Records Report: Bowen Among Best

April 26, 2013

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Letitia Bowen led Buchanan to the top of Class C in 1990 with 31 points and 13 rebounds in a 42-34 MHSAA Final win over Detroit Country Day that gave the Bucks their first girls basketball title.

Nearly 24 years later, she now officially dwells as well among the top rebounders in Michigan high school history.

This week's "Records Report" recalls the mid-1980s and just a month ago, plus both decades between. Make sure to click on the sport subtitle to go directly to the record book for that sport and find directions to submit candidates.

Girls Basketball

  • Buchanan’s Letitia Bowen joined the ranks of the MHSAA’s all-time top rebounders. Her 460 over 28 games in 1990 rank second for one season, and her 1,093 (14 per game) rank ninth. Also, Nicole Tucker moved into ninth place for career 3-pointers with 200. Her 67 as a senior made the single-season list – she connected on 49.6 percent of her 3-point tries that fall. Shelly Bender also was added for her 15 free throws during a 2001 game.

Hockey

  • Warren DeLaSalle tied an MHSAA record this season, but in an unprecedented way. Against Trenton on Feb. 13, DeLaSalle scored twice in seven seconds – tying Flint Carman-Ainsworth in 1995 for the fastest two goals by a team. But DeLaSalle scored both while playing short-handed with a player serving a penalty. Anthony Lipari scored the first goal off an Antonio Tejerna assist at 10:23 of the third period, and Liam McKenna then scored unassisted at 10:30. Trenton eventually held off DeLaSalle to win 5-4.

Wrestling

  • Past MHSAA individual champions Kamron Jackson and Drakkar Klose of South Haven both were added for their career wins and career pins – Jackson finished 209-17 with 140 pins from 2004-08, and Klose went 204-14 with 121 pins from 2003-07. South Haven’s Jamie McCloughan also was added for his 114 pins from 1985-89.

Volleyball

  • A trio of Sault Ste. Marie players was added, including two for top performances in a four-game win over Pickford on Oct. 25, 2011. In that match, Josie Werner had 40 kills – second-most in a five-game match during the rally scoring era – and Kylee Fitzpatrick had 40 assists. Werner finished that season with a school-record 743 kills, and Fitzpatrick finished her career with 3,172 assists, good for 14th on that MHSAA list. Katie Fitzpatrick made the single-season kills list with 723 in 2009.
  • Troy setter Lindsay Moeller finished her career in the fall as one of 18 setters now in the MHSAA record book with at least 3,000 assists during the rally scoring era – she finished with 3,052. Moeller’s 1,350 assists this season tied for 15th on the single-season list, and she’s also mentioned three times for assists in one match.

    Boys Basketball

    • Lake Leelanau St. Mary’s Nick Hahnenberg tried to bring his team all the way back against Maple City Glen Lake in their Class D District Final in 1996. He scored 26 points – tied for fourth-most in a quarter – in the final period although his team went on to lose to Glen Lake 88-68. Glen Lake coach Don Miller later wrote in a letter to the editor of The Leelanau Enterprise that after Hahnenberg’s third 3-pointer of the run, he spontaneously stood and applauded – rare perhaps for an opposing coach but warranted for this incredible feat.

    Football

    • Mitch Robinson quarterbacked Auburn Hills Avondale to a 17-13 record and two playoff appearances during his three seasons from 2009-11, and his name appears 13 times in the MHSAA record book. The recent additions are for his career numbers; his 73 passing touchdowns are sixth, his 6,213 passing yards are eighth, his 752 attempts 10th and his 401 completions 12th on those respective lists. A Midland Daily News report in February reported Robinson, as a redshirt freshman, would be among six vying for the starting spot at Division II Northwood this fall.
    • The Siler brothers of Crystal Falls Forest Park carried, literally, the Trojans’ offense for large parts of the last decade. Jacob Siler was added to the record book twice for his six-touchdown performance in a 2011 playoff win over Stephenson – during which he tied the MHSAA record with five first-quarter scores as Forest Park went on to win 50-43. Josh Siler was added four times, including for 206 points in 2008 and 446 total for his career. He and Kyle LaVacque both were added for having more than 40 carries in games.
    • Birmingham Brother Rice kicker Jason Alessi has one more season to play for the Warriors and should finish as one of the MHSAA’s best ever at his position. He already was in the record book in the extra-point and longest kickoff return categories for a Final from last fall, but has been added five more times – most notably for his 63 straight extra points going back to 2011. His streak is tied for eighth longest – and he could chase the record of 123 by Lowell's Jerry Adams set from 2007-08.

    Boys Soccer

    • Monroe Jefferson took a tough loss in its first-round District game in the fall – a shootout defeat to Dearborn Henry Ford. But Jefferson goalkeeper David Salliotte did make 45 saves (not counting those in the shootout), the second-highest save total for one game.

    PHOTO: Buchanan's Letitia Bowen (33) dominated in the post as the Bucks won the Class C Final over Detroit Country Day in 1990. 

    Smith's Record-Caliber Swing Lifts Mendon to Multiple Titles

    By Geoff Kimmerly
    MHSAA.com senior editor

    August 12, 2021

    Anna Smith’s four-year varsity career capped in November included helping Mendon to back-to-back Division 4 championships in 2018 and 2019, and she finished last season among the top hitters in MHSAA history.

    Smith graduated with 2,234 kills to rank 18th all-time since the start of rally scoring. She has eight record book entries total, also including for a career-high 740 kills as a junior, a tied-for-second 24 aces in a match last fall, and a career total of 398 aces to rank 13th on that list.

    She’s continuing her career at College of Charleston (S.C.).

    Click to see the volleyball record book in full, and read on for more recent record book updates in baseball, football and girls lacrosse.

    Baseball

    Saugatuck’s baseball success over the last three seasons has been tied in part to its work on the base paths – with its total steals in 2018, 2019 and 2021 all making the record book. Saugatuck’s 222 steals in 248 attempts in 2018 remain the second-most steals for one season, while its 182 steals in 2019 rank 10th and its 166 steals this spring were tied for 22nd-most.

    11-player Football

    Belleville senior quarterback Christian Dhue-Reid became the first to be added to the football record book for the 2020 season after throwing for seven touchdown passes – including six during the first half – of his team’s win over Dearborn Fordson last Sept. 25. The first-half TD passes tied for sixth-most in a half, and the seven total tied for eighth-most in a game.

    Mitchell Middleton showed his powerful leg in Middleville Thornapple Kellogg's Sept. 17, 2019, win over Wyoming. The then-senior booted a 52-yard field goal to make the list for longest.

    DeWitt’s championship run last season included a number of record book performances, on both sides of the ball. Then-junior quarterback Tyler Holtz made the records for 2,396 passing yards over 12 games, and for a single-game high of 405, and also for 35 passing touchdowns. Senior Tommy McIntosh was added for 245 yards and four touchdowns in the same game, against Grand Ledge, and Nathaniel Deppin was added for a 96-yard kickoff return in that same game. The Panthers as a team made the touchdown list with 70, and also for giving up only 80 points over the season. Additionally, senior Brandon Soltis finished his two-year varsity career with 78 extra points and also was added for his 45 as a junior. A number of others were added for accomplishments over the last four seasons, including Blake Gatfield, Noah Koenigsknecht, Alan Smith, Jack Horan, Carson Hayes and Luke Bresser. Koenigsknecht and Bresser play for Northwood.

    Then-junior Nick Kay earned his first record book entry last Sept. 25 with a 52-yard field goal for Walled Lake Central against Troy. Also added was past quarterback Nick Krumm, who scored eight total touchdowns (six rushing) during a 2013 game against Waterford Mott. Krumm was a junior that season; he went on to play at Michigan State.

    North Muskegon then-senior Brendan Moat navigated some tough weather in his team’s 2019 playoff loss to Pewamo-Westphalia to drill a 74-yard punt, tying for 17th longest in MHSAA history. Moat is playing currently at Kalamazoo College.

    Despite a shortened 2020 season, Brady Hessbrook finished his four-season Ithaca career with record-book highlights. He made the single-season passing yards list with 2,002 over eight games, and the career list with 4,091 over 37 games total. He made the lists for passing touchdowns in one half and a single game with six against Michigan Lutheran Seminary on Oct. 9, on the way to making the single-season passing TD list with 30 and career list with 51. Hessbrook is continuing his career at Wayne State.

    Livonia Stevenson senior Caden Woodall put together one of the most impressive rushing seasons in state history over just eight games last fall. On just 186 carries, Woodall ran for 2,228 yards and 34 touchdowns, making single-season lists for both. He scored six touchdowns in a game twice and totaled more than 200 yards rushing in seven straight games. He’s continuing his career at Harvard.

    Girls Lacrosse

    Three Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central players earned single-game entries during the 2021 season. Sophomore Gabriella Hendricks was added for eight goals in a May 19 game against East Grand Rapids, seven goals on May 14 against Ann Arbor Skyline and five assists on May 10 against Grandville. Sophomore Shannon Murphy also had seven goals in that Skyline game and seven against Grand Rapids Christian on May 20, and sophomore Delaney Smith had five assists against Holland West Ottawa on March 29.

    PHOTO: Mendon’s Anna Smith follows through on a kill attempt during the 2019 Division 4 championship match against Leland.