Troy's MacDonald Rises Up Record Ranks

July 24, 2018

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Troy’s Morgan MacDonald continued to build her standing this spring as one of the state’s top girls lacrosse players – while moving into the ranks of the best in this state all-time.

The senior-to-be moved up the career lists for goals, assists and points during her junior season, and also earned her first MHSAA record.

MacDonald had six goals and eight assists against Royal Oak on May 15 to set the single-game points record at 14. She owns 25 entries in the record book after three seasons, with her 256 career goals fifth on that list, her 109 career assists eighth and her 365 points sixth. MacDonald has committed to sign with Kennesaw State University in Georgia.

Also added to the MHSAA girls lacrosse record book for Troy were senior Helen Katherine Ferriby multiple times including for 59 goals this spring, and senior Lindsey Davis multiple times including for 175 saves this past season – those saves rank sixth.

Click to see the girls lacrosse record book in full, and read on for more recent additions in baseball, girls basketball, football, girls soccer and softball.

Baseball

Stephenson’s Jesus Becerra finished his four-year varsity career this spring with near perfection as a base stealer. He added 25 more steals in just 17 games to finish with 116 stolen bases in 78 games over his career – and while getting caught trying to steal only three times over those four seasons.

Frankfort’s Kirk Myers added five more shutouts this spring as a senior to cap his career with 11, tying for 10th most all-time. Myers earned all 11 over the last two seasons after coming up to varsity as a sophomore. He’ll continue his career at Albion College.

Girls Basketball

Greenville junior Adele Kemp went over 1,000 points for her career this past winter, and nearly half of her points last season came on long distance shots as she made the MHSAA records with 70 3-pointers. She connected on 43 percent of her attempts from beyond the arc.

Football

West Bloomfield’s run to a Division 1 runner-up finish last fall included the final high school games for a star quarterback, two talented receivers and a strong-legged kicker who all have multiple record book entries. Quarterback Bryce Veasley earned 15 entries including for 225 completions, 388 attempts and 3,487 passing yards last season – his completions tied for 10th, his attempts rank seventh and his yardage ranks 11th all-time. Veasley, who played as a sophomore at Southfield-Lathrup before that school closed at the end of 2015-16, finished with 400 completions, 692 attempts and 6,406 passing yards over three varsity seasons. Receiver A.J. Abbott played his first two seasons at Northville and then had 59 catches for 1,140 yards for West Bloomfield as a senior; he finished with 119 catches and 2,539 yards over three seasons. Taj Mustapha made the records with 102 catches for 1,659 yards over two seasons, and kicker Nick O’Shea made 12 field goals last fall and 55 of 57 extra-point attempts, and 126 of 133 extra-point attempts over three varsity seasons. Additionally, Veasley and then-junior Tre Mosley were added for tying the longest pass play record with a 99-yarder last fall against Rochester Adams, and 2017 graduate Garrett Winn was added three times including for 150 receptions and 1,716 receiving yards from 2014-16. Veasley is continuing his career at Bowling Green, while Abbott and Mustapha are playing at Wisconsin and O’Shea at Morgan State in Baltimore. Mosley has committed to Michigan State, and Winn is entering his sophomore season for Navy.

Girls Soccer

Taylor Truman’s Lily Sanchez just missed making the single-season goals list twice during her four-year varsity career. But she concluded it this spring with 95 goals in 72 games to make the MHSAA career list.  

Coryn Brinks earned West Michigan Aviation Academy’s first girls soccer record book entry with 37 goals this season in helping her team to a 15-6-2 record. Brinks was a sophomore.

Softball

Goodrich’s Abigail Joseph capped her four-year varsity career this spring among the most successful hitters in MHSAA history. Despite never making the single-season hits list, her 245 career hits rank 12th, and her career batting average of .574 is eighth. She also made the single-season average list hitting .677 as a junior and for 65 runs that season and 216 for her career. She will continue this fall at Michigan State. Additionally, freshman teammate Alissa Gauthier was added for 10 home runs this spring.

Muskegon Reeths-Puffer’s Brooklynn Duffey joined the record book with 20 doubles in 38 games this season. The senior catcher batted .517.

Belleville sophomores Mikayla Demyan and Madison Mikulski tied for their school’s record with 11 home runs this spring, and in doing so made the MHSAA record list. Both also earned single-game listings for back-to-back home runs and six RBI in single contests.  

PHOTO: Troy’s Morgan MacDonald looks for an opening against Birmingham United in May. (Photo courtesy of C&G Newspapers.)

Record-Ranking Defense Sets Title Tone

April 24, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Grandville Calvin Christian’s girls soccer program has been arguably the most consistently successful in Michigan this decade, winning MHSAA championships the last three seasons.

Of course, offensive prowess has played a big part – the Squires’ 137 goals last season were recently added to the MHSAA record book, ranking seventh among girls teams for goals during one spring.

But defense – led by goalkeepers Jordyn Postema and Allison Keizer – also played, as one would expect, a significant role.

Both keepers were added to the record listing for shutouts in one season – Postema for 18 in 2013 and Keizer for 16 last spring. The team had 19 shutouts total in 2013, including 11 straight, and gave up only nine goals that season. The 2014 team had 20 shutouts in 25 games and gave up only seven goals.

As for offense, Calvin Christian did have one more recent addition to the records – Sarah Klunder, for her 24 assists a year ago.

Click to see all of the MHSAA girls soccer record book in full, and see below for more of this week’s record listing additions. (Click on the sport headings for those record listings.)

Baseball


  • Ovid-Elsie’s first entries in the MHSAA baseball records are the product of deep research by Paul Goebel, whose father John was the longtime coach beginning with the first season after the former Ovid and Elsie schools combined, in 1967. Paul Goebel, searching his father’s old scorebooks, found five entries that qualify in the ERA categories – pitcher Dave DuBois for season (1.10 in 1967) and career ERA (1.49 from 1967-69), Tom Hachlinski also for career (1.57 from 1970-71), and the 1967 (0.98) and 1968 (1.14) teams. The 1967 team, which finished 12-3 in its inaugural season, ranks third on the team ERA list. DuBois finished 20-9 over his three-season varsity career, and Hachlinski was 12-8 over his two seasons.

Girls Basketball

  • Reese finished a combined 81-10 over the last four seasons, in no small part because of the contributions of 6-foot center Reyna Frost. The Central Michigan University recruit scored 1,475 points during her four-year career, and made the MHSAA record book with 1,110 career rebounds (ninth all-time) and 387 career blocks (eighth on that list) as well as 327 rebounds and 128 blocks this winter.

  • Kent City enjoyed another successful run this winter, finishing 19-4 and winning the Central State Activities Association Silver championship – and kept the scoreboard popping along the way. The Eagles made the MHSAA’s season 3-pointers list for the third straight, this time connecting on 171, to go with 167 in 2012-13 and 187 in 2011-12. Kent City made a high of 14 3-pointers in a 73-28 win over Hesperia on Jan. 30 – Kaitlyn Geers led with five – and also was part of one of the highest-scoring games in MHSAA girls hoops history when it defeated Morley Stanwood 83-78 in double overtime Feb. 27. Bailey Freeland scored 30 points for Kent City in that game, including eight during the extra period, and Lindsey Veersma led Morley Stanwood with 21 points including nine during the team’s fourth-quarter comeback. 

 

Football

  • A total of 19 accomplishments for Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart athletes were added, with the majority celebrating a pair of four-year standouts who helped the Irish to combined 36-10 record from 2009-12 and an MHSAA title in 2010. Running back Nick Hire was added for seven rushing touchdowns in a 2012 game against Coleman, 74 career touchdowns and 450 career points, and also 124 career receptions. Quarterback Mitchell Myler was added for 410 completions, 602 attempts, 6,158 passing yards and 68 career touchdown passes – plus 157 completions (and 28 in one game), 2,576 yards and 28 TD passes as a senior in 2012. His career yardage ranks 14th on that list, and he now plays at Division III Alfred University in New York. Former QB Mike Lilly was added for 25 touchdown passes in 2008, and Brooks Hyble made the career TD reception list with 21 from 2010-13. Lilly also made 10 extra points in a 2008 win over Baldwin, while Kip Hartman was added for nine in 1998 game and Matt Kornexl was added for nine in a 2012 game. Kornexl’s 66 extra points in 2012 also made the single-season list.

  • Crystal Falls Forest Park’s Lee Graff put together one of the most impressive scoring careers in just two varsity seasons. Total he amassed 412 points, with 61 touchdowns and 23 two-point conversions over 2013 and 2014. He made the single-season MHSAA rushing TD list with 30 as a junior and also the single-season scoring list with 216 as a senior. Graff has signed with Michigan Tech University.


  • Randy Hyduk’s record addition came after 30 years of waiting, the discovery and then conversion of video of his 75-yard punt for Warren Woods-Tower against Sterling Heights Stevenson on Oct. 26, 1984. Hyduk’s kick, launched at the 10 where he received the snap, traveled nearly 90 yards in the air before landing near Stevenson's goal line.


  • Ben Stankovic took over kicking Saline’s extra points early during last season’s run to the Division 1 Final, and was perfect in points-after through the Hornets’  MHSAA runner-up finish. Stankovic made all 53 extra-point attempts over 12 games in which he kicked – and with a season to play, he’s tied for the 20th-longest consecutive extra-point streak in MHSAA history.  

Softball


  • Amanda Steig stole 162 bases during her four-year career at Reed City from 2009-12, but more than half of those as a senior – her 87 steals that spring rank second in MHSAA history for one season, and she also stole 72 straight during that run. Steig also made record listings with 84 career walks and a 20-game hitting streak from the end of her junior season through April 13 of her senior campaign. Steig went on to play at Grand Rapids Community College and now plays at Cleary University, a member of the United State Collegiate Athletic Association.

Wrestling

  • Three Leslie wrestlers with a combined six MHSAA championships, plus a two-time Finals runner-up, were added for a number of single-season and career accomplishments. Two-time champion Zehlin Storr was added for his career record of 220-12 and undefeated seasons of 2012-13 (59-0) and 2013-14 (61-0). He also made the season pins list with 44 as a senior in 2013-14 and career pins list with 126, and his 792 takedowns rank third in MHSAA career history. Younger brother Kanen Storr, also a two-time champion, was added for his 58 victories in going undefeated in 2012-13 and his 44 pins that season, and two-time champion Cody Dunn was added with his 192-31 career record. Nick Atwood was a two-time runner-up during his career from 1996-99; he made the career wins list finishing 198-8, and his 153 career pins are tied for 12th in MHSAA history.

PHOTO: Calvin Christian’s Allison Keizer (right) made seven saves in last season’s 2-1 Division 4 championship game win over Clarkston Everest Collegiate.