Standouts Finish on Record Kicks
April 11, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Never underestimate the value of a talented kicker on a high school football team.
This season’s MHSAA Finals showed again just how much that unheralded player can contribute to a championship effort.
Birmingham Brother Rice senior Jason Alessi helped his team win its third straight Division 2 championship, tying the MHSAA single-season record with 16 field goals – on 18 attempts – and finishing second on the career list with 32 on 37 tries. He also made all 59 of his extra point attempts this fall and finished his career with 135 extra points total – good for sixth on that career list – including 122 straight, which is the second-longest streak of makes.
In Division 8, Muskegon Catholic Central junior Griffin Seymour helped his team to a championship season as well. He finished on a 72-straight extra point streak (fourth longest), with his 75 extra points total tied for the sixth-most for one season.
Theirs are among recent additions to the MHSAA online record books. Read on for details on more in football, baseball, boys basketball and volleyball.
Football
- Brother Rice quarterback Alex Malzone made single-season lists for completing 190 of 281 passes for 2,782 yards and 25 touchdowns, and receiver Corey Lacanaria made single-season (65 catches/1,111 yards) and career (115/1,883 from 2011-13) lists in those categories. Defensive end Jack Dunaway made the single-season sacks list with 15, and Alessi also joined a list of 10 who have returned a kick at least 95 yards for a touchdown, doing so from that distance against Toledo St. John’s Jesuit on Sept. 6. (Former Warriors Anthony Jackson, Joey Henry and Devin Church also were added to the longest kick return touchdown list).
- It took more than 50 years to find its way into the MHSAA record books, but Bob Bentley’s 99-yard kickoff return touchdown for Corunna against Elsie on Oct. 5, 1962, has been added and is the oldest listing for this record-setting distance.
- A number of Holland Christian offensive standouts were added in a variety of categories. Among highlights: Quarterback Ross Schreur was added to four single-season lists after completing 195 of 319 passes for 2,752 yards and 25 touchdowns in 2012, and Caleb VanderLugt was added after throwing six touchdown passes against Holland last season. Schreur also completed 32 of 45 passes against Zeeland West in a 2012 game for 497 yards – eighth on the single-game passing list. Kyle Steigenga had seasons with 18 and 17 touchdown receptions, and finished his career with those 35 scores in addition to 112 catches (and 2,048 yards) total.
- Grayling is on a run for five straight playoff appearances with three straight seasons of nine wins, and much of that success can attributed to a high-powered passing attack. Quarterback Jake Swander was added for his 2012, 2013 and career totals in four categories – he finished his career last fall with 392 completions in 720 attempts for 5,281 yards and 51 touchdown passes in two seasons. Zane Tobin completed 194 of 365 attempts for 2,664 yards and 28 TDs in 2011, and Zach Wolcott threw for 2,404 yards in 2009. Tyler McClanahan finished his three-year receiving career with 160 catches for 2,378 yards and 25 touchdowns, and Cody Myers had 144 catches for 2,140 yards from 2008-10.
Baseball
- Hale’s Kaydon Reimer is on his way to finishing his career this spring as one of the most hit batsmen in MHSAA history. He entered this season tied for 15th on the career hit-by-pitch list with 30. He made the single-season list in 2013 after getting hit by 15 pitches.
- Jackson High School ran like almost no team has before in MHSAA history, totaling the third-most stolen bases, 196, in 2013. The Vikings were led by Trevor Polewka, who had 46 steals to make the individual single-season list.
Boys Basketball
- Ann Arbor Rudolf Steiner and Adrian Lenawee Christian combined to make the second-most 3-pointers in a game in MHSAA history – 27 – on Feb. 24, 2012. Rudolf Steiner connected on 13 of its 17 3-point tries, and Lenawee Christian connected on 14 of 24 from behind the arc in going on to win the game 91-62.
Volleyball
- Teagan Reeves will graduate this spring as one of the top blockers in MHSAA history. The Three Rivers senior followed up her 236 blocks as a junior (third-most for a season during the rally scoring era) with 177 this fall. She finished with 622 blocks, third most on the rally-scoring career list.
- Onaway’s Mariah Ehrke will graduate as well this spring with multiple entries for kills. She made the single-season list with 592 this fall and finished on the career list with 1,419 over four seasons. Teammate Devin Bristley added 132 aces this fall to finish her three-season career with 310.
PHOTOS: Birmingham Brother Rice’s Jason Alessi (left) and Muskegon Catholic Central’s Griffin Seymour put up some of the most impressive kicking performances in MHSAA history in 2013. (Click to see more from High School Sports Scene.)
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.