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).
Record-Setting Offense Helps Lift Vicksburg to 2023 Runner-Up Finish
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
April 26, 2024
Vicksburg finished Division 2 runner-up last spring led by one of the most accomplished offenses in MHSAA history.
The Bulldogs made the single-season wins list finishing 41-6, setting a record with 441 RBI, ranking second 538 runs and 541 hits and tying for third with 46 home runs.
Maddison Diekman tied for fifth individually both with 84 runs scored and 89 hits, while Peyton Smith made lists with 73 hits, 19 doubles and 12 home runs. Brooklynn Ringler earned listings with 75 runs and 74 hits, and Delaney Monroe did as well with 16 home runs and 76 RBI. All four are seniors this season.
Diekman will continue her career at Central Michigan, Smith will continue at Concordia-Ann Arbor and Monroe will continue at Lawrence Tech, and Ringler will golf at Davenport. See below for more recent MHSAA softball record book updates, and click the heading to see the record book in full.
Softball
A pair of Fowler standouts earned individual record book entries last spring, and the team also earned a pair of entries. Avery Koenigsknect had back-to-back home runs and six RBI in one game May 18 against Bath, making lists for both, and teammate Brianne Halfmann had three home runs, including two back-to-back, and seven RBI in a single game against Mendon on June 13 to make lists for all three categories. As a team, the Eagles were added for 391 hits and 297 RBI over 37 games. Koenigsknecht graduated last spring, and Halfmann is a senior this school year.
Now-senior Marissa Warren led another strong Big Rapids effort in 2023, reaching the record book with 71 hits, 70 runs, 17 doubles, 15 home runs, 84 RBI and with three listings for multiple homers in a game or inning. She was joined by teammate Pharis Carroll, who made the runs scored list with 68 and is also a senior this school year. Hanna Smith (46), Rylie Haist (41) and Josie Cornell (34) finished three-season varsity careers all on the career doubles list. As a team., Big Rapids made lists with 445 hits, 428 runs, 90 doubles, 353 RBI and a .416 batting average. Warren has signed with Toledo, Haist and Smith are continuing at Ferris State, and Cornell signed with Husson University in Maine.
Payton Manninen’s junior season last spring saw her reach the MHSAA record book with a .645 average over 27 games – and also climb the list of longest hitting streaks in state history. The Ishpeming standout’s run came to an end last May 10, almost two years to the day it started and after 61 straight games with at least one hit – good for second on the list.
Hamilton’s best season in several years saw the Hawkeyes rank eighth all-time with 503 hits, fifth with 40 triples and ninth with a .438 team batting average over 41 games in 2023 – those listings among six total to make the team record book. Individually, senior Madie Jamrog made the records with 66 runs scored and 15 triples last season and 27 triples and 22 home runs for her three-year varsity career. Ella Davison, just a freshman last spring, made the lists with 81 hits, 18 doubles, a .643 average and a 23-game hitting streak. Then-sophomore Taylor Oosterink was added for six RBI in a game, and then-sophomore Kianna Vork for being hit by pitches three times in one contest. Jamrog is continuing her career at Akron.
Another pair of Richland Gull Lake standouts has been added to the records, one a recent graduate and another a senior this season. Mandy Esman was added seven times including for 35 doubles, 29 home runs and a .530 batting average over her three-season career – and despite her sophomore year being canceled due to the pandemic. Now-senior Ava Coffinger was added five times; her 86 runs scored last spring are tied for third-most for one season, and she had stolen 79 bases consecutively without getting caught entering this year and stole 73 total in 2023. Esman played a season at Michigan State and now plays at Houston, and Coffinger has signed with MSU.
Grandville Calvin Christian’s Karsen Balmer twice last season hit home runs in back-to-back at bats – against Beaverton on May 6, 2023, and then against Sparta on May 23. She’s a senior this spring.
A trio of Leslie seniors this spring are all over the record book for single-season and career accomplishments after their first three years of varsity. Ada Bradford ranked on the career strikeout list with 937 and at the plate with 49 doubles, 26 home runs and 166 RBI heading into this spring. Jalen Fossitt joins her with 58 doubles and 152 RBI for her career so far, and Gabby Waldofsky ranks with 171 runs scored and 209 hits over her first three seasons. Leslie also was added for 387 hits, 79 doubles and 254 RBI over 39 games last spring. Bradford will continue her career at Aquinas College, and Fossitt will continue at Hope College.
Cecelia Thorington’s junior season last spring at Pinckney saw her reach the record book four times, including for season totals of 73 hits, 68 runs scored and 60 stolen bases over 36 games. Senior teammate Kylee Douglas was added as well for six RBI in a game. Douglas is continuing her career at Henry Ford College, and Thorington will continue hers at University of Michigan.
Olivia Turner entered her senior season this spring at Grass Lake with 16 record book entries and two MHSAA records. She tied the record for single-season hits with 100 over 40 games in 2023, and along the way broke the career record for doubles with 80 and a season to play. She’s also climbing career record lists for home runs (15th) and RBI (third), and last season added single-season listings for 30 doubles (tied for third), 17 home runs, 102 RBI (second) and a .714 batting average (seventh). She has signed with Bradley.
A pair of Okemos hitters reached the record book last season for RBI in one game – now-junior Violet Greborunis twice driving in six, and now-junior Keirlyn Bane also bringing home six runners in one game.
Parma Western’s Abby Nieswender smashed 30 doubles last spring as a junior, which landed third on the single-season list. She’s signed with Aquinas.
Grayling earned its first record book achievements in this sport over the last two seasons. The Vikings as a team are listed for 82 doubles and 284 RBI over 37 games in 2023, and 68 doubles over 35 games in 2022. Anna Wood made the single-season individual doubles list with 17 last spring, and Mandy Andrews made the hit-by-pitch list with 16. Wood, Cali D’Amour and Jessica Campbell all made the single-game RBI list for six or more either last season or during 2022. Andrews is a senior this spring, and the other three are juniors.
Otisville LakeVille Memorial made the record book several times after finishing 33-8 in 2023, with now-senior Jayla Thompson leading the way. The Falcons were added for 437 runs, 420 hits, 88 doubles, 32 home runs and 350 RBI as a team. Thompson scored 70 runs, hit 16 doubles and 10 home runs and also reached the career home runs list with 27 and a season to play. She and now-senior Brooke Newberry, now-sophomore Anabell Newberry and now-junior Mallorie Nevadomski also made lists with single-game accomplishments.
PHOTO Vicksburg’s Peyton Smith stands in for a pitch during last season’s Division 2 Semifinal win over Richmond.