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.)
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.)