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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.)

Sault's LaCross Ties National HBP Record

June 9, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Nick LaCross got on base more than half the times he appeared at the plate for Sault Ste. Marie this spring, with an on-base percentage of .531.

He had 29 hits – and also was hit 29 times by pitches, setting an MHSAA record and tying the national record set in 1965.

LaCross, a junior, was hit by pitches three times in two games. Teammate Travis Zaborowski joined him on the hit-by-pitch record list, also getting hit by pitches three times in a game. As a team, Sault Ste. Marie tied for 11th on the MHSAA single-season HBP list with 53.

Click to see all of the MHSAA record book for baseball and below for the rest of this week’s record additions for girls basketball, boys basketball, boys lacrosse, girls soccer, softball and wrestling.  

Girls Basketball

  • A pair of the state’s most successful coaches over the last two decades were added to the coaching list with more than 300 wins to their credit. Houghton’s Julie Filpus has a 345-55 record since taking over in 1999 and led teams that made MHSAA Semifinals in 2006 and 2013 and won the Class C championship in 2005. Houghton finished 19-6 this season.

  • Doug Harkema led Bellevue to a 16-5 finish in 1993, then took over Holt the following fall and won 290 games toward his career record of 306-186. His teams have won nine District titles and reached Regional Semifinals four seasons. The Rams finished 15-8 this winter.

Boys Basketball

  • It took 25 years to get his due in the MHSAA record book, but Blissfield’s Greg Denecker has been added for 1,006 rebounds during his career stretching from 1987-90. His total ranks 11th and would’ve ranked seventh when he graduated from high school. Denecker went on to play at the University of Findlay.

  • DeShawn Brocks led Detroit Westside Christian Academy to a 13-7 record this winter supplying both offensive and defensive prowess. The senior scored 21 points per game, and also made the MHSAA record listings with 102 steals. He had a season-high 11 steals in a 70-48 win over Detroit University Prep Science & Math; that total made the single-game MHSAA list for that category.

  • Owosso senior Jalen Weekley finished his career among the sharpest shooters in MHSAA history, drilling at least 70 3-pointers for the second time in three seasons to finish his career with 192. Weekley had a high of 72 as a sophomore, his first season on the varsity. He will continue his basketball career this fall at Mid-Michigan Community College.

Boys Lacrosse

  • Zachary Montgomery nearly outscored his team’s opponent himself on April 21, putting eight goals in the net to lead Spring Lake to a 22-9 win over Lowell. Montgomery also had an assist in the game and was one of his team’s leading scorers this season.

Girls Soccer

  • Danielle Eastman finished her Brooklyn Columbia Central career in Saturday’s Division 3 District Final – and among the leading scorers in MHSAA history. Her 84 points this season – on 63 goals and 21 assists – tied an MHSAA record set in 2014 by Leland’s Libby Munoz. Eastman finished third on the career points list with 216 over her four-season varsity career, with her 63 goals this season and 167 for her career also ranking third on those lists. She scored in 26 straight games including all 23 this season and dating to the final three of 2014. Eastman has signed to continue at Siena Heights University.

Softball

  • Brooklyn Columbia Central’s Abbey Hatler had a strong performance against East Jackson on May 3 – in fact, she had an incredibly productive inning. Hatler finished 2 for 2 in the game, scoring three runs, and drove in six – enough to make the MHSAA list for RBI in one game. She also became the first entry for RBI in one inning – all six came during the first, when she had a grand slam and a double.

Wrestling

  • New Baltimore Anchor Bay coach Jim Morisette won the 600th match of his career this season as his team finished 37-1, its best record in his 24 seasons of guidance. Morisette is 609-200 total after coaching Algonac from 1986-89 and then at Anchor Bay beginning with the 1991-92 season. The Tars advanced this winter to the MHSAA Division 2 Semifinals, losing by just a point to eventual runner-up Hartland. 

PHOTO: Sault Ste. Marie's Nick LaCross reacts after getting hit by a pitch this season, one of 29 pitches that made contact with him as he tied a national record. (Photo courtesy of Sault Ste. Marie athletic department.)