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.
Schoolcraft Ace Could Score & Much More
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
February 10, 2021
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Gabi Saxman’s Schoolcraft career will be remembered in part because she scored more than 1,000 points over four seasons.
But 5-foot-6 point guard made the MHSAA record book in two other categories, with 477 assists and 436 steals over those 96 games before graduating last spring.
She is continuing her career at Western Michigan University this winter, as her former teammates and high school basketball teams all over Michigan kick off their seasons this week.
Below is a look at recent additions to MHSAA record books in girls basketball, hockey and girls soccer. Click on the headings to view those record books in full.
Girls Basketball
Last Feb. 20 was unforgettable for Grass Lake and especially Gabrielle Lutchka. She set an MHSAA record for 3-pointers with 16 to finish the evening with 56 points, which ranks eighth all-time for single-game scoring. As a team, Grass Lake made the record book with 17 3-pointers that night against Manchester. Teammates Abrie Cabana also was added for an achievement last winter, finishing with a .880 free-throw percentage. Lutchka is a junior and Cabana a senior this school year.
Genesee senior Hayle March tied for 12th-most assists in a game Jan 23, 2020, when she dished 14 during her team’s 61-35 win over Mayville. She also had 12 points, five rebounds and five steals in the victory.
Kasey DeSmit played a significant part in Hudsonville’s 73-28 record from 2015-18, making the career record book in two categories. She sank 187 3-pointers and tallied 474 assists over those 101 games. She now plays at Hope College.
Gracie Nowak filled her senior season at Morrice last winter with a number of highlights, perhaps the biggest individually the 18 steals she totaled in a Jan. 17, 2020, win over Webberville. That total ranks as the fourth-highest for single-game steals in MHSAA history.
Kent City continued to dominate the 3-point shooting lists in 2019-20, with the team connecting on 16 in multiple games and a season-high 17 against Ravenna on March 2. Junior Jenna Harrison finished the season with 86 3-pointers over 24 games, and junior Kenzie Bowers had nine of her team’s 16 in a game against Hesperia. Bowers has signed with Illinois State.
Kelynn Kujat completed her Frankenmuth career last season among top 3-point shooters all-time, drilling 187 over four seasons and 89 games. She previously had made the record book with 66 3-pointers as a sophomore.
Nearly 40 years later, Teresa Hudak’s rebounding excellence has reached the record book. The Rogers City standout three times grabbed 26 or more rebounds in a game – with a high twice of 29. She had 342 rebounds as a junior in 1981 and then 385 as a senior the following fall, with the latter total ranking 11th all-time.
Hockey
Sean Hogan enjoyed an exciting start to calendar year 1995, making the MHSAA record book twice. He scored four goals in the first period of Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes’ 7-5 win over White Lake Lakeland on Jan. 14, and seven for the game in Our Lady’s 15-4 win over Algonac that Feb. 5. Hogan went on to play at Iona College and has coached multiple American Collegiate Hockey Association programs.
Girls Soccer
Nearly 25 years later, Marie Spaccarotella has made it into the record book for her 102 career goals over four seasons for Livonia Churchill from 1993-96. She went on to play forward at University of Michigan, starting 32 games and scoring 21 goals over four seasons.
PHOTO: Gabi Saxman brings the ball upcourt for Schoolcraft during a game last season. (Photo courtesy of JoeInsider.com.)