with 56 against Durand and 50 against Goodrich. The 56 tied for eighth most during the rally scoring era.

Wrestling

  • Gaylord’s Jeff Heinz qualified for the MHSAA Individual Finals the last two seasons and finished his career this winter with 117 pins, enough to make the MHSAA records in that category. He had a high of 33 pins, this season as a senior. 

PHOTO: Swan Valley's Alex Grace finds an opening in the Ovid-Elsie defense during a game last season against the Marauders. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com).

St. Mary's Star Finds Net at Record Pace

June 3, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

A player must score at least seven goals in a game to make the MHSAA records listing for boys lacrosse.

Colin Theisen did so six times this spring – and took over the top spot on the season scoring list as well with 102 goals total.

Theisen set the record for goals in a game with 15 in Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central’s win over Whitmore Lake on May 4. He broke his own record that day, set with 13 goals against Ypsilanti Lincoln on March 30.

Theisen also made the single-game points list six times with a high of 17, which ranks second. His 133 points total this season rank third.

Teammate Alec Mahalak joins him in the record book; he had seven assists on April 19 against Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett to make that category’s single-game list, and finished with 10 points in that game.

The boys lacrosse season ends with MHSAA Finals on Saturday. St. Mary finished 11-3 this spring, falling to Warren DeLaSalle in a Regional game May 21. 

Click to see the boys lacrosse record listings in full, and see below for additional recent additions to the MHSAA records.

Boys Basketball

  • Dearborn Heights Annapolis senior Bryan Collins scored 1,281 points during his four-season career that came to an end this winter. He scored 380 of those on free throws, which places him 18th in the MHSAA records for that category. Collins connected on 77 percent of his attempts and had seasons of 153 and 155 makes. He also made 22 of 26 in a Jan. 16 game against Livonia Clarenceville, and scored 23 points total in a quarter against Robichaud on March 2. All totals made MHSAA lists.

  • Tanner Eubank also finished his high school career this winter among the sharpest shooters from the free throw line. The Paw Paw standout connected on 359 of 475 free-throw attempts during his four-year varsity career, hitting on 76 percent of his tries.

Football

  • Kyle Brindza not only made an MHSAA-record 17 field goals (in 24 attempts) for Plymouth during the 2010 season, but six of those makes and nine of those attempts came from at least 50 yards out – he scored a long of 53 yards. Brindza sits atop the record list for most field goals in one season (career stats are being researched; please email [email protected] with possible updates). He also made 40 of 42 extra-point attempts that season and went on to kick at the University of Notre Dame. He’s currently on the roster of the Detroit Lions.



Girls Soccer

  • Maggie Harma was nearly unbeatable in net in leading Richard Gull Lake to back-to-back Division 2 championships in 2013 and 2014. The keeper tallied 18 shutouts both seasons and a total of 52 during her four-year varsity career – her career total is tied for ninth in MHSAA girls soccer history. Harma made 12 starts in goal as a freshman in the fall for Wayne State University.

Softball

  • Senior Kelsey Smith earned all but one of her team’s 21 outs by strikeout in a 10-0 no-hitter win for Watervliet Grace Christian over Eau Claire on May 12. Smith walked only two to go with her 20 strikeouts over seven innings, with that win improving her record at the time to 10-1.

Volleyball

  • Chelsea finished 50-11-4 in 2014 and reached the Class B Regional Finals after finishing the regular season ranked No. 3, led by a record-setting setter and top hitter. Senior Mary Kelleher set her teammates to a record 1,757 points to eclipse the previous rally scoring assist record of 1,568 set by Allison Smith of St. Louis in 2012. Chelsea junior Emma Hess was the main recipient, making the single-season kills list with 666.

Wrestling

  • Portage Central’s Angelo Latora won his first MHSAA title and achieved his 200th career win in his final high school match. Latora won the Division 1 title at 140 pounds at the 2012 Finals to finish 53-1 that season and 200-22 for his career. He also finished third at 135 as a junior, fourth at 135 as a sophomore and seventh at 130 as a freshman. He currently wrestles for the University of Michigan.

  • Hartland’s Jacob Gorial graduates this spring as a four-time MHSAA Finals placer and with the 24th-most wins as an individual. Gorial ended his career this winter at 226-20, with back-to-back 60-win seasons as a junior and senior. He finished third in Division 1 at 152 pounds, following a fourth place at 145, second and 130 and seventh at 112 his first three seasons, respectively. Gorial also made the career pins list with 136. He’s signed to continue at Division II Coker College in South Carolina.

  • Nathan Wynkoop earned his 211 victories, with just 21 defeats, for West Branch Ogemaw Heights from 2010-13. He also made the single-season wins list going 62-2 as a senior; he finished third in Division 2 at 160 pounds that winter after taking fourth at 145 in 2011-12. Wynkoop currently wrestles at Cleveland State University. 

PHOTO: Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central players, including Colin Theisen (13), celebrate. Theisen scored 102 goals this season. (Photo courtesy of Monroe St. Mary.)