Norris Spikes Way to All-Time Greatness

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

May 25, 2017

Corunna’s Meredith Norris ended a celebrated career in the fall by winning the Miss Volleyball Award – and delivering the last of 18 entries in the MHSAA record book.

For this past fall, the senior hitter made the records for kills in a season for the fourth time (839) – while also finishing second all-time for a career in that category since the start of rally scoring in 2004-05. Norris’ 3,126 career kills rank second only to eventual U.S. Olympian Alisha Glass’ 3,584 from 2003-06.

Norris – who will continue her career at Michigan State University – also added a 43-kill match (fourth all-time) to her record 56 set in 2015. The 839 kills this past fall were her most for one season. In addition, Cavaliers teammate Lexi Mort, a sophomore, made the single-match assists list three times with a high of 64 in four games against Goodrich.

See below for more recent record book entries in baseball, boys and girls basketball, football, softball, tennis and wrestling, and click on the sport headings to see those record books in full.

Baseball

Maple City Glen Lake has established itself as a regular contender in Division 4, and with a number of performances that have qualified the last few seasons for record book consideration. Among them, Travis Moore’s 188 career hits from 2013-16, 160 career RBI, .465 career batting average and 33 times hit by pitches during his career all were added. So too was Austin Odziana for 45 career doubles from 2012-15), 18 times hit by a pitch as a junior and 46 times hit by pitches (sixth all-time) for his career; Thomas Waning (2011-14) eight times including for 176 strikeouts and three no-hitters in 2014, Zach Cooper (2013-16) six times including for 11 career shutouts, and Matt Schweikart four times including for career ERA (0.73, fifth all-time) and seven shutouts last spring. A number of others from Glen Lake teams past were added in various categories: Brian Maurer (193 career runs from 1995-98 rank eighth; he set the season record of 84 in 1999), Curtis Bunek (2010-13), Zack Buchan (1999-2002), Weston Buchan (2004-07), Mike Baker (1998-2001), Steve Walker (1999-2002), Art Harland (1979-82), Andy Bunting (1997-2000), Scott Bunting (1994-97), Karl Malcolm (1999-2002), Joel Pierson (2000-03) and Corey Flaska for a single-season accomplishment in 1998. As teams, the 1978 Glen Lake squad hit 21 triples, second all-time, while the 2015 and 2016 teams both set MHSAA records being hit by pitches 78 times. The 2014 team ranks fifth with 326 strikeouts, and the 2015 team ninth with a 1.31 ERA.

Boys Basketball

North Adams-Jerome’s Stone Arnold finished a solid four-season career by playing himself into the MHSAA records with his defense. Arnold had 96 steals this past season to finish his career with 261, which rank 13th all-time. Arnold, a point guard, also became the first player in his school’s history to score 1,000 career points.

Girls Basketball

Marine City’s Karyssa Austin added 57 3-pointers this winter as a senior to finish her four-season varsity career with 213 – 11th in MHSAA history. She previously made the single-season list with 71 as a junior. She has signed to continue her career at Northwood University.

Football

Royal Oak’s Bobby Green and Darryl Davenport became the 10th pass-catching pair to be added to the MHSAA record book for longest pass with a 99-yarder launched by Green during a 35-0 win over Pontiac last Sept. 9. Davenport will continue his career this fall at Concordia University-Ann Arbor.

Powers North Central standout running back Bobby Kleiman added to his scoring entries with 200 points this past fall as a senior. He finished his career with 552 points over his junior and senior seasons of 8-player football – the only entry in a category where the minimum is 400. He’s also the first to be listed for career touchdowns, with 77 with at least one coming six ways – rushing, receiving, fumble return, interception return, punt return or kick return. He will play baseball at Kalamazoo Valley Community College.

Softball

Former Greenville standout Nikota Howe was placed in the records for a number of accomplishments, most notably as a senior in 2014 and over her four-year varsity career. Her 79 hits in 2014 are tied for 19th most in one season, and her .699 batting average that spring ranks eighth all-time. Her .563 career average ranks 10th in that category, and she also made lists with 206 career hits, 47 career doubles, 22 career home runs, 116 career RBI and for seasons of 18 and 16 doubles. She went on to play at Lake Erie College in Ohio.

Boys Tennis

Midland Dow senior Varun Shanker finished his high school career in the fall as the state’s Mr. Tennis, making the single-season wins list for the second time at 32-1 and the career wins list at 115-19 over the last four seasons. Teammate Tyler Conrad also made the single single-season list with a team-high 34 victories, and Saketh Kamaraju made the single-season list with 33 wins and the consecutive wins list with those 33 before falling in the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final at No. 4 singles to finish his freshman campaign. A number of Dow doubles players also were added for wins in 2016 – Aditya Middha, Noah Nichols, Sagar Kamaraju and Ryan Killmaster all with 30; and J.J. Kirkman, Gopal Parthasarathy and Daniel Zhang all with 28. Sagar Kamaraju capped his career with 84 doubles wins, and Kirkman finished his with 69. Shanker at No. 1 singles, Conrad at No. 3, Kirkman and Middha at No. 1 doubles and Zhang and Parthasarathy at No. 3 all won Finals flight championships in the fall as Dow won the team title. Shanker will continue his career at the California Institute of Technology.

Volleyball

Samantha Stark served her way into the record book during a Class D District Semifinal win in 2015. The then-senior at Pellston had 11 aces in a three-set sweep of Alanson.

Wrestling

Westland John Glenn 2013 graduate Kyle Gillies is among the elite who finished their high school careers with more than 200 wins, ending at 204-34 after four varsity seasons. He went 55-1 as a senior, losing only to Davison’s Lincoln Olson in the 2013 Division 1 championship match at 112 pounds. Gillies went on to wrestle at Olivet College.

PHOTO: Corunna’s Meredith Norris serves during her team’s Class B Quarterfinal against Cadillac. (Click for more from Varsity Monthly.)

Holmen Helps Pace Memorable Finals Run

April 8, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Nikoma Holmen played a major role as Grandville reached its first MHSAA softball championship game in 25 years in 2017 – and 15 record book entries are enduring proof of the impact she made on the program.

Holmen finished her four-season varsity run on four career lists. Over 126 games she accumulated 170 runs, 218 hits, 54 doubles and 33 home runs.

Her senior season, Grandville made its first Semifinal and then first Final, both since 1982, before falling to Macomb Dakota 4-3 in eight innings in the Division 1 championship game. Holmen now is a sophomore playing at Grand Valley State University.

See below for more recent record book additions in softball, football, boys lacrosse and boys soccer.

Football

Ottawa Lake Whiteford senior Hunter Lake became the first to be listed for interceptions in one quarter after snagging three during the first quarter of a 64-0 win over Stryker, Ohio, on Aug. 31. He tied the MHSAA single-quarter record by bringing two of those back for touchdowns and made the single-game list for interception return touchdowns and single-quarter list for total defensive touchdowns as well.

Led by a pair of 1,000-yard rushers, Edwardsburg finished this past fall 14-0 and as Division 4 champion. The Eddies also made the MHSAA records multiple times, with their 705 points ranking sixth all-time and their 50.4 per game making the list among highest averages. Edwardsburg also made the total yardage (5,886) and total touchdowns (97), and rushing attempts (578), yardage (5,232) and touchdowns (82) lists. The Eddies also became the first team to register more than 60 rushes in a game when they ran 63 times against Holland Christian on Nov. 10.

Boys Lacrosse

Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central’s Micah Eby stopped 23 shots last May 12 against West Bloomfield. Eby, then a junior, tied for the 13th-most saves in one game.

Boys Soccer

Evan Veenhuis climbed the scoring lists one more time as a Comstock senior this fall. He added 34 goals and 35 points to finish with 121 career goals and 156 career points over four seasons.

Troy Athens carried a perfect record into the MHSAA Tournament this past fall and finished among the most impressive teams defensively of all-time. Athens became one of nine teams to give up seven or fewer goals over the course of a season and also made the season shutouts list with 16. Junior Jason Kemp was in net for all 16 to make the individual shutout list, and for six straight in September to earn another record book entry. Athens also was added for its 21 straight wins and 20 straight in 2013, when it gave up only 10 goals during the entirety of the fall.

Hudsonville Unity Christian had 18 shutouts and gave up only eight goals on the way to winning the Division 3 championship this past fall, making the team record book in both categories. Individually, junior Grant Balcer ranks tied for fourth with those 18 shutouts (including eight straight) and has 26 over his two-year varsity career.

Softball

A pair of Grosse Pointe South players were added for accomplishments last season. Julia O’Halla, now a senior, had home runs on two consecutive at bats and six RBI total in a win over Madison Heights Bishop Foley. Teammate Lauren Sancya, a senior in 2018, finished her four-year varsity career on the all-time doubles list with 48. Emma St. John was added for her 2014 performance when she became one of four to strike out 18 batters in a six-inning game, a 10-0 no-hitter against Center Line. St. John was a freshman that season and played two seasons for South and her final two for University Liggett.

Olivia Tomaszewski graduated from Frankfort last spring with 160 RBI over four varsity seasons, enough to make the MHSAA record book list in that category and come in second on the school’s all-time list to Katy McKay, who had 165 from 1996-99. Tomaszewski is playing at Cornerstone University. Junior Haley Myers also was added to the career home runs list after two seasons – she had 22 after hitting 13 last spring as a sophomore.

Allen Park Inter-City Baptist’s Brooke Myles last April 12 became the first since 2010 to strike out more than 15 batters in a five-inning game, tying for second on that record list with 16 Ks against Sterling Heights Parkway Christian in a 13-1 win. Myles is a senior this spring.

PHOTO: Grandville’s Nikoma Holmen gets ready to advance after reaching first base during the 2017 Division 1 Softball Final against Macomb Dakota.