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Ithaca's Smith Stands Among Top QBs

April 7, 2014

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Ithaca, and quarterback Travis Smith in particular, are all over the MHSAA football record book after extending the program’s winning streak to 56 straight games in 2013.

The streak is the second-longest in MHSAA history and longest that's taken place entirely during the playoff era. And three of those four straight perfect seasons came with Smith running the offense.

He finished his career with 468 completions in 691 attempts for 8,044 yards and 104 touchdowns passing. The TDs are an MHSAA record and the yards rank second. He threw for 42 touchdowns in 2013, which ranked fourth for one season, and 3,278 yards, good for ninth-most. He will play his college football at Wake Forest University.

Teammate Logan Hessbrook caught 19 touchdown passes in 2013 to tie for ninth-most in a season. Kickers Sage DeMull and Alex Vanderploeg also were added after both connected on more than 70 extra-point kicks the last two years, respectively, and Markes Gadlen was added after tying the record for longest kickoff-return touchdown with a 99-yarder against Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary in 2012.

Click to see the MHSAA football record book, and read on for more recent entries for other sports.

Football

  • Detroit Cesar Chavez Academy quarterback Omar Salih threw a lot of passes last fall – 428, second most in MHSAA history for one season. He made the single-game attempts list five times, with a high of 60 throws against Dearborn Heights Annapolis, and completed a high of 30 passes (in 51 attempts) against Dearborn Heights Star International. He finished with 3,293 yards passing and 32 touchdowns, both in only nine games. Teammate Nate Drew finished with 69 catches last fall for 1,376 yards and 19 TDs. His 2,748 receiving yards over four seasons rank seventh on the MHSAA career list.



Baseball

  • Monroe Jefferson’s Tyler Castiglione got nearly around the bases more than anyone else in MHSAA history in 2013, with a record 15 triples that also helped him set the career triples record of 25. Both will make national record book lists, with the 15 last season ranking fourth in NFHS history. Castiglione also graduated with a .482 career batting average and 1.63 career ERA. He now plays for Spring Arbor University.
  • Richland Gull Lake won more than 70 games over the 2011-12 seasons, and the MHSAA records reflect a few more performances that drove the run. Colton Bradley was added for 66 hits and 21 doubles in 2012, while Connor Owen made the single-season (19) and career (29) hit-by-pitch lists. The 2012 Gull Lake team moved to the top of the team hit-by-pitch list with 72, and Patrick Gaudard finished his career that spring with 38 over three seasons. Nate Stegman was added for his 1.34 ERA over two varsity seasons, as was Bob Cole for his 1.27 over 1980-81.



Boys Basketball

  • A trio of Manistique players was added for accomplishments from a few decades ago. Bill Pistulka made the single-season rebounds list with 316 in 1974-75, and brother John Pistulka made the career list with 722 from 1975-78. Rob Ryan made the season free throw percentage list by hitting 87.7 percent of his attempts during the 1988-89 season.

Boys Lacrosse

  • DeWitt’s Jackson Iciek just missed tying the MHSAA record for goalie saves in a 10-7 loss to Okemos last season. He tallied 23 saves, one shy of tying the record. 



Softball

  • With a season to play, Saginaw Heritage’s Lacy Tolfree has the sixth-highest career batting average (.580) in MHSAA history and also makes career lists with 181 runs and 43 doubles. She also was added for a 22-game hitting streak that ended last May and back-to-back grand slams that led to nine RBI total on April 22 of last year.
  • Perry’s Lauren Aldrich joined an elite group who have hit at least 10 home runs in a season, doing so last spring in 81 at bats. She hit .531 for the season.



Girls Tennis

  • Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Central’s Meika Ashby finished her high school career last season with her third MHSAA singles championship – and second at No. 1 – a final record of 94-1 after going 25-0 last spring, and the MHSAA record with 71 matches won 6-0, 6-0, during her career. Ashby is playing now at Western Michigan University.



Volleyball

  • A pair of Onaway athletes were added for successes during the 2012 season. Megan Estep had 14 aces in a three-game match against Wolverine and 50 assists in four games against Fife Lake Forest Area to make those single-match lists. Teammate Devin Bristley had 112 aces to make the season listing. 

PHOTO: Ithaca quarterback Travis Smith rolls out during his team’s Semifinal win over Montrose in November. (Click to see more from High School Sports Scene.)

Cole Sets Grand Haven at Record Pace

August 6, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Grand Haven’s Katie Cole was only a sophomore last season when she set the Buccaneers into the MHSAA Class A Volleyball Semifinals.

But that was only one bar she raised with two seasons remaining in her high school career.

Cole also set an MHSAA rally-scoring era record with 1,797 assists over 155 games as she and Chelsea’s Marry Kelleher (1,757 in 2014) both bested the previous record during the same season – Cole by 229 assists.

She averaged 11.6 assists per game while tallying all but 90 of her team’s total as Grand Haven finished 53-9.

Click to see the volleyball record book in full and read below for more recent submissions in baseball, boys basketball, football, girls soccer and softball.

Baseball

  • Matthew Rivera established himself as a top hitter over the last four seasons, making the MHSAA records with a career average of .482 and a single-season average this spring of .625 that ranks seventh all-time. But most impressive might have been his hits in 12 straight at bats against Ellsworth, Pickford, and Boyne Falls over four straight games from May 1-8, which tied for the fourth-longest hit streak over consecutive at bats. Rivera also earned a listing with six stolen bases in a game against St. Ignace on May 21.



Boys Basketball


  • Onaway 6-foot-5 senior Pat Dunn capped his career this winter with a stellar season averaging 15.2 points and 15 rebounds per game. He made the MHSAA record listings with 316 rebounds total, breaking that school record and also his school’s record with 76 blocked shots. He will continue his career at Adrian College.


  • Cooper Heminger is among Perry school record holders including for blocking 12 shots in a 58-49 win over Lake Fenton on Feb. 18, 2014, and that total also made the MHSAA list for blocks in a game. Heminger, a 6-5 forward, graduated this spring.



Football


  • Former Genesee standout Don Robinson already was listed for a 95-yard kickoff return in 1983, and has been added for a 99-yard run that same season, Sept. 30 against Webberville. He went on to play at Eastern Michigan University.



Girls Soccer


  • Leland’s Libby Munoz continued this spring her move up the MHSAA girls soccer scoring lists and ranks among all-time leaders with another season to play. She scored 58 goals, tying for fourth-most in one season, to go with her 64 from 2014, and her 164 career goals over three seasons ranks fifth, 31 behind record-holder Jordan Newman of Lake Fenton (2011-14). Munoz finished with 75 points total this spring, sixth-most for one season, and her 219 tie for fourth on the career list, 71 behind Laura Heyboer of Hudsonville Unity Christian (2005-08). Munoz also was added in girls basketball, having made 15 of 22 free-throw attempts in a Jan. 14 game against Buckley.



Softball


  • Harrison pitcher Allison Lipovsky finished her high school career not only as the most celebrated pitcher in school history, but among the highest achievers statewide of all time. She built a 91-32 record over four varsity seasons and made the MHSAA records nine times – her 23 no-hitters rank eighth on that career list and her 1,363 strikeouts are 11th-most over a career. She also tied for 18th with 29 career home runs and sits eighth with 110 career walks at the plate. She has signed with Grand Valley State University. In addition, Harrison as a team was added for its 452 strikeouts total this spring.


  • Milford sophomore Audrey Petoskey took a big step up the home run records ladder this spring, making the single-season list with 12 and joining the career list with 20 homers and two more seasons to play. Total, she hit .476 in 36 games this season.


  • Mattawan finished 31-13 and made the MHSAA Division 1 Semfinals this spring on the strength of one of the most impressive offensive seasons in the sport’s history. The Wildcats made six team categories in the MHSAA records with 416 runs scored, 491 hits (third all-time), 97 doubles (second), 48 home runs (third), 359 RBI (second) and a .415 team batting average (eighth all-time). Junior Amber Mazahem twice hit homers in consecutive at bats and finished with 13 total, while sophomores Joanna Bartz and Alexis Taube hit 12 and 11, respectively. Taube also made the record book with homers in three consecutive at bats, 71 hits total and 17 doubles, and junior Genny Soltesz was added after scoring 66 runs.


  • Lauren Aldrich capped her four-season Perry career among MHSAA leaders in home runs and walks with 24 and 112, respectively. The walks are tied for sixth most. Aldrich already was listed in the records for 10 home runs as a sophomore in 2013.

PHOTO: Grand Haven’s Katie Cole sets for a teammate during last season’s 3-2 loss to Novi in their Class A Semifinal match at Battle Creek’s Kellogg Arena.