Miss Soccer Scores at Champion's Pace

January 22, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Saline’s run last spring to its first MHSAA girls soccer championship was keyed by a number of talented players – including a pair of all-staters with record book-caliber contributions.

Senior forward Taylor Mulder was named Miss Soccer after scoring 43 goals with 11 assists – her goals and 54 points made single-season records lists – and she finished her four-year varsity career with 80 goals. All-state keeper Sofia Sweier had 22 shutouts last season, tying for second-most in MHSAA history. She finished her four-year career with 42 shutouts, all coming over her final three years in net.

As a team, Saline gave up only four goals – tied for third fewest in MHSAA history – and had runs of 10 and nine consecutive shutouts. The nine straight began with the second-to-last regular-season game and included the entire Division 1 Tournament.

Mulder is currently playing at Siena Heights University, and Sweier played this fall at Grand Valley State University.

Click to see the girls soccer record book in full, and read on for more recent additions for other sports. (Click the sport headings to see those record lists.)

Girls Basketball

Sterling Heights’ Kendal Ring blocked 16 shots in her team’s 48-33 win over Macomb L’Anse Creuse North on Jan. 23, 2015, good to tie for sixth-most blocks in one game. The 5-foot-11 center is a senior this season.

Boys Soccer

Holland Christian’s run to the Division 2 Regional Semifinals in the fall including 15 shutouts in 24 games – and the team gave up only 11 goals all fall. Both milestones made the MHSAA records. Sophomore Nick VanderLaan had 11 shutouts and combined on four more.

Shelby made the team shutouts list with eight straight to start the 2015 season and also for giving up only 10 goals in 22 games. Keeper Jonah Kelley made the individual lists for consecutive shutouts and with 13 total for the season.

Softball

Rogers City’s outstanding run the last four seasons included two trips to the MHSAA Semifinals and a Division 4 title in 2014. A number of standouts played major parts, Logan Fleming among the stars. Fleming set an MHSAA single-season record for runs scored with 86 last spring, when she hit in all 39 games, and finished her four-season varsity career second all-time both with 264 runs and 304 hits; her 95 hits last spring also were second-most for one season. She also hit 25 doubles in 2015, third-most for one season, with her career total of 68 coming in sixth, and her .551 career batting average is 12th. Teammate Sarah Meredith is listed in the record book eight times, most notably for her .664 average in 2015. Kayla Rabeau and Kayla Fleury were among those entered for back-to-back home runs, while Nikkie Jo LaLonde was added for 34 career doubles from 2010-13 and Morgan Hall and Cassie Brege were among those added for RBI in one game. Rogers City as a team also earned a number of listings; its 42 runs in a game in 2014 were third most, and its 479 runs last season were second-most. The team’s 500 hits in 2015 ranked third and its 376 RBI and .449 team batting average also both ranked second. Meredith will be a senior this spring, and Fleming now plays at Ferris State.

Volleyball

A number of Rockford’s all-time leaders were added to the MHSAA listings, including a record-setter from the fall. Setter Hailey Delacher, a sophomore, set a rally-scoring era (2004-05 – present) record with 67 assists in a five-set match against Hudsonville on Nov. 10. Total, she made the single-match records five times for assists and also the single-season list with 1,310. She was joined by a number of her school’s previous setters including Halle Peterson, Abby Carlson (her 1,465 assists in 2013 rank fifth for a season), Kim Weaver, Debbie Nikodemski and Heather Gates. Andrea Kacsits was added for her career kills (1,831), aces (283) and blocks (631 – ranking third) among seven entries overall. Nikodemski also was added for 10 aces in a two-set match in 2007, and Weaver for her school-record 121 aces in 2008. Kacsits went on to play at Ohio State University, while Peterson just finished her career at Michigan State, Carlson plays at Cornerstone University and Weaver also played for the Golden Eagles, and Gates played at Bethel College in Indiana. Nikodemski played basketball at Olivet College. Also, coach Kelly Delacher, who has led teams at Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern, Grand Rapids Northview and now Rockford the last decade, was added to the career coaching wins list with a record of 848-385-32.

South Lyon senior Jessie Ignace had 38 of her team’s 53 kills in a 3-2 loss to Salem on Sept. 17. The 38 kills ties for eighth-most for one match during the rally scoring era.

North Adams-Jerome junior Holly Trujillo set a school record and finished eighth in MHSAA history with 206 blocks (including 148 solos) in helping her team to a District championship and state ranking in Class D.   

Sarah DeVries capped her Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian career this fall with her second entry for single-season kills and tied for 11th-most kills for a career in the rally scoring era. DeVries added 717 this season to 743 she had as a junior, and total finished with 1,964 over four seasons. She’ll play next season at Calvin College.

Brooke Beaubien capped her four-season Cheboygan career among the MHSAA career-best with 1,517 kills and 280 aces, and she also made the single-season aces list with 116 as a sophomore. Her teams finished a combined 151-69-18 and won two league championships. 

PHOTO: Saline's Taylor Mulder (7) works to get past a defender during last season's Division 1 Final against Grand Blanc. 

Bowers Leaves Record-Caliber Mark on Kent City Hoops

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

August 4, 2021

Senior Kenzie Bowers added a pair of record book entries this past winter as she continued to help Kent City join the girls basketball elite.

Bowers scored 46 points in a win over Lakeview on Feb. 10 this winter, and also was added for 14 assists against Ravenna during a 2019-20 victory. The assists are tied for 12th-most in one game. Bowers also had earned a record book entry as a junior for drilling nine 3-pointers in a game.

Kent City reached the Division 3 championship game in April, falling just two points shy against Grass Lake in the finale. Bowers will continue her career at Illinois State.

See below for more recent record book entries for girls basketball, baseball, boys lacrosse and girls soccer.

Baseball

Nearly 50 years later, Jim Kniivila has reached the record book. The four-year Holt pitcher finished with a 0.21 ERA over 66 innings in 1973, ranking today as the eighth-lowest ERA for a single season. He went on to play at Michigan State.

Jacob Freeman capped his Gaylord career in 2016 by making the Division 2 all-state first team – and by earning a spot in the MHSAA record book with 47 stolen bases. He also hit .403 that spring.

Girls Basketball

Houghton’s Stella Wickstrom posted major rebounding performances as only a sophomore last winter. The 6-foot forward grabbed at least 25 rebounds in three games – with that many against Calumet on Feb. 15 and Iron Mountain on March 1, and a season-high 27 against Baraga on Feb. 8.

Ella Stemmer put up big numbers over her four-season, 88-game Saline varsity career – including some of the most impressive ever from the free throw line. She made the career list with 419 free throws in 506 attempts, with her 90.9-percent success this winter tying for second-highest for one season and her 82.8 career percentage ranking fifth. She’ll continue her career at Lehigh.

Comstock Park then-senior McKenna Bent connected on 10 3-pointers in two games during the 2019-20 season, against Holland that Dec. 13 and Sparta on Feb. 7. She finished with 40 and 41 points, respectively, in those games. She’s continuing her career at Saginaw Valley State.

Boys Lacrosse

Xander Roisen saved 32 shots for Pinckney in a 16-2 loss to Canton on April 23, setting an MHSAA record for most saves in one game (but to be broken three later; see below). Roisen was a senior this spring.

Warren Cousino senior Donovan Cece took over the record for saves in a game with 35 in his team’s 12-0 loss to Clinton Township Chippewa Valley on May 14.

JJ Hawkins had another of the busiest days for a goalie March 27. He made 21 saves in Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central’s 13-4 loss to Dearborn Divine Child. Hawkins was a freshman this spring.

Girls Soccer

Lily Usher tied for the seventh-most saves in a game when she made 35 in Owosso’s 6-0 loss to Goodrich on May 5. The Martians took a total of 56 shots, including those not on goal. Usher was a sophomore this spring.

PHOTO: Kent City's Kenzie Bowers gets to the basket during the Division 3 championship game against Grass Lake in April.