Decade of dominating performances and super athletes

by Peter Jakey, Managing Editor

It was a decade of breakthroughs and major accomplishments for individual athletes from Posen and Rogers City High Schools. The first state wrestling champs were crowned in Rogers City and basketball records were falling as quickly as a new one was established. There were many tremendous athletes that strapped and laced?em on for the pride of their local schools during the first decade of the new millennium.

The best place to start would be on the mats. There were many new records set in the ?00s, but many of the great accomplishments were hung around the necks of Huron wrestlers with five state championships, two of which were won by Dylan Centala. In 2002, Andy Keller became the first Huron to win a state champion after he went 54-0 at 145-pounds.

Three years later, Rogers City had two individual state champions as Chris Rhode (189) and Dylan Centala each won. In 2006 Centala became the first Huron to win back-to-back state titles. Centala sets career records for season team points (402), career team points (1,482), season wins (60), career wins (220), career takedowns (758) as well as setting the record for freshman wins at 52 in 2002-03.

In 2008, Rogers City would see five wrestlers place at state finals, the most in team history as Tharin Wilk (135), Chase McLennan (189), T.J. Sobeck (119), Jerome Gapczynski (171) and Devin Pommerenke (285) competed at the Palace of Auburn Hills. In 2009 Devin Pommerenke won the state title at 285 pounds after going 59-0 on the season, as just a sophomore, after finishing sixth at the finals as a freshman with a record of 53-11. He broke Centala?s freshman wins record. Pommerenke would also set a new record for team points in a season with 420.

ON THE HARDWOOD, hallowed scoring records fell to the wayside. Ashley Fleming was a special athlete for the Huron girls? basketball ? one that may never be seen again. She finished her career as the all-time leading scorer in basketball history with 1,756 points (19.5 per game), and most of her scoring happened while defenders were draped on her back. Her all-time scoring record isn?t just for the girls? program, it?s more points than any male athlete has ever come close to at the school. Fleming was an all-stater in basketball, volleyball and softball. She went on to play collegiate basketball at Ferris State University (FSU).

Another outstanding center, Kyle Greene, dunked his way to a record setting performance in 2004, when he scored 42 points in a Huron win. In the fall of 2005, Posen?s Mary Calhoun established a new single-season scoring record with 47 points in a game. Head coach Tom Schellie called it ?the game of a lifetime.?

Senior Matt Ponik of the Viking boys? basketball team, with his game-high 17 points, surpassed the career record of 1,168 points set by Mike Schellie in 1991. The record lasted only four seasons as Jordan Hincka, a teammate of Ponik?s on the Breslin-bound 25-1 team, eclipsed the record when he reached the 1,530 point plateau in 2008. He also set a new single-season scoring standard with 579 points for the Vikings. The 2007-08 season was special for the Huron boys? basketball team as well, as Bret Karsten surpassed Kyle Greene and became the new career record holder with 1,170 points. His teammate Scott Kowalewsky was a rebounding machine for the orange and black, so much so, that he ended up on the Michigan High School Athletic Association record board in 22nd place with 752 career boards.

In cross country, Huron Lauren Fairbanks won the state title in 2000 and was all-state each of her four years. She also won all-state first team honors in volleyball and track, as well as winning an individual state championship in the 1600-meter run in 2002. Her time was 5:09:94.

The name Kreft seemed to dominate the cross country headlines during the ?00s. In 2005, Rogers City freshman Kaylee Kreft finished second during the Division IV race at the state finals, while her sister Lacey took ninth. The girls were one-two at the regional meet with Kaylee taking the top spot. Her time was 20:15:1. On the gridiron, Posen?s Justin Darga rushed for 301 yards against Pickford in 2001 to eclipse the all-time rushing mark held for 25 years by Brian Lewandowski. He surpassed the 3,000-career mark in the same game, and it was early in the 2001 season, so he ended up with 4,009.

In October 2007, Paul Kroll broke a 41-year record with a 217 yard rushin

g in Posen?s season finale against Atlanta. He passed Lou Ciarkowski?s single-season record and ended up with 1,336 yards. Emily McLean and Karla Fairbanks, outstanding athletes at RCHS, made their marks at FSU. McLean was the 2005 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference player of the year in softball. She?s second all-time with a .355 batting average for the Bulldogs. She led the school with a .378 batting average and had 62 hits. The next season, she was the batting leader, scored the most runs, had the most hits, 19 doubles and four triples. Her 19 doubles and .466 on-base average are season records.

Fairbanks ranks third all time at FSU in volleyball with 1,649 kills. She led the Bulldogs in kills and aces in 2004 (538 K, 66 A) and 2003 (516 K, 58 A). Both seasons, she earned all-American accolades. She also was the team MVP in ?03. So many records, so many accomplishments and so many incredible athletes to revere, in will be a very tough decade to equal.

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