Mort Assists Corunna in Record Run
January 10, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Special for Second Half
Senior setter Lexi Mort and junior hitter Elizabeth Norris led Corunna’s varsity volleyball team to its first MHSAA Semifinals this fall with record book-caliber contributions.
Mort had 1,529 assists (10th all-time) to go with 1,429 as a junior and to finish her career with 4,322, which ranks sixth all-time. She also made the single-match assist list with 54 against Mount Morris, when Norris had 33 kills.
Norris had 879 kills this season, 13th-most on that list. Freshman Ellie Toney was added for 11 aces in a match against Burton Genesee Christian. The Cavaliers finished the fall 50-7-5, with District and Regional titles in Division 2. Mort will run collegiate track at Saginaw Valley State University.
See below for more recent record book additions in volleyball, football and boys soccer, and click on the headings to see those sports’ record books in full.
Football
Clinton Township Chippewa Valley’s Division 1 championship season this fall included a number of record-setting performances. David Ellis returned four kickoffs for touchdowns, good for second most all-time. Niko Kepi made the season extra point list with 73 and the career list with 104 in 109 attempts over the last three seasons. Quarterback Tommy Schuster threw 26 touchdown passes for the second straight season and made career lists with 4,960 passing yards, 509 attempts, 330 completions and 67 scores through the air over the last three seasons. As a team, Clinton Township Chippewa Valley made lists with 546 points and 76 touchdowns over 14 games. Ellis will continue his career at Indiana University. Also, Jeff Deliz was added for a 93-yard punt return in 2003 and Chris Lomasney for six rushing touchdowns in a game in 2000. Deliz went on to play at Navy and Lomasney at Michigan Tech.
Sanford Meridian’s Kyle Stockford found his way to the end zone in multiple record-setting ways over the last two seasons. This fall, he made the record book for two kickoff return touchdowns in one game, against Lake City, scoring from 87 and 85 yards out. He also made the season kickoff return touchdown list with four despite playing only six games. The senior also returned two interceptions for touchdowns in a game this fall against Houghton Lake – after accomplishing the same feat as a junior against Farwell.
Among highlights of Hudsonville Unity Christian’s Division 5 championship run this season was a 57-20 win over Hamilton on Oct. 5, when Unity totaled 637 yards – which sits fifth all-time. Its 629 rushing yards, on 39 carries, is one of two totals on the list for most rushing yards in one game.
Quanelle Pritchett had a solid senior season receiving for Warren Fitzgerald in the fall – augmented by a record book-worthy accomplishment against Sterling Heights on Sept. 14. Pritchett caught seven passes for 239 yards in the 52-13 win to make the single-game receiving yardage list.
Boys Soccer
Jack Vezmar had 17 shutouts this fall in leading Marshall to a 23-1-1 record and Division 2 District title. Those shutouts tied for 11th-most in one season and helped him make the career shutout list with 28 over the last two seasons.
For the second straight fall, Midland Dow made the team record lists for total shutouts and consecutive shutouts, this time with 18 overall in 24 games and nine straight from Aug. 18-Sept. 12. Dow also tied for ninth all-time by giving up only eight goals on the way to finishing 20-1-3 on the season.
Volleyball
Longtime southwest Michigan coach Tony Hooley has reached the 500-win plateau, actually doing so in 2017 at Marcellus and adding to his total this fall leading Dowagiac to a 25-15-2 finish. Hooley has coached at Centreville and White Pigeon as well plus two seasons at Glen Oaks Community College, and his high school record stands at 538-311-92 over 18 seasons.
After two seasons of varsity volleyball, Vermontville Maple Valley sophomore Keilyn Carpenter has four record book entries. She’s been added three times for kills in a match – twice reaching 32 – and for this fall totaling 623 kills over 126 games.
Bronson’s fourth straight MHSAA championship – this one in Division 3 in the fall – included, predictably, a number of outstanding individual performances. Sophomore Meagan Lasky had 1,775 assists this past season to rank third on that list, while senior sister Kiera Lasky added to her career aces total to finish with 454 – fifth most all-time. Senior Ashton Wronikowski made the season aces list with 137, and junior Keona Salesman did as well with 122 to go with her entry for 766 kills. She’s also on the career kills list with 1,679 over three seasons and with one to play. Kiera Lasky will continue her career at Davenport University, and Wronikowski will continue at West Liberty University in West Virginia.
PHOTO: Lexi Mort cheers on her Corunna teammates during their Division 2 Semifinal against Pontiac Notre Dame Prep in November.
Standouts Climb Career Record Lists
April 13, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Vicksburg’s runs to back-to-back District titles – and the Division 2 championship game last spring – were keyed by a productive offense, including contributions by a pair who are seniors this spring.
Shaidan Knapp and Grace Stock both are entered into the MHSAA record book for single-season doubles from the last two seasons and for career doubles with a season to play – Stock has 39 and Knapp has 49, both over three seasons and 116 games. Knapp also ranks on the career RBI list with 188.
As a team, Vicksburg made the single-season wins list finishing 36-9 last season, when it had the second-most hits in MHSAA history with 522 over 45 games. The 2015 and 2016 teams are listed for various team accomplishments, also most notably for 366 RBI (third all-time) in 2016 and a .460 batting average (tied for second all-time) in 2015.
Click the softball heading below to see that record book in full, and also read on for more recent additions in boys basketball, football, boys soccer and volleyball.
Boys Basketball
Nearly two decades have passed since Rojelio Parra-Grady scored 49 points for Dearborn Fordson in its 2001 Class A District Final win over Allen Park. His total tied for ninth-most points in an MHSAA Tournament game at any level. He scored 15 points in the fourth quarter of the 76-49 win and made six 3-pointers in the game.
Ithaca kicker Adam Culp is climbing the charts for his position with a season yet to play. Culp made the single-season extra-point list with 59 as a sophomore and 46 this past fall as a junior, and his 105 career extra points also already rank among the best. Culp also had nine field goals in 11 attempts last season. Teammate Joey Bentley, also a junior, was added after throwing for 2,056 yards in 12 games in the fall.
Paul Verska finished a coaching career spanning four decades in 2015 with a record of 218-174-1 at seven Michigan schools – Lincoln Alcona, Allegan, Detroit Servite, Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard, Cadillac, Ann Arbor Huron and Warren DeLaSalle. He finished with the Pilots, taking over in 2002 and leading them to the Division 2 title in 2014.
Boys Soccer
Marshall goalkeeper Kurt Kraushaar finished his high school career in the fall with 22 shutouts over four seasons to make the MHSAA career list in that category. He also made the single-season list as a junior in 2015 with 13 shutouts.
Grand Ledge finished 10-2-5 in the fall in part because of a strong defense; its seven goals given up tied for fourth-fewest in one season. Keeper Blaine Teahan also made the MHSAA records with a stretch of six straight shutouts from Aug. 20-Sept. 14.
Softball
Last season was a record-setting one for Coleman and a group of four-year varsity seniors. As a team, the Comets finished 39-3, setting MHSAA single-season records with 555 hits and 432 runs batted in, while tying for second with a .460 batting average and ranking second all-time alone with 510 runs scored in reaching the Division 4 Quarterfinals. Six players combined for 22 individual record book entries. Now-graduated Cassidy Tucker made the lists for 84 runs, 78 hits and 13 home runs in a season and 178 runs and 23 triples over her career (plus seven RBI in one game last May). Her 84 runs last spring were second-most in MHSAA history. Carley Starnes also made the single-season runs list with 74 and career lists with 224 runs, 231 hits and 34 doubles; and Grace Staley was added for 73 runs last season, 200 in her career, 81 hits last season and 238 in her career. Senior Laken Berthume had 71 RBI last season, 165 in her career and walked 77 times over four varsity seasons. Senior Kaylie Scott put together a 33-game hitting streak that stretched over nearly a year from May 2015-May 2016, while freshman MacKenzie Miller was among those added for six RBI in a game. Tucker is playing at Alma College and Starnes and Berthume are playing at Delta College.
Kalamazoo Christian has played in three MHSAA Finals over the last decade, and a number of entries from that time also were added. Kara Gjeltema, a senior last spring, was entered 18 times, most notably for 40 career home runs (tied for sixth most), 71 RBI in 2015 (tied for 11th) and 238 career RBI (tied for second). Also-2016 senior McKena Razenberg was added for 66 runs in 2015 and 180 over her four-year career, while 2014 graduate Tori Sides was added for 77 hits in 2014, 230 during her career and 183 career runs. Stephanie VanderLugt (class of 2013), Katie Dwyer (2009), Alex Hatfield (2005), Megan Rozeveld and Hannah Doorn also were added at least once; Hatfield’s 35 career triples are tied for fifth most. Kalamazoo Christian as a team earned 15 entries, with its 32 triples in 1999 (tied for 10th) most notable. Gjeltema is playing this season at Olivet College, while Razenberg is at Cornerstone, Sides played for Kellogg Community College, Dwyer for Huntington University (Ind.) and Rozeveld at Calvin College.
Volleyball
Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard seniors Jurnee Tipton and Emma Nowak capped outstanding careers in the fall with record book-worthy totals in their final match, a 3-2 Regional Final loss to Adrian. Tipton had 40 kills, which tied for the seventh-most in one match since the beginning of the rally scoring era in 2004-05. Nowak had 63 assists, which tied for fourth-most in that category. Tipton will continue her volleyball career at Howard University.
Frankenmuth setter Lindsey Mertz never made the MHSAA single-season assists list during her four-year varsity career (needing a minimum of 1,200 to do so). But combined, her four seasons of more than 1,000 assists added up to 4,436 – the third-most for a career during the rally scoring era. Mertz will play next season at Hillsdale College.
PHOTO: Vicksburg shortstop Shaidan Knapp prepares to make a throw during last season’s Division 2 Final at Secchia Stadium.