Rosman Earns Spot Among Top Hitters

January 23, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Kayla Rosman finished her four-year varsity volleyball career this fall having helped Morley-Stanwood to four league and three District titles and the Class C championship as a freshman in 2011.

She also capped a marvelous run as a Miss Volleyball Award finalist and among top hitters listed in the MHSAA record book.

Rosman had 606 kills this season – good to make the single-season list – and her 1,896 career kills rank 15th since the start of the rally scoring era in 2004-05. She previously tied an MHSAA Finals record with eight blocks in that 2011 Class C Final against Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central.

Rosman – who has signed with Ferris State University – just missed the single-match list with 28 kills in a 3-1 Regional Final loss to Ravenna this season. But teammate Lindsey Veersma made the single-match assists list with 48 over those four sets.

Click to see the MHSAA volleyball record book in full and read on for more recent additions to record listings (click the sport heading for each to see that record book).

Baseball

  • Blissfield’s Josh Knorr played a big part in that perennial power continuing its winning tradition during his four-year career from 2009-12. His 179 career runs are tied for ninth in MHSAA history, while his 215 hits are fourth on that list and his 103 walks tie for 11th. He also had 110 stolen bases and was hit by 23 pitches during his four-year varsity career, during which he played nearly every position on the field although primarily catcher as a senior. Blissfield finished Division 3 runner-up his freshman season. Knorr played at Jackson Community College and is now playing at Adrian College.  

 

Girls Basketball


  • Halle Wangler finished her high school career in 2011 among Royal Oak Shrine’s career leaders in scoring (1,311 points) and rebounding (631) and its record holder for free-throw shooting (72 percent). She made the MHSAA listings with her free-throw shooting as a senior after making 113 of 132 attempts (85.6 percent). She started her collegiate career at Oakland University and has since transferred to the University of Michigan, where she is a redshirt junior.

  • Jessica Marvin scored a game-high 19 points in Byron’s 54-40 win over Dryden on Jan. 16, 2014, and in the process became the latest to make at least 15 free throws in a game. She connected on 15 of 18, including 10 during the second half.

  • Howell junior Erin Honkala capped the first week of this season with an incredible all-around performance – and one of the best rebounding totals in MHSAA history. Honkala pulled down 28 rebounds – tied for 13th most for one game – to go with 19 points and eight blocked shots in the Highlanders’ 47-30 win Dec. 5 over Ann Arbor Skyline.

Football

  • Detroit Cass Tech running back Mike Weber finished a three-year run in the fall as one of the top running backs in Michigan, with perhaps his most memorable highlight this season a 404-yard rushing performance in his team’s Division 1 Regional win over Clinton Township Chippewa Valley on Nov. 15. Weber ran 32 times and scored five touchdowns. 

  • East Lansing's Efe Scott-Emuakpor kicked off his varsity career in 2009 with 64 catches as a sophomore and finished in 2011 with 134 total to make that career list, with his 1,624 yards just missing the career list in that category. He’ll head into his junior season at Ball State University this fall.

  • St. Charles’ Devin Ballien was one of the busiest running backs in MHSAA history Sept. 5, when he ran the ball 41 times, making the record listings in that category. He finished with 289 yards on the ground in his team’s 42-36 win over Saginaw Valley Lutheran and scored five touchdowns including the game winner with 28 seconds to play.

  • Macomb L’Anse Creuse North quarterback Sean Koski capped his career in 2013 with a record-setting season before heading to Siena Heights University, where he just finished his first collegiate season. Koski made the MHSAA record book 15 times; he owns two of 10 500-yard passing performances with his 511 on Sept. 6, 2013, against Grosse Pointe South ranking sixth all-time. His 3,833 yards passing as a senior are third-most for one season; his 355 attempts that fall are 11th, his 211 completions rank 10th for a single fall and his 41 touchdowns fifth – despite playing only 10 games.

Boys Soccer


  • Isiah Handspike ranks 11th in career shutouts with 34 – with one more season to play. The DeWitt junior also made the single-season shutouts list with 13 as a sophomore, and needs 16 more as a senior to tie with three others for the MHSAA career record. 

PHOTO: Morley-Stanwood's Kayla Rosman helped her team to the Class C championship in 2011, first with this victory over Charlevoix in the MHSAA Semifinals. 

Ansel On Target for Record Book Rise

April 23, 2018

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Comstock junior Daisy Ansel will be one of the seniors to watch in Michigan next girls basketball season after she joined the state’s top shooters of all-time already as a junior this past winter.

Ansel is tied for 24th for career 3-pointers with 181, with that total recently added to the MHSAA record book. She’s made 38 percent of her long-range tries over the last three seasons, and also was added to the records for connecting on 86.5 percent of her free-throw attempts (64 of 74) over 21 games in 2017-18 as the Colts finished 19-2.

Below are more recent record book additions in girls basketball and boys soccer. Click the sport headings to view those record books in full.

Girls Basketball

Traverse City Central senior Margot Woughter earned a spot in the record book with 15 free throws on 19 attempts in a Jan. 19 game against Alpena. She finished with 40 points total in the 62-55 win. Woughter will continue her career at Indiana Wesleyan University.

Former Posen star center Korynn Hincka ranks among the all-time best in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots. She was added for 2,198 points, 1,224 rebounds (eighth-most) and 360 blocks (10th) over 98 games from 2011-14, along with a number of single-season entries and a single-game 19 free throws against Fairview during 2012-13. Younger sister Jenna Hincka was added for 170 steals as a senior during the 2015-16 season, which rank eighth. Korynn went on to play at Grand Valley State, and Jenna played a season of softball at Alpena Community College.

Ishpeming set an MHSAA record this winter making 77.6 percent of its free-throw attempts on the way to a 20-4 finish. The Hematites made 274 of 353 tries, led by senior Madigan Johns with 115 makes in 131 attempts. She was added to the individual list for highest free-throw percentage in a season at 87.8 and for her career at 82.2 over the last three seasons.

Coldwater junior Malorie Rzepka made the list for most free throws in a game with 15 in 16 tries against Kalamazoo Central in a 69-63 overtime win Dec. 19. Rzepka’s free throws all came during the second half and overtime.

Westland Universal Learning Academy then-freshman Zahraa Cherkaoui scored all but two of her team’s points Feb. 1, 2017, in a 49-23 win over Hope of Detroit. Her 47-point performance included seven 3-pointers.

Niles Brandywine’s run to the Class C Regional Finals and a 22-3 record included some record 3-point shooting. The Bobcats connected on 153 3-pointers in 639 attempts, making record book lists in both categories. They also made the single-game list with 14 3-pointers against Saugatuck in a 73-37 win on Dec. 5.

Kent City made the Class C Quarterfinals and finished 22-4 also on the strength of 3-point shooting. The Eagles made 198 3-pointers – fourth most in MHSAA history – on the third-most attempts, 737. Kent City made at least 13 3-pointers in three games, with a high of 16 against Hesperia on Jan. 19.

Boys Soccer

As reported last fall on Second Half, Lincoln Alcona senior keeper Conner McCoy broke the national saves record in late September – and finished his high school career with 1,280 over four seasons. His 365 last fall rank fifth for one season after he set the record as both a sophomore and junior. He will continue his career at Finlandia University.

Ryan Wiesniewski capped his four-year Gladwin varsity career in the fall tied for 10th all-time with 144 goals and eighth with 202 career points. He also made the career assists list with 58 and with highs of 46 goals and 64 points as a junior in 2016. He made the single-game goals list with a school record six against Houghton Lake last September.

PHOTO: Comstock’s Daisy Ansel lines up to attempt a free throw during the 2016-17 season. (Photo courtesy of the Comstock athletic department.)