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.)
Brown City Standout Joins Spiking Elite
June 29, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Brown City senior Becki Krause finished off a celebrated three-season varsity career with a memorable run last fall, leading her team to its first Class C championship game and a runner-up finish.
Her 36 kills in a Semifinal win over Adrian Madison made the MHSAA record book single-match list, and she made the single-season kills list as well with 661 total. Brown City finished 45-9-6 after also advancing to the Semifinals in 2015.
Read on for another recent volleyball record book entry plus more additions in baseball, boys and girls basketball, football, girls soccer, softball and wrestling, and click on the headings to see those record books in full.
Baseball
Three straight no-hitters during the final weeks of the 1973 season earned Robert Nowotny from tiny Carsonville a paragraph in the Detroit Free Press and a shared MHSAA record for most consecutive no-hitters. His came over Kingston, Peck and Kinde North Huron.
Boys Basketball
Powers North Central rewrote the record book section for victories over the last four seasons, breaking its previous records by going 56-0 over the last two and 83-0 over the last three while also setting the record (that remains active) with an 83-game winning streak through this past season’s Class D Final. Standout senior Jason Whitens finished his career on record book lists for 2,062 points, 770 rebounds, 601 assists and 264 steals and set a record for 109 varsity games played. His career assists rank fifth all-time. He will continue his career at Western Michigan University.
Girls Basketball
Kelsey Wyman and Brooke Henning finished successful four-season varsity careers this winter by leading Blissfield to a 23-3 record and run to the Class C Quarterfinals. Wyman made the records with 175 assists and 578 (eighth all-time) for her career, while Henning made lists for 25 rebounds in a game twice, 402 this season (seventh all-time) and 303 as a junior, and 1,007 rebounds for her career. Wyman will continue at Ferris State, and Henning will play softball at Grand Valley State.
Football
A trio of Frankenmuth kickers entered the MHSAA record book, led by recent graduate Jack Lee after he made all 54 extra points he attempted last fall. Aaron Krafft was added to the career list for 76 extra-point kicks during the 2013-14 seasons, and Bryce Frahm joined Lee on the single-season list with 47 PATs in 2012. Running back Kyle Raycraft also was added for tying the longest rush with his 99-yarder against Caro in 2003. Lee will play soccer this season at Calvin College.
Frankfort junior Griffin Kelly also was added for a 99-yard run, for a score on Sept. 16 against Mancelona. He scored twice more that game, including on a 75-yard reception.
Girls Soccer
Christina Wynn led Trenton on an impressive run over her four-year career that ended this spring with 55 shutouts, good to tie for seventh most all-time, and with three entries for single-season shutouts including a high of 18 as a junior. Her Trenton teams earned five record book entries, most notably for 145 goals (fifth most all-time) this spring and an 18-game shutout run in 2016 that set an MHSAA record. Junior Sara Vinca also was added for her 33 goals this season.
Morgan McKerchie capped a three-season varsity career at Flint Powers Catholic with 34 assists in 2014 to finish with 72 – both earned record-book listings, as did teammate Heather Rolls’ 18 shutouts in 2012. Powers also made the team shutouts list with that total that season, and for giving up only eight goals in 21 games in 2014. McKerchie plays at Michigan State and Rolls went on to play at Georgetown.
Softball
Kelsie Swanson finished up a four-year varsity career at Flint Powers Catholic with a number of entries, mostly for career accomplishments – a .529 average, 198 runs, 244 hits (tied for 12th most), 55 doubles (including 21 as a senior) and 28 triples. She started this season for Oakland University.
Volleyball
Madison Dowd had 59 assists for Bloomfield Hills Marian in its four-set win over rival Farmington Hills Mercy last Sept. 15, good to tie for ninth-most assists in a match. A sophomore, Dowd finished the season with 1,434 assists, 15th-most all-time.
Wrestling
Longtime Blanchard Montabella coach Shaun Balhorn was added to the career wins list as his total went over 400 this past winter. Balhorn has led Montabella to a 409-192 record since taking over in 1997-98, with a high of 33 wins in 2003-04.
PHOTO: Brown City’s Becki Krause winds up for a kill attempt during last season’s Class C Semifinal against Adrian Madison.