St. Ignace Star Wright on Target
July 10, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Kelley Wright played in 107 games for the St. Ignace varsity girls basketball team. She was part of 102 wins.
Those games played rank second in MHSAA girls hoops history, and the wins are first, adding to a number of accomplishments by the recently-graduated Saints star.
Wright also amassed two of the highest single-season steals totals (169 and 175) in MHSAA history and finished second with a career total of 557.
See more of the recent additions to the MHSAA record books and click on each heading below to view all of the listings for that sport.
Girls Basketball
- Sarah Addy was a dangerous long-range shooter during her four-year varsity career for Saginaw Swan Valley, which came to an end this winter. She made 198 3-pointers over her four varsity seasons, good for 10th-most in MHSAA history. Of her 816 career points in 82 games, 594 points came on 3-pointers. She made more than 50 every season but her sophomore year.
- A number of other entries from St. Ignace’s successful history were added; others noted were Barb LaTour, Krista Clement, Nicole Emblad, Michelle LeCount, Kristie Garcia and coach Dorene Ingalls.
Boys Basketball
- Benzonia Benzie Central's Aaron Whaley made the blocked shots season list with 103 this winter, including 14 in a game Jan. 9 against Kingsley. The 6-foot-3 junior also averaged 6.4 points and seven rebounds per game.
- A number of entries also were added for St. Ignace boys basketball, including multiple for Gerrit Mortenson (3-pointers and steals from 2007-10) and Gage Kreski (free throws and steals from 2011-14). Others noted were Adam Matelski, John McKinnon, Leo Donovan, Steve MacDonald and Curtis St. Louis.
Boys Lacrosse
- Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood’s Matthew Giampetroni rewrote the MHSAA record book during his four-year career ending this spring. He finished with career bests of 276 goals, 179 assists and 455 points, and also set the single-season goals record with 99 this year. A number of additional entries were added for teammate Taylor Ghesquiere and former standouts Andrew Miller, Drew Leitch and Christopher Brown. Giampetroni will play next season at Duke University.
- Similarly, Bloomfield Hills goalkeeper Hunter Stephans took over his position's categories in the record book with a season-best 268 saves as a sophomore and 719 during his three-year varsity career.
- Haslett/Williamston’s Noah Taylor graduated this spring with a number of entries. He tied the record for assists in one game with nine against East Lansing on May 8, and also made the career goals list with 174, season assists list with 44 and the career assists list with 119 from 2011-14. He owns season points listings with 82 and 102 and made the career list with 293. Teammate Connor Westerlund made the season saves list for goalkeeping with 182 this spring.
Girls Soccer
- Portland didn’t have much offensive success in its 7-0 Division 3 District loss to Williamston on May 27. But Raiders keeper Jordyn Spitzley finished with one of the highest save totals in MHSAA history. Spitzley made 35 saves, good for third all-time for one game.
Softball
- Bullock Creek’s Maison Kalina became the 14th player to hit home runs in three consecutive at bats in one game, May 9 against Freeland. (The feat has been accomplished 15 times, twice by the same player.) Kalina singled in the first inning of a 10-7 win, flew out to left field in her second-inning at bat, and then drilled home runs in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings.
Wrestling
- A number of Allegan’s recent achievements were added, including the season and career records for notables over the last decade. Among those noted were Kyle Simaz (242-8 from 2011-14), Taylor Simaz (241-17 from 2009-12), John Rizqallah (230-28 from 2007-10), Steve Poffenberger (228-29 from 2006-09), Matt Smith (222-39 from 2007-10), Austin Kelley (201-35 from 2010-13) and Andy Krcatovich (194-44 from 2005-08). Kyle Simaz’ career takedown total of 923 moved to the top of that list, and Poffenberger’s 791 ranks third. Tyler Caron, Dan Stamm, Stosh Mintek and coach Murray Rose were among others added in other categories.
PHOTO: St. Ignace’s Kelley Wright pushes the ball upcourt against Saginaw Nouvel this season at the Breslin Center.
Howell Softball's Militello Leaves Legacy
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
December 27, 2019
AJ Militello led Howell’s softball team to a Division 1 runner-up performance in the spring and finished her career all over the MHSAA record book.
The four-year varsity player had 75 runs and 17 home runs in her final season and finished on career lists with 202 runs, 210 hits, 32 homers and 186 RBI. She is continuing her career at University of Utah.
Teammate Avrey Wolverton, a sophomore in the spring, hit 16 homers and already is on the career homers list with 24 over two seasons. Senior Maddie Gillett added 16 to also make the single-season individual homers list and will continue her career at Carson-Newman University in Tennessee. As a team, Howell hit 62 home runs last season – second-most in MHSAA history.
Sophomore Maddie Springer also was added to the records with 16 doubles.
See below for more recent record book additions in boys basketball, softball, boys tennis and volleyball.
Boys Basketball
Hale’s Joseph Kimmerer became his school’s leading scorer early this season, and earned his second MHSAA record book entry as a junior. He made 149 of 176 free-throw attempts over 23 games last season for a percentage of .847, following his .883 as a sophomore that also ranks on the single-season list.
Zach Goodline graduated from Coloma this spring with 13 record book entries and consideration among the top scorers in MHSAA history. His 2,204 points over four seasons and 85 games rank 15th, while his 253 3-pointers rank ninth and his 577 made free throws are second on that list. He connected on 85.1 percent of his free-throw attempts over his career, good for the fourth-best success rate all-time, and he also ranks 10th with 308 career steals. He is continuing his career at Oakland University.
Softball
Byron four-year standout Greta L’Esperance finished her varsity career in the spring among the state’s highest achievers in a number of record book categories. She ranks ninth with 244 career runs, third with 297 career hits, tied for fifth with 35 career doubles and seventh with a career .610 batting average. She also finished with 48 doubles over 144 games and tied the record with seven RBI in an April 15 game against Durand. She’s continuing her career at Bowling Green.
Freeland’s Lily Beyer closed her four-year varsity career all over the record book as well this spring with 11 entries. Her 270 career hits over 151 games rank eighth all-time, while her 74 doubles are third and her 203 RBI rank 12th. She also made the career runs list with 191 and the career average list at .548. Additionally, teammate Cam Coonan was added for 75 hits as a junior in 2018, and now-senior Leiya Rybicki was added for seven RBI in a game April 25. Beyer is continuing her career at University of Toledo, and Coonan is playing at Saginaw Valley State University.
Lauryn Frenzel reached the 1,000-strikeout milestone as a senior for Mayville in 2018 and finished her four-year varsity career with 1,034 Ks to make the career list in that category. She just missed the single-season list with 356 as a senior, but her game high of 20 against Dryden in 2017 also was added.
Boys Tennis
Antonio Barretto and Brett Gurzell advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2018 Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals at No. 1 doubles for Rochester Hills Stoney Creek and finished with a season record of 27-6, making the records list for doubles wins. Both were seniors; Gurzell played this fall at Albion College.
Volleyball
Oscoda’s Andrea Bickel joined the list of top servers when she had 16 aces over a three-set match win against Atlanta on Sept. 11. Bickel is a junior this school year.
Lexie Beeke added 919 assists this fall to her previous three-year total at Richland Gull Lake, finishing with 3,940 for her career – 14th most on that list since the beginning of rally scoring in 2004-05. She has signed to continue at Youngstown State University.
A number of Bronson athletes contributed to one or more MHSAA Finals championships over the last three seasons, including current senior Keona Salesman who was part of three title winners from 2016-18 before her team fell a few wins short this fall. She was added to the record book for 822 kills this fall and 669 in 2017, and for 2,501 kills and 299 aces during her four-year varsity career. Meagan Lasky was added for 1,524 assists this fall, and Kiana Mayer was added for 1,777 assists in 2017 – third most since the start of rally scoring. Mayer also was added for 3,401 career assists from 2014-17, and Lasky has 3,324 over her first three seasons with one more to play. Jill Pyles (144 in 2014), Alexa Ratkowski (135 in 2014) and Kiera Lasky (140 in 2017) were added for single-season aces, and Adyson Lasky was added for 358 career aces from 2014-17. Ashton Wronikowski was added for 440 career blocks from 2015-18. Pyles went on to play at Ohio Dominican University, Ratkowski played at Trine, Kiera Lasky plays at Davenport and Wronikowski plays at West Liberty University in West Virginia.
PHOTO: Howell's AJ Militello connects with a Warren Regina pitch during the Division 1 Softball Final in June.