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Leland Ace Finds Net in Record Fashion

August 26, 2014

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The Leland girls soccer team won its league and District this spring on the feet of a number of talented players, including one of the highest scorers in MHSAA history.

Sophomore Libby Munoz set a single-season record with 84 points and scored the second-most goals ever, 64 – and she’s already on the career goals list as well with 106 over two seasons.

Teammate Whitney Schaub made the single-season assists list with 22, and goalkeeper Jessica Fleis made the shutouts list with 14.

Click to see where all three rank in the MHSAA girls soccer record book, and read below for more recent additions. Click on each sport to see that record book in its entirety.

Baseball

  • Tyler Janish finished his outstanding career at Whittemore-Prescott in 2013 with career listings for runs (161), triples (13), stolen bases (114), walks (106) and ERA (1.66). His seven steals against Tawas in 2012 tied for second-most for one game, and his 64 steals as a senior rank fifth for one season. He also made the lists for season triples (7) and ERA (0.80), and is continuing his career at Oakland University. Former teammate Michael Arndt also was added, for five steals in a 2013 game against Roscommon.

Boys Basketball

  • Two of the highest-scoring quarters – played 57 years apart – were added after conversation was sparked by the most recent this winter. In a January 1957 game, Calumet scored 43 points – now standing third in MHSAA history for one quarter – in the final period of an 83-78 win over Ironwood. This winter, in a District opener, Lake Linden-Hubbell nearly equaled the feat with 42 points in the second quarter of an 82-41 win over Chassell. 

Girls Basketball

  • Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes’ run through Class D from 2010-13 – including three straight championships and a runner-up finish – included a number of key contributions from a strong core group of players. Lauren Robak finished with the fifth-most free throws made in MHSAA career history, 511, and also made the career 3-pointers list with 160 from 2008-11 and with 15 free throws in a game during the 2007-08 season. Younger sister Lexie Robak made the single-season 3-pointers list twice with 74 and 76, and is sixth on the career list with 232 total from 2010-13. She also finished with 106 varsity games played – tying for third most – while teammates Ava Doetsch and Jessica Parry both played in 103 games over the same four seasons. Lauren Robak played at Oakland University and now plays at Northwood University, while Doetsch plays soccer at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

Boys Lacrosse

  • Portage Central’s expansive list of top performers were added to the MHSAA records, topped by Casey Mannes’ single-game records of 10 assists and 18 total points in a win over Kalamazoo United on April 12, 2011. He’s listed eight times including for single-season assists (42) and points (103). Former teammate Zack Grusell is listed 11 times including for season (83) and career goals (169), season assists (44), and season (127) and career points (249). He broke some of the school records of Barry Beranek, listed for season (71) and career goals (166) and season (108) and career points (253), among other categories. Matt Schuen also is listed for career points, with 231, and Isaac Hazen and Zach Kinney both made the single-game goals list. Beranek went on to play at Ithaca College in New York, while Grusell and Hazen play for the Grand Valley State University Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association team.  

  • Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern’s Christian Carlson set an MHSAA record for goals (11) in one game and had the fourth-most points (13) as his team defeated Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood 25-20 on April 19. Those two teams also were included as the first entry for combined goals scored by two teams in one game.

  • Mattawan’s David Stafford, now playing for St. John’s University, ranks third with 364 career points including 202 goals (fifth on that list) and 162 assists (second on that list) from his four-year varsity career from 2010-13. He had a single-game second-best 17 points including nine goals on April 23, 2013, against Kalamazoo United, and tied for second-most points in a game with 13 against Portage Northern on April 11 of that year. 

  • Zach Schwartz led Ann Arbor Skyline to a 14-4-1 record in only his sophomore season this spring, scoring 54 goals to go with 34 assists for 88 points. The Ann Arbor News reported that Schwartz has committed to sign with the University of Michigan to continue his career after high school.

Softball

  • Springport’s Taylor Heisler graduated this spring among MHSAA leaders in career hits (239), doubles (50), home runs (23) and RBI (184), with her hits ranked 13th and her RBI tied for 10th. She also made the single-season hits list twice with 71 in 2012 and 73 in 2014, and teammate Sam Bates was added for 73 hits in 2011 and 70 in 2012. Heisler will continue her career at Siena Heights University and Bates signed with Ferris State University.

Wrestling

  • Utica Ford’s Tevin Machart capped his career this winter with a fourth-place Division 1 Finals finish at 140 pounds. He also set an MHSAA season record with 31 technical falls and ended his career with 50 and a record of 187-35. He’ll continue to wrestle at Central Michigan University.

PHOTO: Libby Munoz, here working past a defender, has scored 106 goals in two seasons of varsity soccer. (Photo courtesy of Leland High School.)

P-W's Smith Breaks Away for Records

April 1, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Jared Smith has a season to play for the Pewamo-Westphalia football team.

But he had an incredible season to remember as a junior last fall in literally carrying the Pirates’ offense to Ford Field.

Smith set MHSAA records with 3,250 yards rushing (on 315 carries; 10.3 yards per carry), total touchdowns in a season with 53 and rushing touchdowns in a season as all 53 came on the ground. His 22 2-point conversions helped give him a season total of 364 points, good for second on the MHSAA list for that category. He also earned a records entry with six rushing touchdowns in a playoff win over Carson City-Crystal on Oct. 30.

The 6-foot, 195-pound running back also ran for more than 2,100 yards as a sophomore and should push into the career rushing leaders by the time this fall is complete – especially if P-W replicates its team finish of 2015, when it was runner-up in Division 7 after a 22-16 loss to Ishpeming in the MHSAA Final.

See below for more recent record entries for football, boys soccer, softball and volleyball, and click each sport heading to see that record book in full. 

Football

Of 186 passes Jondell Jones completed for Bangor over 28 high school games the last four seasons, 57 went for touchdowns including a high of 21 in eight games as a sophomore. Jones started the final two games of his freshman season and then through senior year last fall.

Quarterback Tony Poljan and receiver Tony Palmer played leading roles in Lansing Catholic’s combined record of 30-8 over the last three seasons and trip to the Division 5 championship game in 2014. Poljan finished his career in the fall placing in the MHSAA records with 390 completions, 682 attempts, 6,179 yards and 59 touchdowns passing over mostly three seasons as quarterback. Palmer ranked with 134 receptions, 2,036 yards and 21 touchdowns receiving over his three seasons. Poljan will play next at Central Michigan University, and Palmer has signed with Northern Michigan University. Also added for Lansing Catholic was Jack Swain for a 99-yard scoring run against Albion in 2010, and Demond Winston, Bob Fata and Brent Nakfoor for tackles for losses during seasons in the mid-1980s. Winston went on to play for Vanderbilt and then the New Orleans Saints, while Fata played collegiately at Michigan State.

Boys Soccer

Simon Roennecke was limited to only nine games in the fall for Birmingham Roeper. But he still tallied 29 goals and two assists to join the career goals list with 98 and move up the career assists (56) and points (154) lists with a season to play. His 154 career points are tied for 17th-most in MHSAA history.

Softball

Midland’s softball team made the doubles listing with 64 in 2015 on the way to a Regional title, and Maya Kipfmiller led the way with 17 doubles to make the individual record book. Kipfmiller was a sophomore last season, hitting .504 as an outfielder and first baseman and pitching to a 1.17 ERA according to a report by the Saginaw News.

Katie Kish finished a fine four-year varsity career for Grosse Pointe South last spring ranking 13th in MHSAA history with a career batting average of .547. She hit .605 as a senior, with her 66 stolen bases tying for 10th in one season, her 78 hits tying for 14th and her 208 career hits and 39 career doubles also making records lists. She’s continuing her softball career at Hillsdale College.

Coleman’s run to a Division 4 Quarterfinal last season saw the Comets score nearly 10 runs per game – 408 total, led by junior Carley Starnes’ 68. Both totals made MHSAA records lists, as did Cassidy Tucker’s seven RBI in a 20-5 win over Merrill. Coleman finished the season 33-8.

Volleyball

Meredith Norris bettered one of her MHSAA records and continued climbing toward a few others, while Corunna teammate Skylar Napier also put list-worthy touches on her high school career in the fall. Norris’ 56 kills against Goodrich on Nov. 7 set an MHSAA record by three over the 53 kills she had against Goodrich nearly a year to the day prior. Norris also made the single-season kills list for the third time with 836 and ranks seventh on the career kills list with 2,287 and a season to play. Napier finished on the career assists list with 2,912 over three seasons and on the single-match assists list three times including with a last-season high 52 in that Goodrich match.

South Lyon’s Hannah Barton tied for the sixth-most assists during the rally scoring era in a Nov. 10 match against Farmington Hills Mercy. She had 59 over five games, only eight shy of the record, in her team's 3-2 loss.

Saginaw Swan Valley’s run to a record 58 wins and a Class B Regional Final berth in the fall was keyed by a number of strong individual performances. Lauren Huebner made the MHSAA records with 32 kills in a three-game match against Chesaning, 813 kills for the season and 2,109 for her four-year varsity career; the single-season kills rank 15th and the career kills 10th during the rally scoring era. Senior Larissa Crook is listed with 16 aces in a match against Saginaw, 51 assists in a four-game match against Belding, and 129 aces and 1,439 assists both for one season last fall – her assists rank 11th on that list. Senior Noelle Champagne also made the single-match aces list with 15 against Saginaw.

PHOTO: Pewamo-Westphalia's Jared Smith looks for an opening during last season's Division 7 Final against Ishpeming at Ford Field.