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).
Anchor Bay Flies Fences at Record Pace
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
August 23, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
New Baltimore Anchor Bay’s softball team this spring proved to be the most powerful in MHSAA history.
The Tars hit 63 home runs, edging Howell by one as both broke the record of 59 formerly set by Romeo in 2015.
Taylor Keighley led the power surge with 21 home runs, tying for sixth most in one season, and Amanda Schick made the records list with 10 homers as six Anchor Bay players hit at least six apiece.
This spring’s team also made the record book for 408 hits, 66 doubles and 279 RBI in finishing 23-11. The 2018 team is listed for 417 hits, 84 doubles, 44 home runs, 276 RBI and a .403 average, with Aleah Marra making individual lists with 19 doubles and 11 homers as the team went 29-7. She is playing at Rutgers University.
Keighley will be a senior this fall, and Schick, now a junior, reportedly has committed to sign with Bowling Green for after she graduates in 2021.
Read on for more recent record book additions in softball plus baseball, football, boys lacrosse, boys soccer and wrestling, and click on the headings below to see those record books in full.
Baseball
Alex Rose’s memorable senior season this spring for Stockbridge included a run at a state record – he hit 23 doubles, tying for fifth most for one season in MHSAA history. Teammate Daniel Ballagh also was added to the records for being hit by 34 pitches over his 104-game, four-season career.
Football
Josh Czarnota quarterbacked Fenton to a combined 27-7 record from 2015-17, with a number of his season and career achievements making the records. Czarnota put up his biggest numbers as a junior, completing 167 of 270 passes for 2,344 yards and 27 touchdowns. His career numbers of 391 completions, 652 attempts, 6,210 yards and 72 touchdowns over 34 games also are listed, the touchdowns ranking 17th all-time. He threw for 427 yards in a 2016 win over Ortonville Brandon, when teammate Chanse Setzke had 266 receiving yards and four touchdowns through the air. In addition to making the record book for those individual feats, Setzke is listed for receiving yards (1,235) and touchdowns (15) as a senior in 2017 and for 114 receptions, 1,943 yards and 21 touchdowns over 23 games during his two-season varsity career. Czarnota is playing at Grand Valley State University.
Lake Odessa Lakewood’s Kaden Heins created plenty of excitement as a senior during the 2017 season, making the record book for a 100-yard interception return touchdown against Charlotte on Oct. 13 and returning kickoffs for touchdowns against Belding, Stockbridge, Leslie and Ionia. The four kickoff return touchdowns in one season are tied for second most on that list.
Macomb L’Anse Creuse North fell just shy of defeating Utica Eisenhower on Sept. 11, 2015, but a pair of LCN players enjoyed memorable moments. Quarterback Branden Taylor set an MHSAA record with 44 pass completions, tying for fourth all-time with 68 attempts and making the single-game yardage list with 446. Jake Mitrak hauled in 18 passes to tie for third most in one game. Mitrak played a season at Northern Michigan University.
Boys Lacrosse
Cameron Breining finished his Chelsea four-year varsity career this spring with 17 record book entries and as one of the top scorers all-time. He made the single-game goals list eight times, including tying for the fourth most twice with 11 in 2019 games against both DeWitt and Ypsilanti Lincoln. He scored 66 goals as a junior and 61 as a senior, and his 201 career goals rank 11th all-time. He also made the career points list with 231 and a high of 12 in that game against Lincoln this spring.
Boys Soccer
Genesee Christian won back-to-back Division 4 championships during the 2015-16 seasons, and along the way also set one of the most impressive records for success. From its 2015 opener through its fifth game of the 2016 season, Genesee Christian won 33 straight games – two more than previous record-holder Grosse Ile put together during the 2002-03 seasons. Genesee Christian’s streak was ended in a 2-1 loss to Fenton on Sept. 1, 2016.
Softball
Hemlock’s Madison Martinez has posted the second listing for back-to-back home runs from the 2019 season, hitting hers during the fourth and fifth innings of a 12-0 win over St. Charles on April 22. Martinez was a sophomore last season.
Wrestling
Two of Birch Run’s Breece brothers earned their ways into the record book with accomplishments during the 2017-18 season. Mason Breece finished his high school career with a record of 213-24, making the career wins list, while then-sophomore Macintyre Breece went 58-5 to make the single-season wins group. Mason won the Division 3 title at 140 pounds that season and wrestles at Central Michigan University, and Macintyre was Division 3 runner-up at 125 last season as a junior.
PHOTO: New Baltimore Anchor Bay teammates welcome Jenna Cantalupo home after her home run during May’s District game against Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse. (Photo courtesy of State Champs Sports Network.)