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Wassink Joins Elite MHSAA Passers

January 14, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Grand Rapids South Christian quarterback Jon Wassink capped his high school career this fall by leading the Sailors to the Division 4 championship – after taking his team to a runner-up finish in 2013 and watching injured from the sidelines as South Christian won the 2012 title.

For the second straight week, we lead "Records Report" with a history-making quarterback among recent submissions to the MHSAA record books for five sports – football, boys and girls soccer, volleyball and wrestling.

Wassink will graduate as one of the most accomplished passers in state history despite playing only three seasons as the varsity starter. His name appears 17 times in the MHSAA football record book including second all-time with 8,124 passing yards, third with 884 career passing attempts, second with 584 career completions and fifth with 76 career touchdown passes. Over those three seasons he completed 66 percent of those pass attempts and also ran for 3,252 yards and 50 scores. He is expected to sign with Western Michigan University next month. 

Click the football heading below to see the entire record book in full, and read on for more of the recent additions.

Football

  • Ithaca’s fifth straight drive to the MHSAA Finals this fall again featured a number of record-book performances. Quarterback Jake Smith made the listings with 2,134 passing yards and 27 touchdowns, while receiver Spence DeMull qualified with 66 catches, 1,193 yards and 16 TD grabs including four in a win over St. Louis. The Yellowjackets scored 591 points total this season and saw their consecutive wins streak end at 69, second-longest in MHSAA history; it was the longest active 11-player winning streak nationally when it ended.

  • Lowell football coach Noel Dean reached the 200-win milestone during the 2013 season and sits at 211-61 after coaching Burton Bendle from 1991-95 and the Red Arrows beginning in 1996. Lowell finished 10-2 in 2014, its 12th season over the last 15 with at least 10 victories.

  • Brighton junior Joey Clifford scored six rushing touchdowns in a 49-27 win over Waterford Kettering on Oct. 17, becoming the 18th to run for six or more scores in a game. Total, he ran 23 times for 232 yards that evening.

Boys Soccer

  • New Haven’s Dolan Bonkowski, a senior midfielder, earned his school’s first entries into this MHSAA record book. He had six goals (plus two assists) in a game against Madison Heights Madison in September, 43 goals this season and a total of 65 points in 20 games.

Girls Soccer

  • Battle Creek Pennfield’s Elizabeth Jarrard is the latest to be listed and first from Battle Creek among those who scored more than 100 goals during their varsity careers. The 2013 graduate scored 106 over her four seasons including 35 as a freshman. She went on to play at Kellogg Community College.

Volleyball

  • A trio of Cheboygan athletes were added for their accomplishments over the first half of this decade. Molly Warren made lists for five aces in a three-game match win over Rudyard in 2010, her aces total of 135 that season and 1,272 assists also that fall; teammate Darcie Melching was added for her 168 blocks in 2010. Kaitlyn Dobrowolski made lists for her 1,270 assists this fall and 3,680 over four seasons, which ranks 10th in MHSAA history. Warren has gone on to play for Division II Tiffin University and just finished her junior season. Dobrowolski led her team to a 50-13-3 record with its second-most victories in program history.

  • DeWitt sophomore Lexi Nordmann finished this fall with 239 blocks – third on the MHSAA single-season list since the beginning of the rally scoring era in 2004-05. She helped the Panthers to a Class A District championship.

Wrestling

  • Goodrich’s CC Weber made headlines as a senior in 2009 as the highest-placing girl ever at the MHSAA Individual Finals when she took fourth in Division 3 at 103 pounds. Her 58 wins (with five losses) also was good enough to tie for sixth-most in school history and make the MHSAA single-season statewide record list. She finished 162-34 over her four-year varsity career.

  • Retired longtime Yale coach Jim Peltier made the all-time coaching list for wrestling, which includes those who have led programs to at least 400 dual wins. He coached in 1984-85, then returned for 1988-89 and retired after the 2012-13 season with a record of 448-259.

PHOTO: Grand Rapids South Christian quarterback Jon Wassink prepares to unload a pass during November’s Division 4 Final against Lansing Sexton. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com). 

Sault's LaCross Ties National HBP Record

June 9, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Nick LaCross got on base more than half the times he appeared at the plate for Sault Ste. Marie this spring, with an on-base percentage of .531.

He had 29 hits – and also was hit 29 times by pitches, setting an MHSAA record and tying the national record set in 1965.

LaCross, a junior, was hit by pitches three times in two games. Teammate Travis Zaborowski joined him on the hit-by-pitch record list, also getting hit by pitches three times in a game. As a team, Sault Ste. Marie tied for 11th on the MHSAA single-season HBP list with 53.

Click to see all of the MHSAA record book for baseball and below for the rest of this week’s record additions for girls basketball, boys basketball, boys lacrosse, girls soccer, softball and wrestling.  

Girls Basketball

  • A pair of the state’s most successful coaches over the last two decades were added to the coaching list with more than 300 wins to their credit. Houghton’s Julie Filpus has a 345-55 record since taking over in 1999 and led teams that made MHSAA Semifinals in 2006 and 2013 and won the Class C championship in 2005. Houghton finished 19-6 this season.

  • Doug Harkema led Bellevue to a 16-5 finish in 1993, then took over Holt the following fall and won 290 games toward his career record of 306-186. His teams have won nine District titles and reached Regional Semifinals four seasons. The Rams finished 15-8 this winter.

Boys Basketball

  • It took 25 years to get his due in the MHSAA record book, but Blissfield’s Greg Denecker has been added for 1,006 rebounds during his career stretching from 1987-90. His total ranks 11th and would’ve ranked seventh when he graduated from high school. Denecker went on to play at the University of Findlay.

  • DeShawn Brocks led Detroit Westside Christian Academy to a 13-7 record this winter supplying both offensive and defensive prowess. The senior scored 21 points per game, and also made the MHSAA record listings with 102 steals. He had a season-high 11 steals in a 70-48 win over Detroit University Prep Science & Math; that total made the single-game MHSAA list for that category.

  • Owosso senior Jalen Weekley finished his career among the sharpest shooters in MHSAA history, drilling at least 70 3-pointers for the second time in three seasons to finish his career with 192. Weekley had a high of 72 as a sophomore, his first season on the varsity. He will continue his basketball career this fall at Mid-Michigan Community College.

Boys Lacrosse

  • Zachary Montgomery nearly outscored his team’s opponent himself on April 21, putting eight goals in the net to lead Spring Lake to a 22-9 win over Lowell. Montgomery also had an assist in the game and was one of his team’s leading scorers this season.

Girls Soccer

  • Danielle Eastman finished her Brooklyn Columbia Central career in Saturday’s Division 3 District Final – and among the leading scorers in MHSAA history. Her 84 points this season – on 63 goals and 21 assists – tied an MHSAA record set in 2014 by Leland’s Libby Munoz. Eastman finished third on the career points list with 216 over her four-season varsity career, with her 63 goals this season and 167 for her career also ranking third on those lists. She scored in 26 straight games including all 23 this season and dating to the final three of 2014. Eastman has signed to continue at Siena Heights University.

Softball

  • Brooklyn Columbia Central’s Abbey Hatler had a strong performance against East Jackson on May 3 – in fact, she had an incredibly productive inning. Hatler finished 2 for 2 in the game, scoring three runs, and drove in six – enough to make the MHSAA list for RBI in one game. She also became the first entry for RBI in one inning – all six came during the first, when she had a grand slam and a double.

Wrestling

  • New Baltimore Anchor Bay coach Jim Morisette won the 600th match of his career this season as his team finished 37-1, its best record in his 24 seasons of guidance. Morisette is 609-200 total after coaching Algonac from 1986-89 and then at Anchor Bay beginning with the 1991-92 season. The Tars advanced this winter to the MHSAA Division 2 Semifinals, losing by just a point to eventual runner-up Hartland. 

PHOTO: Sault Ste. Marie's Nick LaCross reacts after getting hit by a pitch this season, one of 29 pitches that made contact with him as he tied a national record. (Photo courtesy of Sault Ste. Marie athletic department.)