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Powerful Hitters Set Pace for Grand Rapids Christian's Annual Title Chase
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
April 29, 2022
A number of standouts drove Grand Rapids Christian to three straight Division 2 titles from 2018-20 and its Semifinal appearance this past season, including a pair of hitters now among the MHSAA single-season and career leaders in kills.
Current senior Evie Doezema was added to the record book for her 748 kills in the fall and 1,603 over 466 games and four seasons. Addie VanderWeide, who graduated in 2021, was added for 592 kills over 103 games her senior season and 2,110 over 477 games and four seasons. Doezema and senior setter Alyssa DeVries also were added for their contributions in a 3-1 Regional Final win over Hudsonville Unity Christian on Nov. 11 – Doezema for 42 kills and DeVries for 53 assists.
VanderWeide plays at Iowa, and Doezema has signed with Michigan State.
See below for more recent record book entries for volleyball, girls soccer, boys tennis and wrestling.
Girls Soccer
Paul Stenglein retired as Frankenmuth’s girls soccer coach with a 400-95-44 record from 1996-2019. His 400 wins remain fourth on the all-time list.
Volleyball
A total of 26 record book entries covering the recent history of Kingsley as a state power were added, with a number of single-season and career highlights for players over the last two decades. Among those added for single-season kills were Katie Travis, Jill Walton, Jessica Lefler, Hannah Bach and Lilly Travis, with Lefler (2,205 from 2015-18), Walton (1,682 from 2004-06) and Brittany Bowman (1,562 from 2016-19) making the career kills list. Maddie Bies, Erica Berridge, Dakota Deweese and Leah Hall made the single-season assists list, with Hall ranking 17th on the career assists list with 3,881 from 2011-14 and Brittany Denter (2,983 from 2005-Fall 2007) and Bies (2,617 from 2017-19) joining her. Austyn Deweese was added for 407 blocks from 2017-19, and Emily Fasel, Bowman, Sam Zubalik, Walton and Hillary Hoeflin made the aces single-season list during the current rally scoring era. Holly Nickerson was added to the single-season aces list from the pre-rally scoring era for her 130 in 2002-03. Austyn DeWeese is playing at Central Michigan, Lefler has gone on to play at Ferris State, with Hall at Lawrence Tech, and Denter went at Caldwell (N.J.). Walton played basketball at Lake Superior State, and Bowman was a redshirt freshman on that team this season.
After an injury kept her from playing as a junior, Whitehall’s Rayne Thompson stormed back this past fall – and her 45 kills in a five-set match Oct. 16 against Muskegon Western Michigan Christian rank fifth all-time in the rally scoring era. She also made the single-match kills list with 32 against Fruitport in a sweep Nov. 4. She signed with Northern Michigan University.
Emma Mirabelli finished a massive hitting career for Traverse City Christian in the fall, posting 922 kills to finish with 2,089 from grades 9-12 (and with 89 more as an eighth grader on varsity in 2017). Her single-season total ranked eighth on that list. She had 44 kills in a four-set match against Traverse City St. Francis on Sept. 16 of last season that rank sixth-most since the start of rally scoring. Teammate Julianna Brower made the single-season assists list with 1,230. Brower will continue her career at Cornerstone University, and Mirabelli has committed to Purdue-Fort Wayne.
Johannesburg-Lewiston’s Autumn Vermilya capped her career in the fall by earning three record book entries. She set a personal high of 54 assists Nov. 4 vs. Charlevoix and also had 48 against Pellston on Oct. 25. She also made the single-season assists list with 1,207.
Emiley Bender also earned a memorable senior-year accomplishment, making the record book with 29 kills for Sandusky during a five-set match against Harbor Beach on Oct. 12.
A number of standouts from Flushing’s recent history also were added. Current senior Kendyl Andrews made career lists with 4,075 assists (ranking 10th) and 304 aces and the single-season assists list twice with matches both of 46. Whitney Heeres was added for 1,731 kills over her four seasons finishing in 2009, and also for her 645 over 150 games as a junior in 2008. Carson Rutherford was added for 598 kills as a senior in 2014 and 1,545 over her four-season career. Rachel Hamblin made the single-season aces list with 116 over 139 games during the winter 2006-07 season. Karen Fox had 130 aces as a junior in 2005-06 and also was added for 315 for her career. Lexi Kiefer was added to the career assists list with 3,282 from 2011-14, Lauren Fenton made the list with 2,601 from 2008-11 and Ashley Hurand was added for 2,618 from 2006-08. Kari Carnell made the career assists list with 2,797 despite playing only her senior season, 2004-05, with rally scoring. Andrews has signed to continue her career at Wayne State. Heeres played at Ball State and then Tennessee, while Rutherford, Hamblin and Kiefer all played at Northwood. Carnell played at Aquinas College and is Corunna’s coach, and Fenton went on to play at Mott Community College. Fox played softball at Michigan State.
Boys Tennis
Midland Dow’s run at the Lower Peninsula Division 2 championship in the fall ended with a tie for third, thanks in part to another group of standouts. Sophomore Logan Yu finished 34-2 to make the singles wins list, while sophomore Vishagen Karthikeyan (30 wins), senior Michael McGaugh (29), sophomore Jonathan Song (28) and junior Shubhan Nagarkar (28) all made the single-season doubles wins list.
Wrestling
On Dec. 22, for the second time in five seasons, Otisville LakeVille Memorial tied the most meet points scored in a 14-weight dual. The Falcons defeated Essexville Garber 84-0 with pins at every weight.
PHOTO Grand Rapids Christian’s Evie Doezema unloads on a kill attempt during the Division 2 Semifinals in November. (Click for more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
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Record-Setter Ranks for 'D' Dominance
April 19, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Special for Second Half
Trevor Patterson stole the show in Galesburg-Augusta’s 53-35 win over Lawrence on Dec. 15.
The Rams’ senior scored 17 points, but more impressively tied a record with 14 steals originally set by Saginaw Valley Lutheran’s Brian Appold in 1981.
Patterson will continue his athletic career at the college level, but on the diamond for Grand Rapids Community College’s baseball program.
See below for more recent additions to the boys basketball section of the MHSAA record book, and click the heading to view it in full.
Boys Basketball
Hillsdale made team record lists for attempted and made free throws winter, connecting on 369 of 563 attempts over 23 contests. Senior Bryce Drews made the individual free throw list with 165 makes in 221 attempts.
A trio of decades old entries were added for Vermontville Maple Valley. Jeff Hamilton was added for his 120 steals in 1984-85, which at the time would’ve ranked second all-time and now sits 11th. Andy Joostberns had 31 rebounds in a 1979 game against Portland and 300 for the season. And Shaun Thompson was added for 34 straight free throws made over four games from Jan. 23-Feb. 9, 1990.
Marlo Brown finished his four-season varsity career at Southfield Christian in 2016 with 1,074 rebounds to rank sixth all-time on that career list. His highest single-season total was 301 as a freshman. The 6-foot-5 forward currently plays at Northern Illinois University.
Tanner Curry finished his four-season varsity career at Martin in 2017 also among leading rebounders in Michigan history. He grabbed 1,070 – good for seventh all-time – and including a high of 311 over 23 games as a senior. He’s playing football at Saginaw Valley State University.
Big Rapids Crossroads Academy and Walkerville combined for 23 3-pointers in their game Dec. 7, tying for ninth most by two teams combined in the same game. Crossroads had 13, led by Britton Angell who scored 53 points with eight 3-pointers. But Walkerville won the game 90-84.
Portland St. Patrick and Saranac combined for 22 3-pointers on Jan. 2 to also make that two-teams combined list, and the Shamrocks made the single-team single-game list with 17 of those long-distance shots. Brandon Scheurer led the effort with seven 3-pointers on the way to 33 points.
Bear Lake’s 18-4 run this winter included an 82-17 win over Marion on Dec. 19 during which the Lakers scored 44 points during the first quarter to make the record book. Kaiden Hejl led the early run with 14 of his game-high 27 points during the first eight minutes.
Eventual Class B semifinalist New Haven scored 40 points during the first quarter of an 89-54 win against St. Clair Shores Lake Shore on Feb. 24. Romeo Weems just missed making the individual points in a quarter list, putting up 18 of that 40.
More than 45 seasons after grabbing 324 rebounds for Redford Union, Mark Kenney’s accomplishment was added to the MHSAA records. He grabbed that single-season boards total in 1971-72, as a senior, over 21 games as his team finished 17-4.
PHOTO: Galesburg-Augusta’s Trevor Patterson drives during a game against Constantine this season. (Photo courtesy of JoeInsider.com.)