Records Report: Shark Sets Standard

December 21, 2012

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Allison Smith needed only three seasons to become one of the MHSAA's top setters of all-time. But her final season this fall surely was the most memorable for the St. Louis standout.  

Her record-setting assists total could be the most noteworthy accomplishment to be added to the MHSAA volleyball record book from this season. This week's "Records Report" also includes a number of other achievements from that sport, including the season and career kills totals of Miss Volleyball finalist Chloe Reinig of South Lyon. 

Click the sport categories below to see the entire record book for each, and keep an eye out for more additions in 2013.  

Volleyball


  • Allison Smith set an MHSAA rally-scoring record with 1,568 assists this season, highlighting 10 entries from her and her St. Louis teammates added after this season. Smith, a senior, tallied 20 more assists this fall than former record-holder Erica Bartholomew of Coloma in 2006-07. Teammates Brooke Tubbs and Bri Alspaugh also were added to the record book after the Sharks finished 65-11-1. Smith’s 3,751 assists over the last three seasons puts her seventh on the career list for the rally scoring era, which began in 2004-05.
  • Livonia Churchill senior Emily Norscia had 786 kills this fall to finish with 1,964 in her career – good for 11th on the MHSAA list. Her kills this season were 16th-most for one year since rally scoring was introduced. Her coach, Mark Grenier, was added to the coaching list with 722 wins over 20 seasons at five schools. Churchill finished 44-9-2 this fall.
  • South Lyon’s Chloe Rienig finished her career also ranking among Michigan’s top hitters all-time. The 6-foot-4 senior – who played her freshman season at Bloomfield Hills Marian before coming to South Lyon – finished with 1,818 kills, tied for 15th on the MHSAA career list since the switch to rally scoring. Her kill totals the last two seasons both ranked on that single-year list. Reinig, who has signed with Michigan State, also made the list three times for kills in a match. Her 39 against Salem in a five-set win on Sept. 25 ranks second.
  • Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central’s Emily Campbell was added for her 749 kills this season, plus 39 she had in a five-game match against Forest Hills Northern on Oct. 31. Teammate Mya Udell was added for delivering 48 assists in that match, which Forest Hills Central won with a 15-9 clincher in the final game.

Football

  • Dowagiac’s Brett Scanlon finished his career among the top field-goal kickers in MHSAA history. He’s tied for second on the career list with 28 three-point makes in 53 attempts from 2009 through this fall. His 120 extra points also tie for 14th on that career list. Total, he appears in the MHSAA football record book seven times for his kicking achievements.

Boys tennis

  • A number of listings were added for Midland Dow players after the Chargers claimed their fourth straight Lower Peninsula Division 2 championship. Perhaps most impressive were the 41-0 season by junior Austin Woody – who tied the single-season record for wins and added to his record streak of 80 straight victories in winning the No. 2 singles championship – and the 37-0 finish by juniors Jason Chang and Vikram Shanker. They tied for second-most wins in a season on the way to claiming the No. 1 doubles title, and Chang has been part of 101 straight doubles wins – good for the second-longest doubles win streak.

Boys basketball

  • Our first listing from this boys basketball season comes from Leroy Pine River and Mitchell McDonald. He led the Bucks to an 87-36 opening-night win over Harrison with 19 assists, to go along with 11 points and six steals.

Softball

  • Fenton’s Cowger sisters and teammate Katie Carinduff all made the book for accomplishments last spring or during their careers. Sammi Cowger, now playing at Ball State, made the career doubles and triples lists, while now-junior sister Ellie Cowger tied for 11th for single-season stolen bases with 65 and tied for eighth with a 20-game hitting streak. Carinduff made the list for most RBI in one game, with seven May 12 against Macomb L’Anse Creuse North. 

PHOTO: St. Louis' Allison Smith (3) prepares to set a teammate during this season's St. Louis Invitational. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)

Swan Valley Stacks Softball Feats

May 2, 2017

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Saginaw Swan Valley's softball team has played in five MHSAA Finals and won one championship over the last 30+ seasons – and now has a significant presence in the MHSAA record book as well.

Current senior Lauren Addy had 88 hits last season to tie for fourth on the single-season list for that category, and her 89 stolen bases last spring rank second for one season. Heather Pollick’s 18 home runs in 2012 are tied for third most, while Paige Churchfield’s 32 home runs from 2012-15 are tied for 13th most for a career. Churchfield (2015) and Shannon O’Toole (1991) both were added for 77 RBI in a season, tying for sixth on that list, and Crutchfield’s 187 career RBI rank 14th. Mary Berden’s 124 walks drawn from 2009-12 are second on the career list in that category, and Heather Heinlein’s 68 steals in 2001 rank 11th. Angie Sander’s 162 steals from 1991-94 are tied for 15th most for a career.

Among pitchers, Amy Gustin is tied for eighth with 31 straight wins in 1988. Jenni Rasmussen’s 0.06 ERA in 1999 ranks second, and Amber Anderson’s 0.10 in 1986 is tied for sixth while Gustin’s 0.15 during that 1988 season is tied for 10th lowest. Rasmussen’s career ERA of 0.35 is tied for fourth lowest, while Ashley Mohr’s 490 strikeouts in 2003 rank 13th for one season and her 1,204 from 2000-03 rank 15th on the career list.

Others to earn record book listings were Jenny Neiderquill, Rebecca Curtis, Summer Zeitler, Melissa Rudzinski, Amy Vedrode, Trisha Everett, Alex Ramirez and Kathi Gilbert.

Churchfield plays for Lourdes University in Ohio, while Rasmussen played at Central Michigan University, O’Toole played at Western Michigan, Ramirez played at Delta College and current senior Curtis will begin her career at Lansing Community College next season.

Read on for more recent record book additions in girls and boys basketball, football, girls soccer, softball and wrestling, and click the headings for each sport to see those record books in full.

Girls Basketball

It’s been noted a few times that Pittsford’s Jaycie Burger and Maddie Clark finished their careers as the winningest players in MHSAA girls basketball history with matching 103-2 records over the last four seasons. But they also earned a number of record book entries along the way. Burger’s name appears nine times, including for 229 career 3-pointers (10th all-time) and 605 career assists (fifth). Clark appears in the records five times, with her 1,119 career rebounds ranking 10th on that list. Junior Marissa Shaw was added for her 179 steals in 28 games this past season – which tied her for fifth most in that category. Pittsford finished a second straight undefeated season with a second straight Class D title and is riding a 55-game winning streak. Burger will play basketball next season at Hillsdale College, and Clark will play volleyball there.

Skyler DeMeyer didn’t score a point for Centreville in its 66-25 win over New Buffalo on Jan. 6 – and didn’t have to, instead making the single-game assists list with 14. DeMeyer was a senior for Centreville, which finished 19-2.

Tawas’ Morgan Kaniszewski played a major role in her team’s Class B District title run and 15-9 season, making 81 3-pointers – tied for 13th most all-time. The Braves’ junior also connected on 16 of 16 free throws in the District Final win over Gladwin, making the lists for most free throws in a game and most consecutive in a game (tying for eighth in the latter).

Boys Basketball

Opponents of Onsted through the middle seasons of this decade knew better than to challenge the Wildcats regularly in the post. Austin Davis – now at University of Michigan – graduated in 2016 with 1,078 career rebounds, fifth most in MHSAA history, and his 414 as a junior tied for 11th most in one season. Davis also graduated with 297 blocked shots, tied for eighth most on that list. Teammate Devin Louden, a 2014 graduate, is just ahead with 300 blocked shots from his three-season varsity career. Davis was 6-foot-10 in high school, while Louden was 6-8.

A pair of Okemos sharpshooters were added for their free throw and 3-point work at the start of this decade. Chris Harrison-Docks was added for 178 3-pointers, 396 free throws made and an .807 free-throw percentage from 2010-12, plus 176 free throws made during the 2011-12 season. Conner George was added for 174 free throws in 2014-15, plus an .807 percentage from 2014-16. Meanwhile, Taylor Moton – who went on to play football at Western Michigan University and was drafted by the Carolina Panthers this past weekend – was added for 342 rebounds during that 2011-12 season. Harrison-Docks finished his college career this season at DePaul after three seasons at Western Kentucky, and George plays at Michigan State after joining the team as a walk-on in 2015-16. Okemos as a team was added for scoring 75 points in a half of a 123-73 win against Mason in 1980, and three times for free throws attempts – its 633 in 2011-12 rank fifth on that list. The Chiefs also made 418 free throws that season, which ranks fourth, and are listed with Holt as part of the game tied for third-most for free throws between two teams: Okemos had 27 and Holt 36 in a 94-86 Rams win on Feb. 10 of this season. Holt’s 36 makes also made the list for most converted free throws by one team in a game.

Football

Pewamo-Westphalia followed 8,000-yard rusher Jared Smith with one of the most prolific offenses ever last fall in winning the Division 7 title. The senior running back capped his career third in points (806) and total touchdowns (124), second in rushing yards (8,182), seventh in rushing attempts (808) and with the records for career rushing touchdowns (123) and consecutive 100-yard rushing games (33 from 2014-2016). The Pirates scored 645 points, 13th most all-time, while running for 4,067 yards and amassing 5,027 total yards with 81 touchdowns including 68 rushing. The Pirates became the first entry in a number of recently-added team offense categories and moved to the top of the list for interceptions in one game with eight in a win over Potterville. They also joined the list of teams with at least 19 straight winning seasons by posting their 21st consecutive, giving them the fifth-longest streak in the state. In addition to Smith’s numerous individual entries, teammates Devon Pung (29 tackles for losses), Mason Schneider (three interception touchdown returns in one season) and Reece Platte (10 extra points in one game, against Bath) also were added. Pung and Platte also are seniors, and Schneider is a junior. Smith will continue this fall at Michigan Tech. 

Girls Soccer

Fruitport Calvary Christian’s Brianna Zehr made a four-year impact before graduating in 2014. She had 42 goals that season to make the single-season scoring list, and 101 total over four seasons to make the career list as well. Zehr went on to play at Olivet Nazarene University in Illinois.

Softball

Blissfield senior Brooke Henning made the MHSAA single-season home runs list both with 14 last spring as a junior and 11 as a freshman. Those 25 combined alone (not counting her sophomore total) also would put her on the career list; she is finishing this spring and will play collegiately at Grand Valley State.

Wrestling

Brandon Garcia never made the MHSAA single-season wins list, but finished his four-season varsity career in 2016 with 213 and only 14 losses after winning at least 50 matches all four of his seasons. Garcia also made the career pins list with 130. He finished as an MHSAA Finals runner-up twice.

PHOTO: Saginaw Swan Valley’s Lauren Addy scores a run during last season’s Division 2 Quarterfinal against Escanaba. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)