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. 

Baker-to-Watters Sets Record Book Pace for Lansing Catholic Football

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

May 6, 2022

Lansing Catholic finished the 2021 football season as 11-player Division 6 champion at Ford Field, and the Cougars offense was paced the last two seasons by a standout quarterback and receiver who both made the MHSAA record book for single-season and career accomplishments.

Joey Baker was added for 2,536 yards passing this past season, with 162 completions on 294 attempts and 28 touchdowns through the air. He made the career passing lists with 4,153 yards over 13 games.

Senior receiver Alex Watters was added for 1,193 yards receiving on 77 catches; his 2,949 yards receiving over 40 games ranks sixth for a career, his 161 catches are ninth on that stat list and his 38 TD receptions rank ninth as well.

Senior kicker Jonah Richards was added for making 49 extra points and he finished his career with 156 (in 167 tries), good for 12th on that list. Additionally, junior Brandon Lewis was added for his 262 receiving yards in a Sept. 2 game against Williamston.

Baker will continue at Hope College and Watters will be a preferred walk-on at Michigan State.

See below for more recent additions to the 11-player football record book.

11-Player Football

DeWitt’s run to the Division 3 championship game for the second-straight season this past fall came again with big numbers from senior quarterback Tyler Holtz, senior receiver Tommy McIntosh and senior kicker Brandon Soltis. Holtz threw for 2,885 yards to finish his two-season varsity career with 5,311, and he tossed 41 touchdown passes to finish with 76 over 25 varsity games. The 41 TD passes tied for eighth-most in one season. McIntosh had 1,328 yards and 22 TDs receiving and finished his three-season varsity career with 140 catches, 2,696 yards and 44 receiving touchdowns. His career yardage is 11th on that list, his 22 touchdowns last fall tied for fourth-most for a single season and his career receiving scores rank second. Soltis connected on 74 more extra points to finish with 152 in 163 attempts over three seasons; both totals rank among the top 15 on their respective lists. As a team, DeWitt was added for scoring 635 points and piling up 6,055 total yards and 89 total touchdowns over 14 games. Holtz will continue at Brown, and McIntosh will play next at Wisconsin.

A pair of Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice athletes have been added for tying the records for longest kick and interception returns. Rocco Milia brought back an interception from deep in the end zone – officially 100 yards – against Detroit Country Day on Oct. 23, 2020. Cole Lacanaria returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown last Oct. 15 against Traverse City Central. Milia was a senior in 2020-21 and now plays at Columbia in New York, and Lacanaria has signed with Lawrence Tech.

Gladwin’s perfect regular season in the fall included three performances that made the records. Junior Anna Seebeck made the single-season extra points list, connecting on 60 of 69 tries over 10 games. The Flying Gs also twice made the total offense list as a team, with 611 yards against Clare and 603 against Shepherd, both in victories.

On Sept. 10, Belding’s Owen Meinke pulled in a deflected Wyoming Kelloggsville pass deep into his team’s end zone and ran down the right sideline the length of the field for a 100-yard interception return touchdown to also tie the MHSAA record. Meinke is a junior.

Ottawa Lake Whiteford senior Cole Giesige also returned an interception 100 yards for a touchdown, on Oct. 15 against Petersburg Summerfield.

Ethan Schumaker got all of a punt during a Nov. 7, 2020, playoff game against Traverse City St. Francis. The Harbor Springs then-senior sent it 71 yards, including nearly 60 in the air, as the Gladiators took over possession from their 6-yard-line. Schumaker is punting at Michigan Tech.

Senior Bryce Stanley got off to a fast start last fall, catching 11 passes for 239 yards and four touchdowns in Carson City-Crystal’s win over Fowler. The yardage and TDs made single-game lists.

Clinton Township Chippewa Valley’s Cephus Harris and Grosse Pointe South’s Will Johnson both put up record book performances in Chippewa Valley’s 49-37 win Oct. 8. Harris made the record book scoring seven touchdowns – four rushing, two receiving and one on a kickoff return. Johnson made the receiving yardage list with 238. Harris ended up putting together one of the highest-scoring seasons in 11-player history, scoring 36 touchdowns with one two-point conversion for 218 points – making the lists for both single-season points and TDs. A senior, he’s signed with Youngstown State and Johnson signed with Michigan. Additionally for Clinton Township Chippewa Valley, it has submitted the game with the fewest first downs given up in 2021, allowing only two to Troy on Oct. 29.

Charlotte’s Braden Hill scored the first points of his team’s 60-21 win over Lake Odessa Lakewood on a 77-yard kickoff return Oct. 15, and he was just getting started. Hill also returned two more kickoffs for touchdowns, both 80 yards, to tie the record for kickoff return touchdowns in one game. Hill is a junior.

PHOTO Lansing Catholic’s Alex Watters surges forward as a Warren Michigan Collegiate defender brings him down during November’s Division 6 Final. (Click for more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)