St. Francis Tennis Wins at Record Pace
November 12, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Traverse City St. Francis’ run to third place at this fall’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 Final included a number of top performances throughout the season – including record-setting winners at both singles and doubles.
Patrick Burke, a Finals semifinalist at No. 4 singles, finished 45-3 in setting an MHSAA record for single-season boys tennis victories. The No. 4 doubles pair of Jackson Richmond and Ryan Navin set that single-season win record finishing 46-3 on the way to ending the fall runner-up at their flight.
Teammate Jake Krcmarik finished second on the MHSAA single-season wins list after going 43-5 at No. 3 singles; he made the semifinals in his flight. No. 2 singles Sam Holmes (40-6) also made the all-time single-season singles wins list, and Krcmarik’s 125 for his career ranks fifth. Three more pairs made the single-season doubles win list; Victor Casler and Nathan Tafelsky went 35-12, and Joe Primeau won 37 matches including 34 with Tyler Spigarelli as his partner. Jay Jones and Nathan Sodini added 28 wins this fall.
Also, Patrick Wilson was added for his 104 doubles wins from 2007-10. Teammates Michael Elliott and Chris Miller both tallied 100 during those seasons, while Nick Vanstratt won 73 from 1994-97 and Newton Calcutt 72 from 2007-10 as well.
Click for the MHSAA boys tennis record book in its entirety, and see below for more recent additions for other sports (click on each heading for that record book in full).
Girls Basketball
- Rapid River’s Lauren Marshall enjoyed a performance of near perfection on Nov. 28, 2006 – and perfection from the free-throw line. Marshall made the MHSAA record list for most free throws in a game, 15, while making all 15 of her attempts and scoring 40 points total in her team’s 60-57 Class D Quarterfinal victory. She went on play collegiately at Division II Nova Southeastern University in Florida.
Football
- Coleman quarterback Adam Stremlow led the Comets to a 7-3 finish in 2013 with one of the top passing seasons in MHSAA history – 138 completions in 260 attempts for 2,703 yards and 35 touchdowns. All but the completions made the MHSAA record book, and his career yardage through three seasons – 4,342 – did as well. He set an MHSAA record with six touchdown passes in a quarter during a 71-0 win over Ashley and made the single-game lists with 446 yards and 25 completions (in 27 attempts) in a 50-48 loss to Carson City-Crystal. Teammate Matthew Warner had 244 yards receiving on eight catches that game and also made the season receiving yardage list with 1,152 on 39 catches. Hunter Gross was added for 27 tackles for a loss, also in only 10 games.
- A pair of Vassar quarterbacks made the record book for touchdowns in a game, among other notations. Kevin Pratt completed a 99-yard pass to Zac Case and had six touchdown tosses in a 2011 game against Cass City – the 99-yard pass is among seven of that distance on record. Michael Pratt, a senior this fall, threw for five touchdowns in a half and six for the game as Vassar defeated Cass City during his sophomore season of 2012.
- Elk Rapids kicker Robbie Wolfington had a solid season this fall, making 32 of 36 extra-point attempts. He had an especially strong night Oct. 10 – Wolfington became the 15th player to make at least 10 extra points, drilling all 10 of his attempts the tie for fourth for consecutive makes in one game. Elk Rapids defeated Grayling 70-26.
Boys Soccer
- Bay City Central and Saginaw Arts & Sciences Academy played to a 5-5 tie on Oct. 7, with Cameron Terry scoring four goals for SASA and five players scoring for Central. The game is one of five ties in MHSAA history in which both teams scored five or more goals.
Volleyball
- Atlanta’s Allison Marklin set the rally scoring era record for aces in an Oct. 20 sweep of Vanderbilt. Marklin had 24 aces over three games, four more than four players who previously shared the record. She had 13 in the third game, a 25-4 win. Atlanta won the first two games 25-8 and 25-15, respectively.
- Trenton hitter Aevah Hebda made the MHSAA records for the second time when she had 12 blocks in a District win over Riverview. Seven of those blocks were solos; she also had 12 kills. Hebda tallied 13 blocks in a match against Wyandotte Roosevelt in 2013.
Wrestling
- Longtime Sterling Heights coach Shawn Murray has joined the list of those who have led varsity teams to at least 400 victories. He’s 434-184 in 27 seasons at Sterling Heights after three as an assistant at Clinton Township Clintondale for teams that finished a combined 51-6. Although his team finished 6-17 last season, it was 27-7 in 2012-13 and advanced to a Division 1 Regional Final.
- Marysville senior Austin Thompson won the MHSAA Division 2 championship at 130 pounds last winter with an 8-7 overtime decision. That was easily his closest match – he also had 18 technical falls, fourth-most in MHSAA history. He finished 52-1.
PHOTO: Traverse City St. Francis' Sam Holmes shakes hands with an opponent during this fall's MHSAA LP Division 4 Final. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com).
Alcona Keeper McCoy Has Net Covered
April 22, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Only a sophomore, Conner McCoy is an MHSAA record holder after a busy fall patrolling the net for the Lincoln Alcona boys soccer team.
McCoy made 391 saves in goal last season, eclipsing the former record by a save while piling up his total over 24 games. He had a high of 26 against Fairview and at least 20 saves in nine games. Alcona finished 12-11-1 and reached its Division 4 District Final.
Click for the MHSAA boys soccer record book in full and the headings below for full records in those respective sports as we report recent additions for boys and girls basketball, football and girls and boys tennis.
Kimball Landmark Academy's Cameron Koch made the MHSAA records for steals in a game, season and career this winter. He had 12 (along with 17 points and nine rebounds) in a game against Kimball New Life Christian on Jan. 26, 107 steals for the season and 242 over his four-season varsity career.
Niles Brandywine’s great run over this decade has been led by a number of strong individuals. Mackenzie Shelton was added for her 185 assists as a junior in 2011-12, which rank 10th all-time, and her 482 career assists that rank 14th. She also made the games played list with 102 over her four varsity seasons. Emily Erwin’s 85 3-pointers in 26 games this winter rank ninth, and her 262 3-pointers over four seasons rank fourth on the career list; Carlie Newman’s 211 3-pointers from 2009-12 are ninth on the career list. As a team, Niles Brandywine was added a number of times for 3-pointers made adn attempted, in games and for seasons, over the last four; its 746 attempts this winter rank second all-time for a team, and it’s 211 made 3-pointers were third-most. The Bobcats finished 24-3 and made the Class C Semifinals. Shelton plays at Calvin College, while Newman played at Spring Arbor and then Southeastern University in Lakeland, Fla.
Omar Salih finished his high school football career in the fall with 40 entries in the MHSAA football record book after playing the 2013 and 2015 seasons at Detroit Cesar Chavez Academy and 2014 at Detroit Cody. Among recent additions, Salih’s 615 passing yards against Marine City Cardinal Mooney on Sept. 19 of last season rank second to his record 674 in a game in 2013. His 4,173 passing yards in 10 games last season rank second all-time, while his 414 attempts ranked fourth, his 238 completions were third and his 45 passing touchdowns also were fourth. His career passing yards (8,484) also rank second in MHSAA history, with his 940 pass attempts third, his 474 completions seventh and his 88 passing touchdowns third. He will continue his career at Saginaw Valley State University.
Wayland quarterback Tanner VanDyke became the second player from his program to make the MHSAA records in football after throwing for 2,047 yards as a senior in the fall. He’ll continue his career at Davenport University.
Matthew Meagher added a pair of kicking accomplishments to a previous for punting, making 56 of 57 extra-point tries for DeWitt in the fall and 97 of 106 over his two seasons on varsity; he previously made the listings for a 78-yard punt as a junior.
Martin Schau has been added for a 100-yard interception return for Climax-Scotts in its 42-14 loss to Constantine on Oct. 11, 1980. The Climax Crescent reported at the time that Schau caught the ball four yards deep in the end zone before returning it for a score.
Blake Dunn’s incredible junior season led to his inclusion for multiple categories as both a running back and a kicker, and another Saugatuck player now owns an MHSAA record. Dunn ran for 2,748 yards –12th most for one season – on only 234 carries (11.7 yards per carry) with 36 rushing touchdowns and 286 total points – which rank as fifth most and included 48 extra points. Graduated Saugatuck kicker Tanner Nutting made the single-season extra points list three of his four seasons with a high of 56 in 2011 – and finished his career in 2013 with a record 175 in 204 attempts. Dunn has committed to sign as a senior with Western Michigan University for baseball, while Nutting kicks now for Division II Malone University in Ohio.
Girls Tennis
All four Traverse City St. Francis singles players made championship matches at the 2015 Lower Peninsula Division 4 Final – and three also made the MHSAA record book for wins. No. 1 singles champion Amanda Bandrowski and No. 3 runner-up Natalie Burke are both listed at 33-1, and No. 4 runner-up Anne Bandrowski made the list at 32-2.
Boys Tennis
All eight flights of Traverse City St. Francis’ team that finished third in LP Division 4 in the fall made the record book for victories – in singles, Elliott Bandrowski (32-10), Nathan Sodini (33-10), Tyler Spigarelli (37-8) and Victor Casler (35-2). And in doubles, Jay Jones & Patrick Burke (33-5), Jackson Richmond & Nathan Tafelsky (39-2), Sean Navin (37-8), Jonathan Pax (36-9), Ryan Navin (39-5) and Joe Primeau (37-4). Jones also made the career doubles wins list with a four-season varsity record of 107-42, as did Tafelsky with a 99-28 record from 2012-15.
PHOTO: Conner McCoy stops a shot for Lincoln Alcona last season. (Photo courtesy of the Lincoln Alcona boys soccer program.)