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.)
Record-Setting Offense, Pitching Ace Drive Beal City Finals Run
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
April 13, 2023
On the way to finishing Division 4 runner-up last season, Beal City produced a record-breaking offensive performance while following one of the most consistently successful pitching aces in state history.
The Aggies set an MHSAA record by scoring 12.5 runs per game in finishing 30-3, also making the team record book with 413 runs total, 78 doubles, 22 triples (tied for third all-time), 345 RBI and a .442 team batting average that ranks second on that list.
Brendan Martin made the career consecutive pitching wins list with 19 over his junior and senior seasons, and senior teammate Brayden Haynes earned listings for two home runs and six RBI in one inning of a win over Lake City. Martin is pitching this spring at Mid Michigan College.
See below for more recent additions to the baseball record book:
Baseball
Over a five-game stretch during April 2021, Kalamazoo Hackett Prep’s Stephen Kwapis got a hit in 13 straight at bats – the fourth-longest such streak in MHSAA history. He began with a hit in his final at bat in the first game of two that April 16 against Watervliet, then went 2 for 2 in the second game, a combined 7 for 7 during a doubleheader against Galesburg-Augusta on April 22, and finished with hits in his first three at bats April 24, 2021, against Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern. He piled up five doubles, a triple and four home runs, along with three singles during the streak.
Portage Central’s run to the 2021 Division 1 championship game included record-book accomplishments by three individuals. Senior Luke Leto scored 73 runs over 37 games, good to tie for fifth-most runs in a season. Zach MacDonald was added for seven triples and 15 home runs, both over 40 games, and senior pitcher Gavin Brasosky posted a 0.84 ERA over 66 2/3 innings pitched. Leto is playing at Kansas after starting his college career at Louisiana State, and Brasosky is throwing at Kansas after playing a season at Tennessee. MacDonald is continuing at Miami (Ohio).
In 2016, Concord's Charlie Ropp became the second player from his family on the single-season stolen bases list, with his 63 over 35 games ranking for third-most in his family but sixth-most statewide.
Nearly 30 years later, Jason Knowlton has received his due for a performance April 29, 1994. On that day, he connected on back-to-back grand slams for Bridgman against Eau Claire, in consecutive innings. He’s one of seven to be listed for doing so in consecutive at bats.
Three of the oldest listings in this sport were added, all from Morrice. Jim Pavlica, a junior in 1946, was added for six stolen bases in a game that season against Byron. Pavlica would go on to play in the minors for the Chicago White Sox. He would have two more stolen bases when Morrice swiped 19 total against Byron in 1947, a performance that ranks fourth on the single-game steals list. Morrice also was added for 18 steals in a 1944 game against Byron.
Over the course of 11 days last spring, two Manistee hitters made the record book for steals in a game. Junior Ethan Edmondson tied for third on the list with seven against Bear Lake on April 30. Junior Jeff Huber made the list with six against Muskegon Orchard View on May 10.
Kingsley’s Owen Graves was added to the records for his seven triples as a senior in 2021. He now plays at Aquinas College.
Brighton Charyl Stockwell pitcher Aidan Liedeke was tough to hit last spring, as he struck out more than two batters per inning. He finished with 135 strikeouts over 61 1/3 innings pitching, for an average of 15.41 strikeouts per game – third-most on that record list. A senior this school year, he’s committed to continue at Kalamazoo College.
Jack Lamb brought plenty of speed to Perry’s offense last spring as a senior, making the record book twice. He reached the single-season list with 53 steals over 33 games, and also the single-game list with six steals on May 9, 2022, against Vermontville Maple Valley.
A performance more than four decades old from a school no longer open got its due. Orlando Villarreal hit a combined .451 over the 1979 and 1980 seasons to make the career batting average list for Wyoming Park. He went on to play at Central Michigan.
Jacob Morton became the first player on record since 2017 to hit two home runs in one inning when he did so in the first inning for Adrian Lenawee Christian against Britton Deerfield on May 16, 2022. Morton is a senior this school year.
PHOTO Beal City standout Cayden Smith drives a pitch during last season’s Division 4 Final against Riverview Gabriel Richard.