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.)
Rangers Net Historic Accomplishments
April 27, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Special for Second Half
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central’s boys tennis team finished fourth in Lower Peninsula Division 2 in the fall, led by a single star and a powerful doubles lineup whose accomplishments have been added to the MHSAA record book.
No. 1 singles champion Connor Genschaw was added to the records for his 34-4 finish, while Jack Ziegler and Peyton Herbert were runners-up at No. 2 doubles and added at 31-9 in separate entries (they went 25-6 together and 6-3 with other partners). Aidan Rynbrandt and Jacob Wiltjer were added for going 31-9 at No. 1 doubles, while Mike Battiste was part of the No. 3 pair and went 28-11 and the No. 4 pair of Tyler George and Ali Azeem made the list at 27-13.
Herbert (97-15), Battiste (94-17), Ziegler (90-22) and Rynbrandt (90-23) finished on the doubles career wins list as well. Reed Aleck, a senior in 2016-17, also was added to the career list at 80-22 after he and Justin James went 27-6 that fall.
Click to see the boys tennis record book in full, and see below for more recent entries in ice hockey, boys lacrosse, softball and wrestling. Click on the sport headings to view those record listings in their entirety.
Ice Hockey
Royal Oak Shrine Unified’s 9-3 win over Allen Park Cabrini on Jan. 20, 2017, saw a pair of MHSAA records set. Shrine’s Josef Mehall scored two goals five seconds apart during the second period – setting the record for the fastest two goals both by an individual and team – and Shrine added a third during the same minute to give it three goals over 34 seconds, which ranks fifth on that list. Mehall added an assist on that third goal, which was scored by Jamison Terbrack. Both were seniors; Mehall played junior hockey this season for the Maine Wild.
Calumet scored four goals over 1:24 against Negaunee on Feb. 8, becoming the second-fastest team to score four goals in one game. The Copper Kings did so with their first of the period 5:03 in and their fourth at 6:27. Brent Loukus, Dean Loukus, Rylan Anderson and Tyler Johnson scored during the string. Calumet went on to win 9-0.
Canton sent 104 shots on goal against Ann Arbor Huron during an 8-2 win Jan. 17, ranking as the second most shots on goal in a game. Huron senior Ethan St. Pierre set the MHSAA saves record in turning away 96 of those shots.
Boys Lacrosse
Tecumseh’s Dylan Day continued to move up the career lists in 2017, adding eight record book entries. He joined the career points list with 220 (148 goals and 72 assists) over the last two seasons and with this season yet to play and also was added for goals, assists and points (7/9/16) in a win over Temperance Bedford last May 24. Now-senior teammate Justin Weasel was added for eight goals in that game, and senior Drake Ringer was added for 42 assists last season. Now-junior goalie Kobe Jennings was added four times for saves in a game with a high of 20, and also earned the first entry for season shutouts with four. As a team, Tecumseh’s 266 goals were added, as were its 26 against Bedford in that 26-5 win.
Softball
Grosse Pointe South shortstop Grace Foster powered her way to a few more entries in the record book last season, hitting 11 home runs over 31 games – including two in an inning against Romulus after also hitting two consecutively in a game against St. Clair Shores Lakeview. The then-junior also made the records with six RBI in an inning and eight in that game against Romulus, and seven more in a game against Detroit Renaissance.
Flint Powers Catholic’s McKenna King hit 23 doubles in 2017 to make the single-season list in that category. The Chargers’ then-freshman tied for 12th most in one season.
Another freshman in 2017, Frankfort’s Haley Myers, made record lists with 18 doubles and 74 runs scored – the runs tied for 11th most. Now-senior teammate Olivia Tomaszewski also was added for 18 doubles and now-junior Natalie Bigley was added for 70 runs. Myers, now a sophomore, also was added for hitting back-to-back home runs against Lake City this April 12.
Elizabeth Evers became one of the first to be added for an accomplishment this spring. The Sterling Heights senior drove in six runs in her team’s 15-14 win over Clawson on March 23.
Wrestling
Otisville-LakeVille became the ninth on a list of teams that have scored 84 points in a dual match. The Falcons put up the perfect 84-0 score against Manistique on Jan. 13.
Gavin Morgan joined the list of record holders for fastest pins during his Mount Morris team’s invitational on Jan. 20. He pinned his Capac opponent at 160 pounds in four seconds. Morgan is a sophomore.
PHOTO: Forest Hills Central’s Connor Genschaw returns a volleyball during the LPD2 Finals last fall. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)