Record-Setting Slugger Powers Mercy
August 15, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The Farmington Hills Mercy softball team enjoyed one of the winningest seasons in MHSAA history this spring bolstered by one of most accomplished hitters ever to step into the batter’s box in this state.
The Marlins finished 43-2 – tying for third-most wins in a season – and won their first MHSAA title, clinching in Division 1. Meanwhile, senior Abby Krzywiecki hit a single-season record 20 home runs to go with 18 more listings in the MHSAA record book as she finished her high school career.
Her 82 runs this spring are tied for eighth-most, her 48 career home runs are second on that list, her 94 RBI this season sit third most and her 238 career RBI place second on that list. She was named Miss Softball as the top position player in 2016 and will continue her career at South Alabama.
Two teammates also made the MHSAA records this spring; junior Sophie Van Acker with 82 hits and sophomore Anna Dixon with 72. The team’s 510 hits were second-most in MHSAA history and only two off the record.
Click to see where all three rank in the MHSAA softball record book, and see below for other recent additions in softball, baseball, girls soccer and boys lacrosse. (Click on the sport heading to see those record books in full.)
Baseball
Traverse City West celebrated its most successful season this spring, including its first trip to the MHSAA Semifinals, and tied for seventh-most wins in a season in MHSAA history with a final 41-3 record. The Titans also made the team record lists with 431 hits, 427 runs, 361 RBI and a .369 team average, and their 70 times hit by pitch were second-most for one season. Individually, senior Alex Strickland was added for 74 RBI this spring and senior Nick Brzezinski for 73 hits, 68 runs and eight triples. Brzezinski will continue at Aquinas College this fall.
Austin Putman earned two record book entries with three home runs against Suttons Bay on May 12. The Charlevoix senior not only made the list for most homers in one game, but also for most in consecutive at bats tying for eighth on that list by hitting them in three straight plate appearances as his team won 7-4.
Dearborn Fordson senior Hassan Jaafar made his way around the bases quite a bit during a 13-12 win over Dearborn Henry Ford Academy on April 13. Jaafar stole seven bases, tying for second most in one game and ending up just one shy of tying the MHSAA record.
Boys Lacrosse
Detroit Country Day’s back-to-back MHSAA Semifinal runs the last two seasons were led by a foursome of standouts who are now all over the MHSAA record book for the sport. Emilio Sosa graduated in 2015 and now has five entries including 181 goals, seventh most. Cooper Belanger was a senior this spring and is listed 10 times, most notably for 317 career points, which rank sixth on that list, and 149 career assists, which rank fourth. David Pohl’s three entries before graduating in 2015 included tying for second-most assists in a game, nine, against East Grand Rapids his senior season, and 116 career assists that tie for eighth. And goalie Jackson White finished up this spring with 11 entries including four seasons on the single-season saves list – his 257 in 2015 rank second – and 872 career saves, which also rank second. Sosa played this spring at Kenyon College in Ohio, and Belanger is slated to begin his collegiate career this fall at Colgate in New York.
New Baltimore Anchor Bay’s William Moses joined the single-game scoring list in April. The recent graduate netted eight goals in a 16-1 win over Warren Mott to break his school’s record by two goals.
Fenton goalkeeper Abby Quesnelle earned her second entry for shutouts in one season with 13 this spring as a junior in 24 games to go with 15 shutouts as a sophomore in 2015. Fenton reached the Regional Final in Division 2 before falling to eventual MHSAA champion Pontiac Notre Dame Prep.
Her team may have fallen 3-0, but Jennifer Gutierrez did her part to keep Caro close to Millington on May 4. The recently-graduated keeper had an MHSAA record 50 saves for the Tigers as the Cardinals put 53 shots on goal.
Softball
Lauren Kanai was perfect in her team’s 17-0 five-inning win over Greenville on May 19 – the Ada Forest Hills Eastern junior pitcher tossed the perfect game in part by striking out 14 of 15 batters faced to make the MHSAA list for most strikeouts in a five-inning game. She also had two RBI.
Howell’s Veronica Pezzoni is a perfect 75 of 75 on stolen base attempts over the last two seasons, good for the fourth-longest streak in MHSAA history. The senior-to-be needs only 25 more without getting caught to set the MHSAA record. Junior teammate Jordan Humitz also made the MHSAA records with 13 home runs this spring. Howell as a team made lists in multiple categories over the last two seasons – with 454 hits, 93 doubles, 339 RBI and a .400 team batting average in 2015 when it finished 32-9-1; and for 493 hits, 93 doubles, a .415 average and 330 RBI this spring in finishing 30-11.
PHOTO: Farmington Hills Mercy's Abby Krzywiecki steps in against Macomb Dakota during this spring's Division 1 Final.
Livonia Standout Scores Pair of Records
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
December 10, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
It’s hard to imagine a better first season of high school lacrosse for Livonia United’s Madalyn Champagne than what she accomplished this spring for the first-year program.
Champagne, now a senior at Livonia Stevenson, set a pair of MHSAA girls lacrosse records. Her 15 goals against Royal Oak on April 12 set both the single-game goals and points records, and her 149 goals total over 21 games tied for second for goals in one season.
She also had 11 assists for a total of 160 points, which ranked sixth on the season list in that category. Total, Champagne had 18 entries added to the record book. She has signed to continue after high school at Grand Valley State University.
Click to see the girls lacrosse record book in full, and continue below for more recent records additions in girls and boys basketball, football, girls soccer, softball and volleyball.
Girls Basketball
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep’s Sarah Stuart capped off her high school career last winter with 70 3-pointers over 25 games, making the single-season list for made long-distance shots. She also finished runner-up at the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan “Top Shooters Challenge” 3-point contest played during Finals weekend in March.
Boys Basketball
It’s never too late to submit a record, and White Cloud’s Randy Mast was added for his .885 free-throw percentage during the 1966-67 season. That shooting success ranks 15th on the list and was accomplished during his senior season, when he averaged 20.8 points per game in leading the team to a 16-3 record.
Football
Coldwater got a running start on the 2019 season, in record proportions. The Cardinals made the record book on opening night with 667 total yards including 615 rushing on 59 carries. The total yardage ranks third by one team all-time for a single game, and the rushing yardage also is third on that respective list. Damon Beckhusen led the attack with 26 carries for 322 yards and three touchdowns, and Matt Gipple had 214 yards and four scores on the ground in a 47-30 win over Haslett.
Allendale’s Owen Burk just missed the single-season rushing list as a junior in 2018 with 2,069 yards over 10 games, but he was added three times for scoring. Burk had 218 points total and made the total touchdown list with 36 and the rushing touchdown list with 30. He will continue playing at Air Force.
Reggie Allen scored on a 98-yard kickoff return for Monroe on Oct. 22, 2010, against Dearborn Fordson that at the time would have been the second-longest recorded kickoff return score in MHSAA history. It currently ranks 10th on that list.
Girls Soccer
Twins Jordan Noble and Taylor Noble have helped put Boyne City soccer on the map the last two years, and big sophomore seasons in the spring landed both of them in the MHSAA record book. Jordan had 43 goals and 23 assists – including six assists in a game against Kalkaska – for 66 points, while Taylor had 35 goals and 22 assists for 57 points.
Softball
A number of Goodrich accomplishments were added from this spring’s season, including 383 hits, 42 home runs, 71 doubles and 259 RBI for the team over 38 games. Then-senior Sydney Hill and then-sophomores Savannah Stratton and Alissa Gauthier all were added for hitting back-to-back home runs (Gauthier’s during the same inning May 14 against Corunna), and then-junior Danielle Dumoulin was added for her 10 homers on the year. Additionally, the 2001 team was added for winning 35 games.
Hudson as a program earned its first team record book entries this spring in making the Division 4 Quarterfinals, with 392 hits including 77 doubles, and 295 RBI over 43 games. Then-senior Anna Stein and now-senior Flesia Borck also were added to individual lists, Stein with 16 doubles and Borck for scoring 71 runs.
Volleyball
Leland setter Ella Siddall helped her team to a Class D championship, Division 4 runner-up finish and a third trip to the Semifinals during her varsity career from 2015-18, and also graduated this past spring with the fifth-most assists during the rally scoring era that began in 2004-05 – 4,559 over her four varsity seasons. She also made the career aces list with 362, with a high of 119 as a junior in 2017. She’s continuing at DePaul University.
PHOTO: Livonia United's Maddy Champagne controls possession against Hartland. (Photo courtesy of Observer & Eccentric newspapers.)