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St. Mary's Star Finds Net at Record Pace

June 3, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

A player must score at least seven goals in a game to make the MHSAA records listing for boys lacrosse.

Colin Theisen did so six times this spring – and took over the top spot on the season scoring list as well with 102 goals total.

Theisen set the record for goals in a game with 15 in Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central’s win over Whitmore Lake on May 4. He broke his own record that day, set with 13 goals against Ypsilanti Lincoln on March 30.

Theisen also made the single-game points list six times with a high of 17, which ranks second. His 133 points total this season rank third.

Teammate Alec Mahalak joins him in the record book; he had seven assists on April 19 against Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett to make that category’s single-game list, and finished with 10 points in that game.

The boys lacrosse season ends with MHSAA Finals on Saturday. St. Mary finished 11-3 this spring, falling to Warren DeLaSalle in a Regional game May 21. 

Click to see the boys lacrosse record listings in full, and see below for additional recent additions to the MHSAA records.

Boys Basketball

  • Dearborn Heights Annapolis senior Bryan Collins scored 1,281 points during his four-season career that came to an end this winter. He scored 380 of those on free throws, which places him 18th in the MHSAA records for that category. Collins connected on 77 percent of his attempts and had seasons of 153 and 155 makes. He also made 22 of 26 in a Jan. 16 game against Livonia Clarenceville, and scored 23 points total in a quarter against Robichaud on March 2. All totals made MHSAA lists.

  • Tanner Eubank also finished his high school career this winter among the sharpest shooters from the free throw line. The Paw Paw standout connected on 359 of 475 free-throw attempts during his four-year varsity career, hitting on 76 percent of his tries.

Football

  • Kyle Brindza not only made an MHSAA-record 17 field goals (in 24 attempts) for Plymouth during the 2010 season, but six of those makes and nine of those attempts came from at least 50 yards out – he scored a long of 53 yards. Brindza sits atop the record list for most field goals in one season (career stats are being researched; please email [email protected] with possible updates). He also made 40 of 42 extra-point attempts that season and went on to kick at the University of Notre Dame. He’s currently on the roster of the Detroit Lions.



Girls Soccer

  • Maggie Harma was nearly unbeatable in net in leading Richard Gull Lake to back-to-back Division 2 championships in 2013 and 2014. The keeper tallied 18 shutouts both seasons and a total of 52 during her four-year varsity career – her career total is tied for ninth in MHSAA girls soccer history. Harma made 12 starts in goal as a freshman in the fall for Wayne State University.

Softball

  • Senior Kelsey Smith earned all but one of her team’s 21 outs by strikeout in a 10-0 no-hitter win for Watervliet Grace Christian over Eau Claire on May 12. Smith walked only two to go with her 20 strikeouts over seven innings, with that win improving her record at the time to 10-1.

Volleyball

  • Chelsea finished 50-11-4 in 2014 and reached the Class B Regional Finals after finishing the regular season ranked No. 3, led by a record-setting setter and top hitter. Senior Mary Kelleher set her teammates to a record 1,757 points to eclipse the previous rally scoring assist record of 1,568 set by Allison Smith of St. Louis in 2012. Chelsea junior Emma Hess was the main recipient, making the single-season kills list with 666.

Wrestling

  • Portage Central’s Angelo Latora won his first MHSAA title and achieved his 200th career win in his final high school match. Latora won the Division 1 title at 140 pounds at the 2012 Finals to finish 53-1 that season and 200-22 for his career. He also finished third at 135 as a junior, fourth at 135 as a sophomore and seventh at 130 as a freshman. He currently wrestles for the University of Michigan.

  • Hartland’s Jacob Gorial graduates this spring as a four-time MHSAA Finals placer and with the 24th-most wins as an individual. Gorial ended his career this winter at 226-20, with back-to-back 60-win seasons as a junior and senior. He finished third in Division 1 at 152 pounds, following a fourth place at 145, second and 130 and seventh at 112 his first three seasons, respectively. Gorial also made the career pins list with 136. He’s signed to continue at Division II Coker College in South Carolina.

  • Nathan Wynkoop earned his 211 victories, with just 21 defeats, for West Branch Ogemaw Heights from 2010-13. He also made the single-season wins list going 62-2 as a senior; he finished third in Division 2 at 160 pounds that winter after taking fourth at 145 in 2011-12. Wynkoop currently wrestles at Cleveland State University. 

PHOTO: Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central players, including Colin Theisen (13), celebrate. Theisen scored 102 goals this season. (Photo courtesy of Monroe St. Mary.)

Bubacz Sets Whiteford Up for Success

October 22, 2014

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Ottawa Lake-Whiteford senior Jessica Bubacz has helped the Bobcats to three straight Tri-County Conference championships and 41 straight league victories, after Whiteford’s wins Tuesday against Clinton.

This fall has been a continuation of her strong play as a junior that sees her now listed in the MHSAA record book in two assists categories – including as the co-record holder for assists in a match.

Bubacz had 65 assists in a 3-2 win over Clinton on Oct. 22, 2013, good to tie for the single-match record during the rally scoring era, which began during the 2004-05 season. She finished 2013 with 1,460 assists, fourth-most for one season since the start of rally scoring.

She’s continued with 810 assists over 86 games so far this fall, an average of 9.4 per game. She had 80 assists over seven sets Tuesday. Whiteford, a Class C team, is 29-7-1 overall.

For more on Whiteford and all things Tri-County Conference, click for the league’s blog by historian and journalist Doug Donnelly. Also, click to view the MHSAA volleyball record book in full, and see more recent submissions to other sports’ listings below (click each sport heading for that record book).  

Girls Basketball

  • Madison Heights Bishop Foley coach Dave Joseph has joined the list of coaches with at least 300 victories, with a 322-271 record dating to 1987. He coached at Pontiac and Oakland Catholic from 1987-93, then at Pontiac Notre Dame Prep from 1994-2003 and has coached Bishop Foley since 2005, including to a 15-9 finish in 2013-14.

Football

  • Don Robinson capped Genesee’s 1983 season and his three-year varsity career with three touchdowns in a 33-19 win over Flint Academy. His final score came on a 95-yard kickoff return, one of now 11 of that distance or longer listed in the MHSAA football records.

  • Brendon Fitch put up “video-game numbers” as the Flint Journal reported Sept. 14, 2013, of his previous evening’s performance. Fitch threw for a then-record 603 yards, completing 26 of 41 passes, as Swartz Creek edged Flint Kearsley 77-61. Six of those completions went for touchdowns. Fitch died unexpectedly Dec. 10.

  • Dylan Walker and Jeff Mainhardt entered the record book at the end of September as one of six pairs on record to complete a 99-yard pass – Walker to Mainhardt for a touchdown in Fraser’s 42-25 win over New Baltimore Anchor Bay. Walker threw for 242 yards for the game.

Boys Lacrosse

  • Jason Alessi’s senior season was one of the finest in the MHSAA’s decade-long history of boys lacrosse. The Birmingham Brother Rice standout finished with 85 goals – tied for third most in MHSAA history for one season – to go with 46 assists, and his 131 points rank third for one season. Also a standout kicker and defensive back during the fall, Alessi is playing his first season of football at Yale University.

Softball

  • Wayland’s run to the Division 2 Semifinals this spring featured outstanding performances from a number of contributors – including one of the best run-producers in MHSAA history. Shortstop Sierra Mutschler not only scored 71 runs (tied for ninth for one season) but drove in 86, fourth most for one season. Her 81 hits also were ninth-most in that category. She finished her four-year varsity career with 229 RBI, second-most all-time, 184 runs, 51 doubles and 30 home runs (tied for 14th). Teammate Britt McLain scored 80 runs this season, second-most in MHSAA history, and Mallory Teunissen made the season pitching wins list with 35. Other Wayland standouts past and present added to record lists included Autumn Anderson, Samantha Merren, Macy Merchant, Hailey Houck, Abby Phillips, Nina DeCesare, Becca Phillips, Kaitlin Graczyk and Heidi Warmelink, whose 78 shutouts from 2007-10 tied for fifth-most on that list.

  • Hudsonville Unity Christian’s Madeline DeGroot had a game for the record books – literally – against Byron Center on May 1. She hit three home runs, including a pair in consecutive at bats, and drove in seven runs total in her team’s 14-6 victory. The team’s leadoff hitter, she also had a single to finish 4 for 4.



Boys Tennis

  • Kalamazoo Loy Norrix’s Jake Gumbleton didn’t lose a match over his final three seasons before graduating this spring, an MHSAA-record string of 84 straight wins. He played No. 2 singles almost exclusively and finished with a 96-4 high school career record, slotting again last season in the second spot behind eventual Mr. Tennis winner Davis Crocker. The previous consecutive wins record was 80.

Wrestling

  • Longtime Gaylord coach Jeff LaJoie has been added to the growing list of wrestling coaches with at least 500 match wins. LaJoie, who took over the program for 1993-94, took a season off and then returned for 1995-96, has a 519-125-2 record after leading Gaylord to a 30-2 finish last winter.

PHOTO: Ottawa Lake Whiteford's Jessica Bubacz (10) finishes a block during her team's victories Tuesday against Clinton. (Photo courtesy of Tri-County Conference blog by Doug Donnelly.)