Leslie's Storr Takes Down MHSAA Record
May 4, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Kanen Storr began his varsity career with a 58-0 record as a freshman in 2012-13 and finished with a 58-0 record this winter in winning his third MHSAA individual championship for Leslie.
Along the way, Storr also joined the MHSAA career wins list with a final 227-3 record and set a career takedowns record with 1,185.
The Iowa State University recruit also made career lists with 1,223 team points, 146 pins and 126 two-point near falls. His championships came at 103 pounds as a freshman, 135 as a junior and 145 during this final high school season.
Click to see where he ranks in all categories of the MHSAA wrestling record book, and see below for more recent record book additions for baseball, girls and boys basketball and boys soccer.
Baseball
Jackson’s Trevor Polewka finished his high school career in 2015 with a second single-season entry for stolen bases, with 51, and now the fifth spot on the career stolen bases list with 147 over four varsity seasons. He plays currently at Kellogg Community College.
Karyssa Austin made the MHSAA records with 71 3-pointers in 183 tries over 20 games for Marine City this winter. The junior also has 156 3-pointers over three varsity seasons to make the career list with another season to play – and with a similar showing as this winter would finish among the top 10 all-time in the category.
Kent City continued to earn entries in the team 3-pointer records lists with games of 18, 16 and 13 3-pointers this season – the 18 against Hesperia on Dec. 11 were second-most for one game behind the program's 23 in a game in 2013. Kent City’s 722 attempts in 24 games this winter rank third on that list, and its 194 made 3-pointers rank fourth.
Boys Basketball
Brandon Dingman finished his Mancelona career in 2015 with 2,050 points over 86 varsity games and four seasons, for an average of 23.8 points per game. The 6-foot-2 guard also made MHSAA records lists with 375 career free throws (in 469 attempts) and for his free throw percentages both during his sophomore season (.851) and over his career (.800) – his career percentage is tied for 13th highest.
Demetrius Lake’s outstanding junior season this winter at Holland included a record list-making performance during a 69-56 loss to Holland Christian. Lake scored 44 points, including 24 during the fourth quarter to tie for 11th on the MHSAA list for points in a quarter.
Paw Paw sophomore Luke Toliver set an MHSAA Tournament record with 12 3-pointers in a District Semifinal win over Vicksburg on March 7, with his 50 total points tying for seventh-most in one game in MHSAA postseason history. Those 12 3-pointers also tied for third most for one game, regular or postseason.
St. Ignace’s Gage Kreski finished among the most productive players in MHSAA history on both ends of the floor. His 2,178 points in 90 varsity games over four seasons (24.2 ppg) are 16th most on the career scoring list. But his 450 steals are most impressive – his total cleared the previous career record, set in 2000, by 87 steals, and his 137 this winter were third only to two others who also broke the previous record this season. Kreski also made the career lists with 425 free throws and 904 rebounds, and the single-game steals list with 11 twice over the last two seasons. Kreski, also a 6-foot-2, 195-pound quarterback and defensive back on the Saints’ football team, will join the Central Michigan University football program as a preferred walk-on.
Howard City Tri-County senior Dylan Matulis had 13 steals in an 84-72 win over Newaygo on Jan. 15 to tie for second on the single-game steals list, and his 156 steals this winter set the MHSAA record (two others also broke the previous record this season, but Matulis' total cleared the field by 10). Teammate Colton Harris was added for scoring 22 points (out of 40 total) during the fourth quarter of a 71-55 win over Kent City.
Boys Soccer
Lapeer East’s Colin Owen, already entered into the MHSAA records for 13 shutouts as a junior and 17 as a senior, now also sits seventh on the career list in that category with 43 from 2008-11. He went on to play at Jackson Community College.
PHOTO: Kanen Storr flashes three fingers to the crowd after winning his third MHSAA individual championship this season. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Century of School Sports: MHSAA Record Books Filled with 1000s of Achievements
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
September 25, 2024
Notable achievements cover only one chapter of 100 years of MHSAA history we are celebrating during the 2024-25 school year.
But few states tell this part of their story in as much detail as the MHSAA does through one of the nation’s most robust record books.
The first layers of the MHSAA record book go back to the Association’s early years. Track & Field Finals records from the first quarter-century of championship meets were listed in the appendix of Lewis L. Forsythe’s book “Athletics in Michigan High Schools – The First Hundred Years” published in 1950.
Of course, those were just the start.
The MHSAA record book today, housed on the “Records” pages for each sport of MHSAA.com, is rooted in the work of longtime historian Dick Kishbaugh, who served in that voluntary role until 1994 and after a half-century of compiling data. He was succeeded by current historian Ron Pesch, whose work over the last 40 years has brought significant structure to the record book at it has continued to expand, and whose research continues to fill in otherwise long-lost accomplishments.
All 28 sports for which the MHSAA sponsors postseason play have at least one section of a record book – with plans for adding several more sections as time allows. The amount of data can be mind-boggling. Our softball individual record book alone has more than 3,000 listings. We have team records listings as well for most sports, and several of our head-to-head sports have pages tracking our winningest coaches, and we update those every season. Nearly all of our sports have pages dedicated specifically to records from our Finals events as well – and in fact, some of our sports’ record books are completely derived from championship performances, where we know playing conditions are similar for all (like in track & field, where wind-aided times are not allowed).
As the MHSAA record book continued to evolve, it began to be patterned against the record book produced by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). That book was printed annually beginning with its 1978-79 edition and through 2010 before the NFHS lists went completely online at NFHS.org. The first NFHS printed record book touted having more than 50,000 listings, and several were from Michigan – including the first two photos, of Central Lake baseball player Doug Smith sliding into third base in 1977 and then the 1962 Grand Haven baseball team. While the MHSAA has added categories from time to time, generally what’s collected in Michigan reflected what’s collected nationally.
The MHSAA has played a significant role in the policy-making for the NFHS record book, primarily through the leadership of longtime communications director John Johnson during his multiple terms on the national record book committee. The criteria for adding records nationally – and by relation, to the MHSAA book – remains the same today.
Every potential record book listing is scrutinized. Almost always, candidates for the record book are submitted by an MHSAA member school. Most fill out an NFHS application linked on every record book page of this website, signed by a school administrator and the athlete involved. All applications must include documentation of the achievement – perhaps a box score for a single-game listing in softball, or the team’s season stats for a single-season accomplishment, or season stats for every season that athlete played for a career record.
Over the last decade, we’ve also received more video clips – often for something like a 99-yard football run – and a few full soccer games have been watched to make sure goalkeeper saves have been counted correctly.
We also will add record book listings based on media reports, which is especially helpful for achievements we hear about from decades ago. Yes, the MHSAA record books are living documents, and we frequently add accomplishments that take several years to get to us.
We are always eager to add to our collection of history. But it’s important to keep in mind that this is not an immediate process.
Submissions stack up quickly. We currently have 108 under consideration, and another 127 requiring additional documentation.
Additions generally are made during offseasons as we are most focused on our sports currently being played during the busiest months of the school year – and on the athletes making history for us to include as our record books continue to grow.
Previous "Century of School Sports" Spotlights
Sept. 18: Why Does the MHSAA Have These Rules? - Read
Sept. 10: Special Medals, Patches to Commemorate Special Year - Read
Sept. 4: Fall to Finish with 50th Football Championships - Read
Aug. 28: Let the Celebration Begin - Read
PHOTOS Clockwise from top left: (1) The lead-in to Track & Field Finals records listed in “Athletics in Michigan High Schools – The First Hundred Years” shows a few of the elite performances from our earliest meets. (2) Leland volleyball star Alisha Glass celebrates with her teammates; she still holds four MHSAA records in that sport. (3) Every day this school year, the MHSAA is posting a record on its Instagram and X social media channels, and the great majority took place on that specific day. (4) Brimley’s John Payment still holds the all-Finals record for high jump, 7-foot-1, from 1989. (Glass and Payment photos from MHSAA archives.)