'If They Have It, I Probably Wrote It'
By
Ron Pesch
MHSAA historian
August 11, 2016
I’m a firm believer that we don’t pick our hobbies; rather, they pick us.
As a college student at Western Michigan University, I made a phone call to the athletic department at Kalamazoo Central High School to ask what they knew about the history of their high school football team. I wanted to cross-reference their scores of past football games versus Muskegon High School against a list I had created. It was late 1984.
“Yes, we have that,” stated the person at the other end, “but you should really speak with Dick Kishpaugh. He’s the guy that compiled that information. Here’s his number.”
I thanked them for the information and made the call from my dorm. Indeed, Kishpaugh had compiled the collections of scores I sought and would happily share it. The call could have ended there. Yet, for some reason, I asked another question.
“One more thing,” I blurted out. “There’s this building in East Lansing that I drive past when I’m visiting friends at Michigan State. It’s the Michigan High School Athletic Association. I’m wondering if they might have anything in their files about the history of sports.”
“Well,” stated Kishpaugh. The pause that I hear in my head when I recall this memory gets longer and more dramatic each time I press the replay button. “If they have it, I probably wrote it.”
Just like that, I had found the state’s historian for high school sports. It was the beginning of a lifelong friendship.
After a few visits to his home in Parchment, just outside Kalamazoo, Dick invited me to join him in the press box at the Pontiac Silverdome for the 1985 MHSAA Football Finals. Of course I accepted. As a kid growing up in Muskegon, I had wanted to attend this event, but had never found the chance.
In March, I joined him for the Boys Basketball Finals in Ann Arbor. I had found a mentor, and he, a protégé. Along the way I learned his father would hand him the sports section from the newspaper, allow him the chance to study the college football scores, retrieve the pages, and then quiz him on the results of the games. For each score he got right, Dick was rewarded with a nickel.
“I got pretty good at recalling numbers,” he said, laughing.
I learned that he had attended his first MHSAA Boys Basketball Finals in 1944 with a friend, Nick Vista, during their high school days at Battle Creek Central. He told me that after seeing the tournament at Jenison Field House, they wondered about the records from past tourney games. When told by then-MHSAA Executive Director Charles Forsythe that nothing existed, the two of them began researching. A year later, the beginnings of what would become a lifelong passion was unveiled. (Vista later would serve as Sports Information Director at Michigan State University).
Admitting he didn’t exactly apply himself to his studies, Dick told the story of how his high school principal, recognizing his interest in sports, had worked a deal with the sports editor at the Battle Creek Enquirer for Kishpaugh to work as a stringer for the paper. The single contingent was that his grades had to improve drastically. Immediately, they did. Kishpaugh now had a press pass.
Like me, Kishpaugh had attended WMU, back in the day when the school was much smaller and a major training ground for future teachers. He served as sports editor for the yearbook and campus newspaper. He also met his bride-to-be, Shirley.
Because of this background, he met many students that would go on to coach at high schools across the state. These friendships would pay dividends for years to come as he assembled varsity game results and record performances. For 20 years, he also served as publicist for the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA), enhancing his reputation and expanding his circle of friends.
On the high school side, he dug out details from scrapbooks, yearbooks, newspaper clippings and microfilm. It was a hobby, but he always approached it as though it were his livelihood. He wrote – and this is no exaggeration – thousands of cards and letters over the years, asking former coaches and athletes for long-lost details.
His focus was football and basketball. He compiled those details into what we now commonly refer to as the MHSAA Record Book. And, although few readers probably realized it, he would supply interested sportswriters with facts, figures and the little item that would spice up their article with details few would know.
Eventually, his talents were recognized with an honorary title. Dick became known as Michigan's high school sports historian. He was the go-to guy for reporters, old and new, when a performance needed historical perspective.
When Title IX came to fruition and helped to increase opportunity for girls, he applauded the change. Immediately, he started a girls basketball record book. He wrote about the girls game, researching its origins, and shared his findings with readers of the MHSAA game programs.
I arrived in his 40th year of service. For the next decade, I tagged along, meeting an amazing array of sportswriters, broadcasters, coaches, and former players from high schools and colleges across the state and beyond. Thanks to his connections, we watched Big Ten, Mid-American Conference and MIAA college contests from press boxes and sidelines. Together, we were treated like dignitaries at the opening of the new College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind. I visited Dick and Shirley’s summer cottage, a landmark and slice of heaven located in Hickory Corners. He attended my wedding. We discussed an amazing array of subjects, including travel, history, and family.
In the spring of 1993, after 10 years of friendship and education, he told me it was my turn.
“I’m going to go concentrate on the college game,” he said, smiling. “You take over as high school historian.”
Dick was 67. Just prior to attending the high school basketball tournament, his 50th consecutive, he shared the news with his longtime friend, Joe Falls of The Detroit News. Shortly after the games, he headed off to the British Isles with his bride Shirley to indulge in their favorite pastime: travel.
In 1998, Dick attended his 55th straight MHSAA Basketball Finals. The streak ended a year later, as Dick and Shirley chose to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary with a trip to Austria, Switzerland, Germany and the British Isles during tournament time.
“I always knew I was going to miss the Finals sooner or later,” Kishpaugh told a Detroit Free Press reporter. “Our 50th wedding anniversary takes precedence.”
The streak was restarted in 2000, but it wouldn’t last. In April, while returning from a planned meeting at the College Football Hall of Fame, where he served on a committee designed to identify athletes and coaches from small colleges for possible induction into the Hall, Kishpaugh was killed in a traffic accident.
He passed away while doing what he loved. Still, the sports world lost an incredible resource and pioneer, dedicated to honoring the incredible accomplishments of Michigan’s high school student athletes. I lost a friend and a huge influence. It is an honor to occupy his shoes.
PHOTOS: (Top) Longtime MHSAA historian Dick Kishpaugh (left) enjoys a game with protégé Ron Pesch. (Middle) Kishpaugh receives an award for his service from MHSAA Executive Director Jack Roberts during the 1993 Boys Basketball Finals at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
Shelby's Gauthier Ascends to Top of State, National Volleyball Record Lists
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
December 12, 2025
Navea Gauthier concluded her Shelby career in 2024 with 16 record book listings – and the much sought-after record for career kills both in Michigan and nationally.
She totaled 3,706 over four seasons, moving past legendary Alisha Glass from Leland on both lists. Gauthier also made the single-season kills list all four of her seasons, with her 1,034 as a junior in 2023 ranking third and her 987 as a sophomore ranking fifth. Her career total will be submitted to the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) as a national record as well.
Gauthier is continuing her career at Ohio State.
See below for several recently-added listings to the girls volleyball record book, and click the heading to see the record book in full. Several more applications have been received and are in the process of being confirmed.
Girls Volleyball
Fremont 2023 graduate Carle Bruggema earned 10 record book entries over her four seasons and finished on career lists with 2,781 assists and 368 aces, both over 464 games played. She also made the single-season aces list twice with 115 as a junior and 116 as a senior and is listed six times for either single-match aces or assists. She’s playing at Goshen College in Indiana.
More than a decade later, Mallory Lenhart has moved to the top of the list for single-season assists for the 1,874 she totaled as a senior in 2010 in leading Temperance Bedford to the Class A Semifinals. She went on to play at Lourdes University in Ohio.
Calumet’s Helen Beiring and Laina Kariniemi led their team through a five-set Regional Final win over Elk Rapids in 2022 – both making the record book in the process. Beiring, then a senior, had 40 kills, while Kariniemi, a junior, tied for seventh-most assists in one match with 65. Beiring is continuing at Northern Michigan.
Indian River Inland Lakes’ run to the Division 4 Quarterfinals in 2022 featured several noteworthy individual performances, led by senior Natalie Wandrie’s 616 kills to make the single-season list in that category. Then-senior Hannah Robinson, then-junior Erica Taglauer and then-sophomore Brooklyn LaBrecque also were added for single-match accomplishments. Wandrie is playing volleyball and softball at Lindsey Wilson College (Ky.), and Robinson competed in track & field at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Fla.)
Fenton’s Eva Long was added a second and third time to the single-match aces list, with 10 in a three-set match against Holly and then 12 in a three-set match against Flint Kearsley both in 2023 as a sophomore after making it originally with 12 aces during a match her freshman year. She recently completed her senior season and will continue at North Carolina State.
Jayden Marlatt capped her four-season Johannesburg-Lewiston varsity career in the fall of 2023 on the MHSAA all-time kills list with 1,614, including 34 in a match. She’s joined among recent additions by then-sophomore teammate Lexi Hogle, who had 52 assists in the same four-set league-clinching match against Fife Lake Forest Area on Oct. 17, 2023. Then-senior Brooklyn Latuszek was added twice for aces in one match, with 12 and 10, and 2023 graduate Serena Hogle was added with 48 assists in a 2022 match. Madison Peppin joined the list of players with at least 10 aces in a match when she totaled that number in a sweep of Gaylord St. Mary in 2024. She just finished her junior season. Marlatt plays softball at Ferris State, and Latuszek played at Alpena Community College.
A pair of Marlette four-year standouts were added, one for a high-achieving match in 2023 and the second for a career accomplishment. Senior Emma Heussner made the single-match assists list for 47 in a four-set win over Ubly that fall. Gabby Martinez, also a senior that season, reached the aces career list with 308 and plays at St. Clair County Community College.
Senior Ashley Strefling became the first Three Oaks River Valley player in the volleyball record book, finishing her four-year varsity career in 2023 with 2,680 assists. She posted a career-high 812 as a junior. She plays at Florida State College at Jacksonville.
Saginaw Swan Valley’s Marli Robinson added two more record book listings as a senior in 2023 to finish her career with three. She had 46 assists in a match for the second time and finished her three-season career with 2.,745 assists over 365 games and three seasons.
Several Croswell-Lexington standouts from the last decade reached the record book, including setter Annalise Weeder who was added for six single-match assists totals, 1,203 during her junior season and 3,356 over her four-year varsity career from 2020-23. Standout hitter Brooke Smith was added 37 kills in a 2014 match, 747 kills total that season and 1,582 over her three seasons from 2012-14. Makayla Shell was added for 159 blocks as a senior and 455 over her career. Additionally, Morgan Moore and Danielle Ripenbark were added for single-match accomplishments and Rachel Soper for 1,254 assists in 2014. Smith went on to play at Grand Valley State, Shell at Wayne State and Moore at St. Clair County Community College.
Kara Vyletel has reached the record book for a big-hitting season as a senior at Ann Arbor Huron in 2014. Vyletel had 805 kills over 145 games, which at the time would’ve ranked 15th since the start of the rally scoring era. She went on to play at Hillsdale College.
Setter Mady Pahl and hitter Molly Gerow played significant roles in making Beaverton a force during their four-year varsity careers from 2017-2020. Both were added to the records for multiple accomplishments, Pahl most notable for 2,817 career assists and Gerow for 2,106 career kills, including a high of 675 as a sophomore. Pahl played softball at Hope College.
A pair of Big Rapids Crossroads Academy servers earned the first listings for their school and this sport in 2024. Junior Dani Nostrant had 16 aces during the second game of a match against Walkerville, tying for the fourth-most aces in one set and with her 18 for the match ranking 10th all-time. She also had 13 in a four-set match against Holton that season. Senior Kristy Warczinsky also was added to the single-match aces list with 12 against Walkerville that fall.
Three Rivers’ Southland sisters both made their ways into the record book over the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Jenna Southland, a hitter who graduated in 2024, was added three times including for 671 kills as a senior and 1,490 over three varsity seasons. Miley Southland, a setter, was added four times and is on the career list with 2,952 assists not counting what she added this fall as a senior. Jenna Southland is playing at Hillsdale College.
Braylyn Hernandez starred in multiple sports for Burr Oak and reached the volleyball record book with 342 career aces through her final season in 2024. She actually began her varsity career in the sport in eighth grade, although her aces from that season are not counted in the total for record book purposes. She’s playing volleyball, basketball and softball at Glen Oaks Community College.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern setter Lexie Stotenbur already ranked on the career assists list with 2,727 through three seasons and entering this fall. She’s also in the record book for 1,320 assists as a sophomore in 2023 and 49 in a five-set win over Grand Rapids Christian that season.
Rudyard’s Lily Kwiatkowski earned a listing with 34 kills during a five-set match against St. Ignace on Nov. 12, 2024. She just completed her senior season.
Zeeland East’s Lizzie Risdon also made the single-match kills list, as a sophomore, with 34 during a five-set win over Hamilton on Oct. 3, 2024. She’s committed to Ohio University.
A pair of Caledonia standouts were added – Jessica Maier for 54 assists in a 2023 match against Grandville, plus 1,245 assists as a junior that fall and 2,601 over her three-year varsity career, and Aubrey Reynolds for 17 aces in a 2024 match last season against Muskegon. Maier is playing at Roosevelt University in Chicago, and Reynolds is a junior.
Lansing Catholic’s Leighton Marlan reached the record book with 111 aces as a sophomore in 2024, becoming the Cougars’ first athlete to make a list in this sport.
Grayling’s Cali D’Amour had already made the MHSAA records in softball and is playing that sport at Davenport. She added a volleyball listing as well as a senior in 2024 with 31 kills in a match against Harbor Springs.
Nearly two decades later, Yale setter Cydney Biessel has been added for 4,076 career assists, which rank 11th. She finished her four-year high school career in 2008 and went on to play at Wayne State.
A pair of Niles setters made the single-match assists list in successive seasons. Then-senior Kaydence Jacobs did so with 52 assists in a 2024 match against South Bend Adams (Ind.), and freshman Mena Hover set the school record and made the list with 54 this fall against Sturgis. Jacobs plays now for Lake Michigan College.
PHOTO Shelby's Navea Gauthier goes up for a kill attempt during a 2022 match. (Photo by Farmer's Fotos.)