Kraatz' Goal: Set Teammates Up to Score

April 10, 2014

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Allen Park Inter-City Baptist's Evan Kraatz will graduate this spring as the most accomplished passer in MHSAA history. 

And that's not just because of Kraatz' publicized accomplishment this winter. 

The Chargers' senior made headlines in reportedly breaking the MHSAA career basketball assists record (that milestone will be added to the records upon confirmation). But Kraatz also had a flare for dishing on the soccer field, finishing with 102 career assists on the pitch – second only to his assistant coach Nathan Chatfield’s total of 105 tallied during the latter’s career at Burt Lake Northern Michigan Christian. 

Kraatz also made the MHSAA single-season assists list three times with a high of 30 during Inter-City Baptist’s Division 4 championship season of 2011. His 185 points total (including 83 goals) rank 12th on the MHSAA career list for that category.

See below for additional recent entries to the MHSAA boys soccer and other record listings, and click on the headines to see all entries for those respective sports.

Boys Soccer

  • As Kraatz led that 2011 Inter-City Baptist team in assists, teammate Steven Fiema was added for his 43 goals and 59 points during the title run. Fiema now plays for NAIA Grace College in Indiana. 

  • St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic junior Danny McEachen is climbing the career points list as well with 143 over his first three seasons. His 52 goals and 64 points this fall both made the single-season lists for those categories, and total he’s scored 103 goals for Lake Michigan Catholic.

  • Bellaire’s Drew Emery also has a talent for setting up teammates, posting a school-record 26 assists this fall and finishing his four-year career with 72 – good for ninth on that list. Teammate Denny Hall was added to the single-game assists list for tallying five in a 6-1 win over Roscommon on Sept. 19. Emery will play at Albion College this fall.

Boys Basketball

  • Jake Daniels ranked 22nd on the single-season free throw percentage list, making 84 of 98 for a .857 success rate for Holly this season. Daniels, a junior, was one of the top scorers in the Flint Metro League.

Football

  • A pair of Comstock Park quarterbacks and a receiver they both enjoyed were added for multiple categories. Jake Brown was included additionally to previous listings after finishing his career in 2012 with 368 completions in 646 attempts for 5,189 yards. Pat Naughton, the quarterback last season, completed 153 of 252 passes for 2,282 yards to make those single-season lists. Receiver Jake Bush caught 80 passes – 10th on the single-season receptions list – in 2012, and 141 passes – tied for 15th most in a career – from 2011-13.

Softball

  • Comstock Park’s Casey Cherry was added to a group of 15 who have thrown back-to-back no-hitters. Cherry held Cedar Springs hitless in both ends of a doubleheader on May 7, 2009, as her team won 10-0 and 8-1. She struck out 13 over the two games.

Volleyball

  • New Buffalo’s Jade Madison is finishing off an outstanding three-sport career that’s included all-state recognition in basketball and an MHSAA discus championship in track and field – she’ll continue to compete in that sport at Western Michigan University. Madison also left her mark on the volleyball court with 1,502 career kills, including 579 as a senior.

  • Frankenmuth’s Lindsey Mertz had a record-setting performance to finish off her freshman season this fall. She totaled 48 assists in a Class B District match to make that single-match list, although the Eagles fell in four games to Mount Morris.

Wrestling

  • Durand’s Roger Wildmo won three MHSAA championships and 118 straight matches before graduating in 2011. He’s listed for various accomplishments, including 59-0 seasons as a junior and senior, a 230-2 career record and 163 career pins. Teammate Evan Lowell made the single-season escapes list with 77 and career list with 152 before also graduating in 2011. Wildmo now wrestles at Michigan State University.

  • Imlay City had a pair added to the career record list – Sam Lyscas, who won 209 matches before graduating in 2012, and Kevin Ahrens, who won 192 before graduating in 2009. Ahrens also made the career pins list with 119. 

PHOTO: Allen Park Inter-City Baptist's Evan Kraatz (10, in blue) pushes the ball upfield during his four-year career that came to an end this fall. (Photo courtesy of the Inter-City Baptist soccer program.)

Records Report: Buchanan's Bowen Among Best

April 29, 2013

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Letitia Bowen led Buchanan to the top of Class C in 1990 with 31 points and 13 rebounds in a 42-34 MHSAA Final win over Detroit Country Day that gave the Bucks their first girls basketball title.

Nearly 24 years later, she now officially dwells as well among the top rebounders in Michigan high school history.

This week's "Records Report" recalls the mid-1980s and just a month ago, plus both decades between. Make sure to click on the sport subtitle to go directly to the record book for that sport and find directions to submit candidates.

Girls Basketball

  • Buchanan’s Letitia Bowen joined the ranks of the MHSAA’s all-time top rebounders. Her 460 over 28 games in 1990 rank second for one season, and her 1,093 (14 per game) rank ninth. Also, Nicole Tucker moved into ninth place for career 3-pointers with 200. Her 67 as a senior made the single-season list – she connected on 49.6 percent of her 3-point tries that fall. Shelly Bender also was added for her 15 free throws during a 2001 game.

Hockey

  • Warren DeLaSalle tied an MHSAA record this season, but in an unprecedented way. Against Trenton on Feb. 13, DeLaSalle scored twice in seven seconds – tying Flint Carman-Ainsworth in 1995 for the fastest two goals by a team. But DeLaSalle scored both while playing short-handed with a player serving a penalty. Anthony Lipari scored the first goal off an Antonio Tejerna assist at 10:23 of the third period, and Liam McKenna then scored unassisted at 10:30. Trenton eventually held off DeLaSalle to win 5-4.

Wrestling

  • Past MHSAA individual champions Kamron Jackson and Drakkar Klose of South Haven both were added for their career wins and career pins – Jackson finished 209-17 with 140 pins from 2004-08, and Klose went 204-14 with 121 pins from 2003-07. South Haven’s Jamie McCloughan also was added for his 114 pins from 1985-89.

Volleyball

  • A trio of Sault Ste. Marie players was added, including two for top performances in a four-game win over Pickford on Oct. 25, 2011. In that match, Josie Werner had 40 kills – second-most in a five-game match during the rally scoring era – and Kylee Fitzpatrick had 40 assists. Werner finished that season with a school-record 743 kills, and Fitzpatrick finished her career with 3,172 assists, good for 14th on that MHSAA list. Katie Fitzpatrick made the single-season kills list with 723 in 2009.
  • Troy setter Lindsay Moeller finished her career in the fall as one of 18 setters now in the MHSAA record book with at least 3,000 assists during the rally scoring era – she finished with 3,052. Moeller’s 1,350 assists this season tied for 15th on the single-season list, and she’s also mentioned three times for assists in one match.

    Boys Basketball

    • Lake Leelanau St. Mary’s Nick Hahnenberg tried to bring his team all the way back against Maple City Glen Lake in their Class D District Final in 1996. He scored 26 points – tied for fourth-most in a quarter – in the final period although his team went on to lose to Glen Lake 88-68. Glen Lake coach Don Miller later wrote in a letter to the editor of The Leelanau Enterprise that after Hahnenberg’s third 3-pointer of the run, he spontaneously stood and applauded – rare perhaps for an opposing coach but warranted for this incredible feat.

    Football

    • Mitch Robinson quarterbacked Auburn Hills Avondale to a 17-13 record and two playoff appearances during his three seasons from 2009-11, and his name appears 13 times in the MHSAA record book. The recent additions are for his career numbers; his 73 passing touchdowns are sixth, his 6,213 passing yards are eighth, his 752 attempts 10th and his 401 completions 12th on those respective lists. A Midland Daily News report in February reported Robinson, as a redshirt freshman, would be among six vying for the starting spot at Division II Northwood this fall.
    • The Siler brothers of Crystal Falls Forest Park carried, literally, the Trojans’ offense for large parts of the last decade. Jacob Siler was added to the record book twice for his six-touchdown performance in a 2011 playoff win over Stephenson – during which he tied the MHSAA record with five first-quarter scores as Forest Park went on to win 50-43. Josh Siler was added four times, including for 206 points in 2008 and 446 total for his career. He and Kyle LaVacque both were added for having more than 40 carries in games.
    • Birmingham Brother Rice kicker Jason Alessi has one more season to play for the Warriors and should finish as one of the MHSAA’s best ever at his position. He already was in the record book in the extra-point and longest kickoff return categories for a Final from last fall, but has been added five more times – most notably for his 63 straight extra points going back to 2011. His streak is tied for eighth longest – and he could chase the record of 123 by Lowell's Jerry Adams set from 2007-08.

    Boys Soccer

    • Monroe Jefferson took a tough loss in its first-round District game in the fall – a shootout defeat to Dearborn Henry Ford. But Jefferson goalkeeper David Salliotte did make 45 saves (not counting those in the shootout), the second-highest save total for one game.

    PHOTO: Buchanan's Letitia Bowen (33) dominated in the post as the Bucks won the Class C Final over Detroit Country Day in 1990.