Logo

Records Report: Buchanan's Bowen Among Best

April 29, 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. 

    K-Zoo United Lights Up Record Book

    April 15, 2019

    By Geoff Kimmerly
    Second Half editor

    Kalamazoo United has finished a combined 19-4 over the last two seasons in part because of a high-powered offense that has left its mark all over the MHSAA football record book.

    The co-op program of Hackett and Kalamazoo Christian this past fall scored 600 points (50 ppg) in finishing 11-1 and reaching a Division 5 Regional Final before losing to eventual champion Hudsonville Unity Christian. Quarterback Eric Wenzel completed his three-season varsity career with MHSAA records for 42 completions (on 61 attempts) in a 2017 game against Delton Kellogg and for 56 passing touchdowns this past fall.

    He appears in the football record book a total of 14 times, including for 3,624 passing yards in 2018 (eighth most), 8,643 career passing yards over 28 games (second), 401 pass attempts in 2017 (seventh), 941 career pass attempts (third), 256 completions in 2017 (second), 598 career completions (third) and 110 career touchdown passes (second).

    Senior receiver Andrew Widger ranks ninth for receiving touchdowns in a season after grabbing 20 this past fall, and made the single-season yardage list with 1,077 and the career touchdowns list with 26 over two years. Senior received Heath Baldwin was added for 105 catches, 1,744 yards and 30 touchdown catches over the last two seasons, and junior Christian Bartholomew with a season to play has made career lists already with 141 receptions, 2,144 yards and 21 touchdowns.

    Wenzel will walk-on at Western Michigan University, while Widger has committed to Kalamazoo College and Baldwin – last season’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 champion in the 110-meter hurdles and long jump – will continue his track & field career at University of Michigan.

    Click to check out the football record book in full, and read on for more recent entries.

    Football

    Reed City has finished 33-4 over the last three seasons, and senior Phillip Jones-Price finished his three-season varsity career among the leading rushers and scorers in MHSAA history. His 284 points this season rank as seventh most, and his 604 career points over 37 games are tied for 11th. His 44 touchdowns (all rushing) over 12 games this past fall are tied for seventh most, and his 95 career touchdowns rank 11th on that list. He ran for 2,223 yards this season and ranks 17th on the career yardage list with 5,475. Those 44 touchdowns in the fall also rank third for most rushing scores in one season, and he’s listed seventh on the career list with 90. Reed City as a team made the total points list with 573 over 12 games this past fall and 546 over 13 games in 2017, rushing for more than 4,300 yards as a team both seasons and gaining at least 5,100 yards as a team during both. Jones-Price will continue at Albion College.

    Brad Dunn became the latest Saugatuck offensive standout to leave his name all over the MHSAA record book, finishing up a three-year varsity career in the fall on lists with 472 points and 78 touchdowns. He had 260 points, 43 touchdowns – with 41 rushing – and 2,574 rushing yards in 11 games in his final season. He also was added for six rushing touchdowns in a game against Fennville, as was older brother Blake Dunn for six against Martin in 2014. Teammate Nick Stanberry tied the longest rushing touchdown with a 99-yarder against Kent City on Oct. 26, and kicker Griffin Milovanski made both the single-season extra points list with 69 and career consecutive extra points list with 53 straight last season. As a team, Saugatuck was added 11 times, most notably for scoring 524 points (47.6 per game) this past fall, and taking its place atop the single-season rushing list for its 5,281 yards over 14 games in 2010.

    Delton Kellogg’s 86-50 win over Niles Brandywine in a first-round Division 6 playoff game Oct. 26 ranks among the highest-scoring in MHSAA history. Brandywine junior receiver Shane Brown was one of the shining individual performers, making the MHSAA records with 259 receiving yards (on 11 receptions) and five receiving touchdowns.

    A pair of Corunna grads were added for defensive performances in 2015. Then-senior Dakota Ryan ranks tied for fourth for single-game interceptions for his four against Flint Beecher that season, and then-junior Brandon Blair made the list for longest fumble return touchdown with a 95-yarder against Durand. Blair now plays at Northwood University.

    DeWitt joined the list of consecutive winning seasons this fall with 19 straight after finishing 12-1. This fall’s success also pushed coach Rob Zimmerman over 200 career wins – he’s 207-62 in 20 seasons at DeWitt and three at Cedar Springs. Junior Carson Hayes was added in two individual categories, for extra points (making 56 of 59) in one season, and for connecting on 37 straight.

    Quarterback Blake Fialek and receiver Brent McLaughlin earned Holton’s first football record book entries with their contributions against Lakeview in 2016. Fialek was added for 413 yards passing on 24 completions (and 40 attempts), while McLaughlin caught 14 of those passes for 269 yards to earn two record entries. Fialek was a senior that fall and plays now at Alma College, and McLaughlin graduated last spring.

    Elk Rapids’ added three players to the record book for accomplishments over the last four seasons. Sophomore Gordie LaFontaine earned four entries this past fall, including for 2,033 passing yards and six touchdown tosses in a half against East Jordan on Aug. 30. Senior Alex Villegas was added for 143 receptions and 1,773 receiving yards over four seasons, and kicker Marshall Fox made the career extra point list with 82 in 85 attempts also over the last four years.

    A pair of Crystal Falls Forest Park juniors joined the growing 8-player record list. Tommy Peltoma made the single-game rushing attempts list with 50 (for 272 yards) against Phillips, Wis., on Sept. 21. Evan Hedtke was added for five tackles for loss against Felch North Dickinson on Oct. 5. He finished with 11 tackles total in the game.

    Cedarville senior Jarron Masuga earned three 8-player record book entries including the first for fumble recoveries in a season (12) and fumble returns for touchdowns in a season (five on defense; he also returned a fumble for a touchdown while playing offense). He also moved to the top of the list for sacks with 18 over 12 games last fall. He will continue his career at Albion College.

    PHOTO: Kalamazoo United quarterback Eric Wenzel (center) congratulates teammate Andrew Widger (10) after a touchdown this fall. (Photo by Daniel J. Cooke.)