Newman, Grace Light Up Scoreboards

July 29, 2014

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Lake Fenton’s Jordan Newman scored an impressive 40 goals as a freshman in 2011. And then she just kept filling the net.

Camri Grace’s scoring run began much differently. She didn’t hit a home run in 33 games as a freshman – but had 18 homers in 34 games as a senior this spring.

Newman finished her career this season after easily setting the MHSAA career girls soccer scoring record with 195 goals – 27 more than the previous record set by Newaygo’s Jaleen Dingledine from 2004-07. Newman’s goal total ranks 14th in the national record book.

Grace, meanwhile, tied the MHSAA single-season home run record set in 1979 by Pentwater’s Melinda Van Gillis and will rank 11th in the national record book when her total from this spring is added.

Newman’s 58 goals as a junior tied for second-most in one season in MHSAA history, while her 56 as a sophomore tied for fourth-most. She also finished second to former Hudsonville Unity Christian star Laura Heyboer (290) with 245 career points. Newman will continue her career this fall at Charleston Southern University in South Carolina.

A catcher, Grace finished her high school career with 43 doubles, 31 home runs and 162 RBI, all good enough to make the MHSAA record listings, and batted .499. She’ll continue her softball career at Eastern Michigan University.

Read on for more recent additions to the MHSAA record books, and click on the headings below for all listings for those respective sports.

Girls Soccer

  • Cheboygan suffered its only loss of a 19-1-1 run this spring in a shootout to Freeland in their District championship game,  and logically, a handful of top performers ended up ranking highly in the MHSAA records. Junior Amanda Paull – also a member of the MHSAA Student Advisory Council – tallied the second-most assists in one season, 39, while teammate Sierra Kolatski made the single-season goals list with 34. Keeper Jessica Smith made the shutouts list with 17 as Cheboygan became the latest of nine teams to give up five or fewer goals in a season.

  • Monroe’s Jaci Morr finished her career this spring not only as Monroe’s record-setting goal-scorer for one season, but also as one of the top scorers in MHSAA history. She made the single-season list with 44 goals this season and had 72 over her four years on varsity. Teammates Claire Goines and Amy Smith also were added for five assists in one game and 15 shutouts this spring in goal, respectively. Morr broke her school’s single-season goals record of Abby McCollum, who had 40 as a senior in 2010 and 81 over a three-year career. McCollum also was added to the record listings four times, and LeAnn Garrett was added for her eight goals in a game against Carleton Airport in 1996.

  • Riverview’s Kirsten Chambers made the single-season assists list twice with 33 as a junior and 26 this spring as a senior, ranks third on the career list with 100 and also made the career goals (71), single-season points (54) and career points lists (171) during her outstanding four-year run. Her career points rank 16th.

  • Brooklyn Columbia Central’s Danielle Eastman capped her career with 54 points including 42 goals this spring, both totals making MHSAA lists. She also made the career goals list with 104 over the last three seasons.

Softball

  • Saginaw Heritage’s Lacy Tolfree finished her career this spring with 15 record book listings, including the second-longest hitting streak (37 games) in MHSAA history, fourth-most career hits (265) and sixth-highest career batting average (.588). She also made career lists with 230 runs, 57 doubles, 20 triples and 166 stolen bases. She’ll continue her career at Central Michigan University. Teammate Haley Lehner also was added to the record listings with 52 doubles over her four-year career.

Baseball

  • Former Gaylord St. Mary standout Dwain Koscielniak already had four listings in the MHSAA football record book, including the record of 529 yards rushing in a game in 1990. The following spring, 1991, Koscielniak finished his high school baseball career with a .629 average and 17 home runs. He ended with 35 home runs over four varsity seasons, second-most in MHSAA history at that time and now tied for eighth most. He went on to play baseball at Ferris State University, was drafted by the San Diego Padres in 1994 and played two seasons of minor league baseball.

  • Ortonville Brandon’s Sean Martens capped his high school career this spring pitching to a 9-1 record with a 0.33 ERA and six shutouts – the ERA and shutouts made the MHSAA record listings, and his ERA ranks ninth lowest for one season by pitchers who threw at least 60 innings. He’s committed to join the Central Michigan University baseball program this fall.

Boys Basketball

  • Mackinaw City’s Noah Morse capped his three-year varsity career among MHSAA leaders in single-game, single-season and career steals. He twice had 12 steals in a game to tie for third-most, with his 115 steals this season tied for 10th on the single-season list and his 258 career steals – in only three seasons – ranking 11th.

PHOTOS: (Top) Lake Fenton’s Jordan Newman pushes toward the goal during a win over Freeland in 2013. (Middle) Williamston’s Camri Grace tied a 35-year-old single-season home runs record this spring. 

Stokes' Saves Add Record Book Fame to Cass Tech's Historic Start-Up Story

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

July 29, 2022

Na’ja Stokes was part of history as Detroit Cass Tech played its first two seasons of girls lacrosse over the last two years. And her historic achievements as a senior this spring provided the Technicians with their first two entries in the MHSAA record book for her sport.

Stokes made 30 saves – the second-most for a single game in MHSAA history – against Clinton Township Chippewa Valley during a 9-7 overtime win May 10. She finished the season with 207 saves – tying for third-most all-time – in just 14 games played.

Cass Tech as a team, meanwhile, improved from 2-10 its inaugural season to 6-8 this year, with a notable three wins and three one-goal losses over its final six games. Stokes was named to the Division 1 all-state first team.

See below for more recent record book additions in girls lacrosse and 11-player football.

Girls Lacrosse

Saline’s Erin Melcher quickly made an impact on the record book this past season, registering nine goals twice in two games over three days – April 11 vs. Novi, and then April 13 vs. Lansing Catholic. She was a senior this spring.

Hudsonville senior Anna Lobbezoo also got on the record board early this season with nine goals April 27 against Lowell. She will continue next season at University of the Cumberlands in Kentucky.

Football

Belleville’s Brayden Lane became the third kicker from his school to be listed, making the single-season list with 52 extra points over 14 games in 2021 and the single-game list with 10 in a win over Wayne Memorial. He’ll be a sophomore this fall.

Despite a 43-28 defeat to Sterling Heights Stevenson last Sept. 2, Utica senior quarterback Darren Welch enjoyed a memorable performance. He made record book lists with 34 completions, 54 attempts and 410 passing yards. He will continue his career at Hillsdale College.

Bloomfield Hills’ Andrew Siepierski became one of 19 players with at least four interceptions in a game when he snagged four against Troy on Oct. 11. The then-senior also scored the go-ahead touchdown that ended up the game-winner in the 21-10 victory.

Schoolcraft quarterback Alex Thole was entered into the record book eight times for accomplishments over his 35 varsity games from 2018-20. Among highlights, his 7,318 career passing yards rank 11th in state history, and his 93 touchdown passes are fifth on that list. He is playing at Tarleton State in Texas.

Morenci’s 60-41 win over Stockbridge last Sept. 2 made the record book for total points scored between two teams – and a few more times for the Bulldogs’ substantial offensive output. Morenci was added for its 630 total yards (just missing the single-game rushing list with 596) and 61 rushing attempts. Senior Carsyn Varga made the single-game rushing TDs list with six.

Quinn Fracassi and Aidan Vaughan opened their senior seasons last fall in big ways by becoming the first of the 2021 season to return kickoffs 99 yards for a touchdown – and against each other’s teams. Fracassi, for South Lyon, and Walled Lake Western’s Vaughan achieved the feat with their teams facing off last Aug. 26. Vaughan is continuing at Wisconsin, and Fracassi at Eastern Michigan.

Frankfort’s Adam Mills also joined the 99-yard kickoff return list, scoring last Oct. 1 against Maple City Glen Lake. He was a senior and will continue at Albion College.  

PHOTO Cass Tech goalie Na’ja Stokes makes a save this past season. (Photo courtesy of the Detroit Cass Tech girls lacrosse program.)