LaDuke's Defense Aids Ludington Rise
December 20, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Ludington’s run to the Class B championship game last winter was the result of a number of contributions – including senior Sam LaDuke’s on defense.
The now-graduated guard finished last season with 141 steals, third-most in MHSAA history, and with two games of 11 steals apiece (against Traverse City Central and Cadillac) that made the single-game record book list in that category.
LaDuke, who is continuing his career at Calvin College, also averaged 10.4 points per game as Ludington advanced to an MHSAA Finals for the first time since 1953.
Click to see the boys basketball record book in full and read on for more recent additions in football, girls and boys soccer, softball, volleyball and wrestling.
Football
Austin Brown set an MHSAA record on the first night of this recently-completed season, throwing eight touchdown passes for Madison Heights Madison during the first half of a 54-7 win over Warren Lincoln on Aug. 24. His six TD tosses in the second quarter tied another record, and those eight total also tied for second-most in one game. The junior quarterback finished the night 18 of 20 passing for 352 yards despite not playing during the second half.
Mesick senior Ethan Humphreys became the first entry on the list for longest fumble recovery touchdown in 8-player history when he snagged a Baldwin handoff and returned it 97 yards for a score on Sept. 8. It was one of Humphreys’ many contributions on the night – he also threw for two touchdowns, ran for two more scores and grabbed an interception in the 54-8 victory.
Girls Soccer
Kelly Bertera was a freshman on the first Southgate Anderson girls soccer team in 1996. Her nine goals in an 11-0 win over Taylor Truman that spring are tied for second-most in one game; she also had two assists in the victory.
Boys Soccer
Ithaca’s Cavun Beck scored eight goals in an Aug. 22 win over Durand, tying for the third-most scored in one game. The Yellowjackets senior also became the first to score at least that many in one contest since 2004, and he also assisted on the ninth goal as his team won 9-5.
Softball
Richland Gull Lake then-sophomore Lauren Esman was one of three players across the state to break the previous MHSAA record for home runs in a season last spring, and she ranks third on the list after knocking 21 (two others hit 22). She also has been added to the record book for 74 runs scored, 81 hits, 24 doubles, 91 RBI and a .675 batting average last season – her RBI rank fourth and her doubles tied for eighth on those lists. Esman has 25 home runs over her career so far and also was added seven times for single-game homers or RBI. Teammate Ashton Whitman (now a senior) also made the records with 20 doubles last season and six RBI in a game, and Shelby Martell (also now a senior) was added for six RBI in a game as well. Esman already has committed to sign with University of Michigan.
Utica Ford’s Meagan VerVaecke finished her career in the spring with a couple of notable accomplishments. Her 17 doubles over 37 games made the single-season list in that category, and her two third-inning home runs against Almont in a May 6 win were added to lists for two consecutive homers and in the same inning. VerVaecke is continuing her career at Saginaw Valley State.
Recent Sterling Heights graduate Shelby Segar earned a spot in the record book with eight RBI in her team’s 19-16 loss to New Haven on May 17. She finished 5 for 5 in the game with pair of doubles. Segar was a four-year varsity player.
Volleyball
Ludington senior Mackenzie Luce dominated a three-set win over Muskegon Heights Academy on Sept. 19, setting a pair of serving records with 20 aces in one game and 32 over the best-of-five match as her team won 25-5, 25-0, 25-7. Luce’s single-game record broke that of another Ludington athlete, Madisyn Brockelbank, who had 17 aces in one game during a 2013 match.
Wrestling
Connor Charping became the latest four-year standout to be added for more than 200 wins, finishing last winter with a career record of 204-24. He also made the career pins list with 119 over those 228 matches. In addition, freshman teammate Sam Rickman was added to the records for tying the fastest pin at 112 pounds, earning a victory in six seconds on Dec. 10, 2016. An MHSAA Finals runner-up in 2016, Charping is continuing his athletic career as part of the Western Michigan baseball program.
PHOTO: Ludington’s Sam LaDuke (10) applies defensive pressure during last season’s Class B Semifinal win over River Rouge.
Nadolny Blasts Way to Top of MHSAA Career Homers List
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
April 20, 2021
Brooke Nadolny capped her career at Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse in 2019 with 30 record book entries – and as the most prolific power hitter in MHSAA history.
Even as home run totals have increased over the last decade, Nadolny’s 73 over 141 career games are 18 more than the next-highest total. She also is listed for career hits (243), doubles (61), runs (226), RBI (196), walks (80) and batting average (.533).
Teammate Cynthia Galvan also was added to the MHSAA record book for a 2019 achievement of 16 doubles, and Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse as a team was added for 60 doubles and 36 homers in 2017 and 80 doubles and 27 homers in 2019.
Galvan, who graduated in 2020, has joined Nadolny in continuing at Wayne State.
See more recent record book additions below in boys basketball, softball, volleyball and wrestling, and click on the sport headings to see those record books in full.
Boys Basketball
Tyler Horky capped his four-season Manchester varsity career in 2020 with more of the scoring that made him tough defend, especially that Feb. 12 against Vandercook Lake. That night he scored 58 points, including 27 in the third quarter – tying the second-most for a quarter all-time with the most by any player since 2008. He also made the record book with 170 free throws in 203 attempts as a senior and 328 in 415 attempts for his career. Horky is continuing at Kalamazoo College.
Pellston’s Blake Cassidy graduated last spring as one of the most prolific 3-point shooters in MHSAA history. He made 227 3-pointers in 596 attempts over 95 games from 2017-20, tying for 18th-most 3-pointers for a career. He’s continuing his career at Lake Superior State.
Brad Simonsen reached the record book with the 13th-most points in one game on Feb. 4, 2020, scoring 63 for Houghton against Ishpeming to also break the school record of 60 scored by Gary Lange in a 1970 contest. Simonsen is continuing his career at Michigan Tech.
Wyoming 2020 grad Menalito McGee established himself as one of the state’s sharpest 3-point shooters as a senior, putting up two of the top-five long-range shooting performances of all-time over a two-week span. He made 12 3-pointers – tied for fourth – against Middleville Thornapple Kellogg on Jan. 28, 2020, then connected on 14 – second most all-time – against Wayland that Feb. 11. He is continuing his career at Aquinas College.
Over the first five days of February 2020, Hannahville Nah Tah Wahsh accomplished a 3-point shooting feat rarely seen – and did so twice. That Feb. 1, Hannahville sank 20 3-pointers, tying at the time for sixth-most in one game, in a 68-20 win over Mackinac Island. Four days later on Feb. 5, Hannahville connected on the third-most 3-pointers in a game, 24, during a 73-39 win over Big Bay de Noc. The Soaring Eagles scored all of their points on 3-pointers and free throws in both games.
Softball
Heidi Walters was among standouts who was unable to add to her career totals in 2020 because the season was canceled due to COVID-19, but she planted multiple entries in the records for home runs and RBI. She had 14 homers and 71 RBI as a junior in 2019 for Traverse City Central, making the record book for both, and she finished with 27 career homers over her first three seasons including playing her first two at Traverse City St. Francis. She is continuing at Concordia-Ann Arbor.
Volleyball
Bloomfield Hills’ Alexa Rousseau capped her four-year varsity career in 2019 as a Miss Volleyball Award finalist, and her excellence is now included in the record book as well. Rousseau just missed the single-season assists list as a senior but made the career list with 3,673 over 458 games to rank 24th all-time. She twice made the single-season aces lists, with a high of 159 as a senior, and her 458 total rank fifth on the career list in that category. Rousseau is continuing her career at Northwestern.
Jamie Burke earned an entry with 13 aces during Johannesburg-Lewiston’s two-set win over Fairview on Aug. 26, 2019. Burke was a junior at the time.
Wrestling
Kyle Woodruff already had a records entry for his 59-0 season for Pinconning in 2005-06, but he’s been added twice more. Woodruff finished 58-5 the season before as a junior and a combined 203-37 over his four high school seasons.
PHOTO: Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse’s Brooke Nadolny crosses the plate during a game her senior season in 2019. (Photo courtesy of C&G Newspapers.)