Howell Softball's Militello Leaves Legacy
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
December 27, 2019
AJ Militello led Howell’s softball team to a Division 1 runner-up performance in the spring and finished her career all over the MHSAA record book.
The four-year varsity player had 75 runs and 17 home runs in her final season and finished on career lists with 202 runs, 210 hits, 32 homers and 186 RBI. She is continuing her career at University of Utah.
Teammate Avrey Wolverton, a sophomore in the spring, hit 16 homers and already is on the career homers list with 24 over two seasons. Senior Maddie Gillett added 16 to also make the single-season individual homers list and will continue her career at Carson-Newman University in Tennessee. As a team, Howell hit 62 home runs last season – second-most in MHSAA history.
Sophomore Maddie Springer also was added to the records with 16 doubles.
See below for more recent record book additions in boys basketball, softball, boys tennis and volleyball.
Boys Basketball
Hale’s Joseph Kimmerer became his school’s leading scorer early this season, and earned his second MHSAA record book entry as a junior. He made 149 of 176 free-throw attempts over 23 games last season for a percentage of .847, following his .883 as a sophomore that also ranks on the single-season list.
Zach Goodline graduated from Coloma this spring with 13 record book entries and consideration among the top scorers in MHSAA history. His 2,204 points over four seasons and 85 games rank 15th, while his 253 3-pointers rank ninth and his 577 made free throws are second on that list. He connected on 85.1 percent of his free-throw attempts over his career, good for the fourth-best success rate all-time, and he also ranks 10th with 308 career steals. He is continuing his career at Oakland University.
Softball
Byron four-year standout Greta L’Esperance finished her varsity career in the spring among the state’s highest achievers in a number of record book categories. She ranks ninth with 244 career runs, third with 297 career hits, tied for fifth with 35 career doubles and seventh with a career .610 batting average. She also finished with 48 doubles over 144 games and tied the record with seven RBI in an April 15 game against Durand. She’s continuing her career at Bowling Green.
Freeland’s Lily Beyer closed her four-year varsity career all over the record book as well this spring with 11 entries. Her 270 career hits over 151 games rank eighth all-time, while her 74 doubles are third and her 203 RBI rank 12th. She also made the career runs list with 191 and the career average list at .548. Additionally, teammate Cam Coonan was added for 75 hits as a junior in 2018, and now-senior Leiya Rybicki was added for seven RBI in a game April 25. Beyer is continuing her career at University of Toledo, and Coonan is playing at Saginaw Valley State University.
Lauryn Frenzel reached the 1,000-strikeout milestone as a senior for Mayville in 2018 and finished her four-year varsity career with 1,034 Ks to make the career list in that category. She just missed the single-season list with 356 as a senior, but her game high of 20 against Dryden in 2017 also was added.
Boys Tennis
Antonio Barretto and Brett Gurzell advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2018 Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals at No. 1 doubles for Rochester Hills Stoney Creek and finished with a season record of 27-6, making the records list for doubles wins. Both were seniors; Gurzell played this fall at Albion College.
Volleyball
Oscoda’s Andrea Bickel joined the list of top servers when she had 16 aces over a three-set match win against Atlanta on Sept. 11. Bickel is a junior this school year.
Lexie Beeke added 919 assists this fall to her previous three-year total at Richland Gull Lake, finishing with 3,940 for her career – 14th most on that list since the beginning of rally scoring in 2004-05. She has signed to continue at Youngstown State University.
A number of Bronson athletes contributed to one or more MHSAA Finals championships over the last three seasons, including current senior Keona Salesman who was part of three title winners from 2016-18 before her team fell a few wins short this fall. She was added to the record book for 822 kills this fall and 669 in 2017, and for 2,501 kills and 299 aces during her four-year varsity career. Meagan Lasky was added for 1,524 assists this fall, and Kiana Mayer was added for 1,777 assists in 2017 – third most since the start of rally scoring. Mayer also was added for 3,401 career assists from 2014-17, and Lasky has 3,324 over her first three seasons with one more to play. Jill Pyles (144 in 2014), Alexa Ratkowski (135 in 2014) and Kiera Lasky (140 in 2017) were added for single-season aces, and Adyson Lasky was added for 358 career aces from 2014-17. Ashton Wronikowski was added for 440 career blocks from 2015-18. Pyles went on to play at Ohio Dominican University, Ratkowski played at Trine, Kiera Lasky plays at Davenport and Wronikowski plays at West Liberty University in West Virginia.
PHOTO: Howell's AJ Militello connects with a Warren Regina pitch during the Division 1 Softball Final in June.
Livonia Standout Scores Pair of Records
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
December 10, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
It’s hard to imagine a better first season of high school lacrosse for Livonia United’s Madalyn Champagne than what she accomplished this spring for the first-year program.
Champagne, now a senior at Livonia Stevenson, set a pair of MHSAA girls lacrosse records. Her 15 goals against Royal Oak on April 12 set both the single-game goals and points records, and her 149 goals total over 21 games tied for second for goals in one season.
She also had 11 assists for a total of 160 points, which ranked sixth on the season list in that category. Total, Champagne had 18 entries added to the record book. She has signed to continue after high school at Grand Valley State University.
Click to see the girls lacrosse record book in full, and continue below for more recent records additions in girls and boys basketball, football, girls soccer, softball and volleyball.
Girls Basketball
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep’s Sarah Stuart capped off her high school career last winter with 70 3-pointers over 25 games, making the single-season list for made long-distance shots. She also finished runner-up at the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan “Top Shooters Challenge” 3-point contest played during Finals weekend in March.
Boys Basketball
It’s never too late to submit a record, and White Cloud’s Randy Mast was added for his .885 free-throw percentage during the 1966-67 season. That shooting success ranks 15th on the list and was accomplished during his senior season, when he averaged 20.8 points per game in leading the team to a 16-3 record.
Football
Coldwater got a running start on the 2019 season, in record proportions. The Cardinals made the record book on opening night with 667 total yards including 615 rushing on 59 carries. The total yardage ranks third by one team all-time for a single game, and the rushing yardage also is third on that respective list. Damon Beckhusen led the attack with 26 carries for 322 yards and three touchdowns, and Matt Gipple had 214 yards and four scores on the ground in a 47-30 win over Haslett.
Allendale’s Owen Burk just missed the single-season rushing list as a junior in 2018 with 2,069 yards over 10 games, but he was added three times for scoring. Burk had 218 points total and made the total touchdown list with 36 and the rushing touchdown list with 30. He will continue playing at Air Force.
Reggie Allen scored on a 98-yard kickoff return for Monroe on Oct. 22, 2010, against Dearborn Fordson that at the time would have been the second-longest recorded kickoff return score in MHSAA history. It currently ranks 10th on that list.
Girls Soccer
Twins Jordan Noble and Taylor Noble have helped put Boyne City soccer on the map the last two years, and big sophomore seasons in the spring landed both of them in the MHSAA record book. Jordan had 43 goals and 23 assists – including six assists in a game against Kalkaska – for 66 points, while Taylor had 35 goals and 22 assists for 57 points.
Softball
A number of Goodrich accomplishments were added from this spring’s season, including 383 hits, 42 home runs, 71 doubles and 259 RBI for the team over 38 games. Then-senior Sydney Hill and then-sophomores Savannah Stratton and Alissa Gauthier all were added for hitting back-to-back home runs (Gauthier’s during the same inning May 14 against Corunna), and then-junior Danielle Dumoulin was added for her 10 homers on the year. Additionally, the 2001 team was added for winning 35 games.
Hudson as a program earned its first team record book entries this spring in making the Division 4 Quarterfinals, with 392 hits including 77 doubles, and 295 RBI over 43 games. Then-senior Anna Stein and now-senior Flesia Borck also were added to individual lists, Stein with 16 doubles and Borck for scoring 71 runs.
Volleyball
Leland setter Ella Siddall helped her team to a Class D championship, Division 4 runner-up finish and a third trip to the Semifinals during her varsity career from 2015-18, and also graduated this past spring with the fifth-most assists during the rally scoring era that began in 2004-05 – 4,559 over her four varsity seasons. She also made the career aces list with 362, with a high of 119 as a junior in 2017. She’s continuing at DePaul University.
PHOTO: Livonia United's Maddy Champagne controls possession against Hartland. (Photo courtesy of Observer & Eccentric newspapers.)