Ithaca's Smith Stands Among Top QBs

April 7, 2014

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Ithaca, and quarterback Travis Smith in particular, are all over the MHSAA football record book after extending the program’s winning streak to 56 straight games in 2013.

The streak is the second-longest in MHSAA history and longest that's taken place entirely during the playoff era. And three of those four straight perfect seasons came with Smith running the offense.

He finished his career with 468 completions in 691 attempts for 8,044 yards and 104 touchdowns passing. The TDs are an MHSAA record and the yards rank second. He threw for 42 touchdowns in 2013, which ranked fourth for one season, and 3,278 yards, good for ninth-most. He will play his college football at Wake Forest University.

Teammate Logan Hessbrook caught 19 touchdown passes in 2013 to tie for ninth-most in a season. Kickers Sage DeMull and Alex Vanderploeg also were added after both connected on more than 70 extra-point kicks the last two years, respectively, and Markes Gadlen was added after tying the record for longest kickoff-return touchdown with a 99-yarder against Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary in 2012.

Click to see the MHSAA football record book, and read on for more recent entries for other sports.

Football

  • Detroit Cesar Chavez Academy quarterback Omar Salih threw a lot of passes last fall – 428, second most in MHSAA history for one season. He made the single-game attempts list five times, with a high of 60 throws against Dearborn Heights Annapolis, and completed a high of 30 passes (in 51 attempts) against Dearborn Heights Star International. He finished with 3,293 yards passing and 32 touchdowns, both in only nine games. Teammate Nate Drew finished with 69 catches last fall for 1,376 yards and 19 TDs. His 2,748 receiving yards over four seasons rank seventh on the MHSAA career list.

Baseball

  • Monroe Jefferson’s Tyler Castiglione got nearly around the bases more than anyone else in MHSAA history in 2013, with a record 15 triples that also helped him set the career triples record of 25. Both will make national record book lists, with the 15 last season ranking fourth in NFHS history. Castiglione also graduated with a .482 career batting average and 1.63 career ERA. He now plays for Spring Arbor University.
  • Richland Gull Lake won more than 70 games over the 2011-12 seasons, and the MHSAA records reflect a few more performances that drove the run. Colton Bradley was added for 66 hits and 21 doubles in 2012, while Connor Owen made the single-season (19) and career (29) hit-by-pitch lists. The 2012 Gull Lake team moved to the top of the team hit-by-pitch list with 72, and Patrick Gaudard finished his career that spring with 38 over three seasons. Nate Stegman was added for his 1.34 ERA over two varsity seasons, as was Bob Cole for his 1.27 over 1980-81.

Boys Basketball

  • A trio of Manistique players was added for accomplishments from a few decades ago. Bill Pistulka made the single-season rebounds list with 316 in 1974-75, and brother John Pistulka made the career list with 722 from 1975-78. Rob Ryan made the season free throw percentage list by hitting 87.7 percent of his attempts during the 1988-89 season.

Boys Lacrosse

  • DeWitt’s Jackson Iciek just missed tying the MHSAA record for goalie saves in a 10-7 loss to Okemos last season. He tallied 23 saves, one shy of tying the record. 

Softball

  • With a season to play, Saginaw Heritage’s Lacy Tolfree has the sixth-highest career batting average (.580) in MHSAA history and also makes career lists with 181 runs and 43 doubles. She also was added for a 22-game hitting streak that ended last May and back-to-back grand slams that led to nine RBI total on April 22 of last year.
  • Perry’s Lauren Aldrich joined an elite group who have hit at least 10 home runs in a season, doing so last spring in 81 at bats. She hit .531 for the season.

Girls Tennis

  • Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Central’s Meika Ashby finished her high school career last season with her third MHSAA singles championship – and second at No. 1 – a final record of 94-1 after going 25-0 last spring, and the MHSAA record with 71 matches won 6-0, 6-0, during her career. Ashby is playing now at Western Michigan University.

Volleyball

  • A pair of Onaway athletes were added for successes during the 2012 season. Megan Estep had 14 aces in a three-game match against Wolverine and 50 assists in four games against Fife Lake Forest Area to make those single-match lists. Teammate Devin Bristley had 112 aces to make the season listing. 

PHOTO: Ithaca quarterback Travis Smith rolls out during his team’s Semifinal win over Montrose in November. (Click to see more from High School Sports Scene.)

P-W, Spitzley Shine with Record Range

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

May 22, 2018

Three-point shooting played a big part in Pewamo-Westphalia’s run to the Class C Girls Basketball Semifinals this winter, led by senior guard Emily Spitzley.

She has been added to the MHSAA record book for 71 3-pointers this season and 165 over her four-season career. As a team, the Pirates made the list with 489 3-point attempts this winter – and tied for sixth all-time with 190 3-pointers made over 26 games.

Spitzley will continue her career at Grand Valley State University.

Click to see where she ranks in the girls basketball record book, and read on for more recent record book additions in baseball, boys basketball, girls soccer, softball, boys tennis and wrestling. Click on the headings to see those record books in full.

Baseball

Frankfort’s 36-1 season in 2017 included a pair of team accomplishments that rank among the best all-time. The Panthers finished with a 1.07 team ERA, good for fifth on that list, and with Jack Morrow (0.97) and Kirk Myers (1.07) making the individual record book. Additionally, Frankfort hit .361, and Brett Zimmerman was added for being hit with 16 pitches. All three players are seniors this spring. Morrow will continue his career at Albion College, while Zimmerman will play at Wayne State.

North Adams-Jerome had a busy first inning May 1 against Litchfield, scoring 27 runs. And junior Gabriele Voisin played a record-setting part. He was hit with pitches all four plate appearances in the inning to double up the previous record for HBP in one frame.

Boys Basketball

Thanks to an alum’s observation this spring, Benton Harbor’s 1964-65 Class A championship team was added for scoring 97.1 points per game – good for the second-highest average in MHSAA history. The Tigers scored more than 100 points in seven games, with a high of 120 on the way to finishing 23-0.

Mio freshman Drew Hess opened his high school career this winter with multiple achievements worthy of record book mention. He drilled 81 3-pointers in helping his team to the Class D Regional Finals, and also made 85 percent of his free throw attempts to rank on that list.

Girls Soccer

A pair of Grosse Ile standouts capped their careers in 2016 among the most accomplished in state history. Caroline Fleming had 39 goals and 28 assists as a senior to finish with 121 goals, 101 assists and 222 points over four years – her career assists rank third all-time and her career points are fourth. Keeper Olivia Reckley added 18 shutouts for a career total of 72, which ranks second on that all-time list. Lindsay Miles, now a senior, had 25 assists that spring of 2016. As a team, Grosse Ile was added for scoring 150 goals, giving up only nine and tallying 20 shutouts on the way to the Division 3 Semifinals. Fleming plays at Adrian College, and Reckley plays at Wellesley College in Massachusetts.

Softball

Muskegon Reeths-Puffer junior MaKayla Thompson earned a record-book entry against one of the state’s best teams April 12. Thompson made the list for most strikeouts in an extra-inning game, fanning 26 against Muskegon Oakridge, which is ranked No. 8 in Division 2 this week. Thompson struck out 12 of the 14 batters she faced after the seventh inning of her team’s 4-3 win. She has committed to continue her career after high school at Kent State University.

Madelin Skene has earned 10 entries in the MHSAA record book and will move up at least two career lists when this season is done. Among the Hartland senior’s accomplishments were nine RBI in one game against Clarkston last season, 10 home runs as both a sophomore and junior, 27 career home runs entering this spring and 150 career RBI with a season to play as well. Senior teammate Brianna Robeson was added for 71 hits in 2017 and a 29-game hitting streak stretching over the end of her sophomore season and most of her junior year. Senior Hannah Mourad had home runs in three straight at bats this May 16 against Brighton, and senior Delanie Grundman was added for homers in consecutive at bats against Grand Blanc on April 25; 2016 graduate Delaney Greene also was added multiple times for homers in consecutive at bats. As a team, Hartland was added nine times including for 427 hits and 303 RBI in 2017 and 76 doubles in 2015. Skene will continue her career at University of Michigan-Dearborn, Robeson will play at Hillsdale College, Grundman has signed with Northwood and Greene plays for Cleary University.

Boys Tennis

Midland Dow tied for second in Lower Peninsula Division 2 in the fall on the strength of another group of record setters. Junior Tyler Conrad made the singles single-season wins list with a 34-5 record, and he’ll carry 39 career wins of 6-0, 6-0 and 23 career tournament victories into his final season. On the doubles side, Aditya Middha and Saketh Kamaraju both were added for 36 wins in 2017, with Gopal Parthasarathy and Daniel Zhang tallying 31. Zhang finished his four-year career with 109 doubles wins and 19 doubles tournament championships. Ryan Killmaster was added for 93 doubles wins over four seasons, with Noah Nichols making the career list with 88, Parthasarathy with 85 and Middha with 71.

Wrestling

Gaylord’s Derek Giallombardo capped his high school career this winter with a Division 2 championship at 125 pounds and three entries in the record book. He was added to the single-season wins list for going 59-4 as a junior and 58-3 as a sophomore, and to the career wins list at 207-14. He will continue his career at Ohio University. 

PHOTO: Pewamo-Westphalia’s Emily Spitzley (32) passes to a teammate during the Class C Semifinal against Detroit Edison at Calvin College.