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.
Bay City Central's Smith Caps Career Among Top Rebounders, Shot Blockers
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
May 13, 2022
Bay City Central senior Alecsis Smith capped a highlight-filled career this winter with 12 girls basketball record book entries including some of the top rebounding performances of all time.
The 6-foot-2 standout three times made the single-season rebounds list with a high of 362 as a freshman, and her 1,276 total over four seasons and 79 games rank fifth on the career list. Her 31 rebounds against Midland that freshman season are tied for seventh on the single-game list for that statistic.
She also made the career free throws list with 377, the single-season blocked shots list with 129 this past winter and the career blocks list with 349, which rank 13th all-time. She’ll continue her career at Delta College.
See below for more recent additions to the girls basketball record book.
Girls Basketball
Three teams were entered for big 3-point shooting nights this winter. Midland Dow made 17 against Lapeer on Jan. 11, and four days earlier Belleville drained 14 3-pointers against Dearborn Fordson. On Dec. 21, Mackinaw City also drilled 14 3-pointers against Alba.
On Dec. 17, Larissa Gibson became Otisville LakeVille Memorial’s first to earn an entry in the girls basketball record book. The sophomore grabbed 28 rebounds in a win over Mayville.
Theryn Hallock joined an elite group of scorers with 50 points for Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central against Greenville on Feb. 22. She’ll be continuing next season at Michigan State.
Au Gres-Sims’ Emily Freehling also made the single-game rebounds list this winter, grabbing 29 in a Feb. 18 win over Hale. She’s a junior this school year.
Howell junior Molly Deurloo this winter joined the list of top free-throw shooters, posting the eighth-highest percentage for a single season at .885. She made 46 of 52 attempts over 22 games.
Parma Western’s Reece Hitt tied for the 10th-most 3-pointers in a game Feb. 11 against Battle Creek Pennfield, draining 10 of her 14 attempts. The Western senior finished with 38 points total. Plymouth senior Morgan Miller also earned her way onto that list with nine 3-pointers on 23 attempts Feb. 24 during a win over Westland John Glenn. She scored 29 points total.
Essexville Garber senior Lauren Walker posted a career-high 152 steals this season to make the single-season list in that category. That total also pushed her into a tie for 18th on the career steals list with 438 over four seasons and 77 games. She’ll play soccer at the college level, at Central Michigan.
Krista Ridgeway was a defensive force for St. Clair Shores Lakeview against Royal Oak Shrine Catholic on Feb. 24. Along with 21 points, the senior guard had 16 steals – tying for 11th-most in one game – in the 52-24 victory.
Jaxi Long finished a highlight-filled career this winter that included helping Newaygo to the Division 2 championship game in 2021. She made the record book for 69 3-pointers as a senior and 180 over four seasons and 93 games. She also was added for connecting on 89.8 percent of her free-throw attempts this winter – good for fifth-best all-time – after making the list with an .878 percentage as a junior.
Saline finished a combined 35-8 over the last two seasons, and strong shooting helped drive the success. The 2020-21 team that finished 18-2 connected on 74.4 percent of its free-throw attempts – good for second-best success rate all-time. This past season’s team made the team lists for 3-pointers made and attempted, with 156 makes in 602 tries, and senior Sophie Canen was added for her 65 3-pointers this winter. She will continue at Hope College.
PHOTO Bay City Central’s Alecsis Smith puts up a shot in the post. (Photo courtesy of the Bay City Central athletic department.)