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).

Gee, Mason ... What a Run for Stockbridge

December 18, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Stockbridge averaged 45 points per game in building a 13-7 record over the last two seasons, mostly on the arm of quarterback Mason Gee-Montgomery and top receivers Austin Cimala and Kolby Canfield.

Their achievements are among those added this week to the MHSAA record book, along with a record-setting game by another receiver, the fastest goal ever in boys soccer (with video of the feat) and more top performances in softball and volleyball.

Football

Mason Gee-Montgomery, a junior, is listed 24 times, most notably after setting records this fall with 22 straight completed passes in an Oct. 9 games against Vermontville Maple Valley and for 51 touchdown passes in one season; he also tied a record with seven touchdown passes against Leslie on Sept. 11. Total, Gee-Montgomery has thrown for 5,660 yards and 84 touchdowns over his two seasons on varsity with the touchdowns already ranking fourth on the career list for that category. Receiver Austin Cimala earned 13 entries in the records with a two-year varsity career that saw him total 133 receptions for 2,674 yards (10th most) and 43 touchdowns, also tied for second-most in MHSAA career history. Kolby Canfield, also a junior, had 90 receptions this fall, sixth-most for one season, and he gained 1,265 yards and scored 19 touchdowns. Also, 2015 graduate Nick Ensign was added for six rushing touchdowns in a 66-64 win over Perry in 2014. The Panthers were part of four games this season with more than 100 points – wins of 54-50 over Parchment, 53-48 over Sand Creek and 55-46 over Essexville Garber, and a 61-42 loss to Lake Odessa Lakewood.

Senior pass combo Pat Naughton and Nick Turowski also earned its way into the records this season leading Comstock Park to an 8-3 finish. Turowski tied the MHSAA record with 18 receptions in a 44-27 win over Allendale on Oct. 16 and set the MHSAA season record with 113 receptions total (he also made the yardage list with 1,474, good for eighth most). Naughton was a three-year starter for the Panthers, completing 444 of 719 passes for 6,133 yards and 54 touchdowns. This fall he completed 184 of 271 passes for 2,386 yards and 25 scores. His career completions rank 10th on that list.

Former Kent City quarterback Jake Krueger finished his senior season in 2013 with five entries. He earned two with five touchdown passes in a half and six for a game against Howard City Tri-County, and also for 26 touchdown passes total that season and 52 over his three-year varsity career. He also threw for 4,547 yards over those three seasons.

Ypsilanti Community’s Jahz Watts joined Gee-Montgomery and a host of others by throwing six touchdown passes in a game, in his team’s 51-40 loss to Monroe on Sept. 4. Watts, a junior, completed 13 passes total for 315 yards that evening.

Clinton’s Erik Bouse kicked 11 straight extra points in a 77-6 win over Britton-Deerfield on Oct. 24, 2014, to tie for second-longest extra point streak in one game. He also contributed as the team reached the Division 6 Final this season.

Boys Soccer

Allen Park Inter-City Baptist added a trio of high scorers new and old. Senior Garrett Kraatz had 46 goals and 25 assists this fall for 71 points, good to tie for 13th most for one season. He finished his four-year career with 105 goals and 47 assists. Steven Fiema was added for finishing his career in 2011 with 96 goals and 130 points over four seasons. And Lyle Wensley was added for notching 121 goals from 1982-85; he made the all-state Dream Team as a junior and senior and currently is an assistant coach at Spring Arbor University, while Fiema plays at Division II Palm Beach Atlantic University in Florida.

Josh Busscher’s kickoff for Holland Christian against Muskegon Western Michigan Christian on. Oct. 3 landed four seconds later as the fastest goal scored in MHSAA history. See video below. 

Softball

Allen Park pitcher Hayley Bartholomew joined an elite group May 11 with 20 strikeouts in a seven-inning, 9-3 win over Taylor Kennedy. She’s now playing at Oakland University.

Reese’s Carlee Selle finished her career this spring with three more entries to go with 16 doubles she hit in 2014. She also had 16 this season, plus eight RBI in a game May 21 against Essexville Garber and back-to-back home runs against Sandusky in a Regional game June 6. Teammate Monica Hagen also was added for her 73 hits during the 2014 

Volleyball

DeWitt’s five-set win over Mattawan on Nov. 12 included a pair of record-qualifying performances. Lexi Nordmann had 39 kills and Brooke Binkley had 55 assists although the Panthers fell 3-2. 

PHOTO: Stockbridge quarterback Mason Gee-Montgomery drops back to pass during a game this season. (Photo courtesy of Frazzini Photography.