CPHS Track: Cheyenne Walden wins eighth State Championship

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Charles Page High School senior Cheyenne Walden won her third-straight State title in the 3200 meter run Friday afternoon in Yukon. She defeated the Runner-Up by more than twenty-two seconds for her 24th-straight first-place finish and 28th win overall. She hasn't lost in the event since placing third at State during her freshman year. 

The Oklahoma State University-commit already held seven State titles coming into this weekend's OSSAA 6A State Championship, and she still has the opportunity to win one more before her high school career comes to a close. She will also compete Saturday in the 1600, where she is also the defending State Champion. When looking only at official OSSAA sanctioned events, Walden is the most decorated athlete in Sand Springs history.

The Lady Sandite 3200 relay team, comprised of Walden, Alexis Davis, Elizabeth Watts, and Tiqvah Soap, took eleventh place with a time of 10:29.79. Bartlesville took first place in 9:35.63.

The boys' 3200 relay team, comprised of Jaelyn Jackson, Ian Baustert, Jacob Garbey, and Aden Baughman, took twelfth place with a time of 8:20.89, beating their season-best by nearly two seconds. It was the best Sandite performance since the 2013 team ran a pair of 8:17's to win the Skiatook meet and Regional meet. Putnam City won the State title with a 7:59.67 performance.

Baughman will compete again Saturday in the 800 and 1600 runs, and Soap will run in the 800. Baughman won the Regional Championship last week with the fastest performance of the year for any Oklahoma high school athlete in any classification.

Colton Washington took seventh place in the long jump, leaping 21'11.25". Westmoore sophomore Anthony Riley had the top mark at 24'05.25".

Kris Edwards will compete Saturday in shot put. 

The Lady Sandites are currently sitting in 9th place as a team, while the boys have yet to score any points.

Sandite of the Week: Cheyenne Walden places 34th at Nationals; CPHS Cross Country runners excel in post-season

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Left to right: Superintendent Sherry Durkee, Cross Country Head Coach Chris Corbin, Sandite of the Week Cheyenne Walden, Mayor and CC Assistant Coach Mike Burdge.

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Two members of the Charles Page High School varsity cross country team competed on the Oklahoma All-Star Team against Arkansas this past month. Senior Southwestern Oklahoma State-signee and four-time State Qualifier Alexis Davis placed 28th in the event with a 5K time of 20:54.85. Sophomore two-time State Qualifier Aden Baughman placed 36th with a time of 17:25.38.

The Arkansas Women's team won by nine points, though their average time was only two seconds ahead of the Okies. The Arkansas Men's team won by two points, but the average Oklahoman was a second faster. The meet was held at Rogers High School in Rogers, Arkansas.

Cheyenne Walden also qualified for the event, but instead traveled to The Woodlands, Texas for the Nike South Regionals. The four-time State Champion placed fifth at Bear Branch Park against runners from five different states. She finished the 5K with a time of 17:58.22. She was 26 seconds behind her personal-record, ten seconds behind the number-four runner, and 25 seconds behind the first place runner. 

From there Walden advanced to Nationals in Portland Oregon where she competed this past weekend. In 2014 she placed 22nd at the South Regional, then took sixth last year and went on to place 59th in the Nation. 

This time around she improved even further, placing 34th out of 200 of the country's best competitors. Walden finished the 5K run in 18:28.2 with an average mile of 5:56.3. She was neck-and-neck with several competitors, finishing 0.3 seconds behind the 33rd place runner and a flat second ahead of the runner after her. Overall she was 1:18.3 behind Berkeley-signed senior Brie Oakley who swept the National Championship by a 28 second margin over Portland sophomore Ember Stratton. 

 According to Head Coach Chris Corbin, Walden's performance is the best placing ever for an Oklahoma girl at the event. Walden was presented with a Sandite Spirit Award by the Sand Springs Board of Education at their regular monthly meeting Monday night. "She's a better human being than she is a runner," said Corbin during the presentation. Walden volunteers every Tuesday and Thursday with the Elementary running program.

Walden signed with the No. 15 ranked Oklahoma State University earlier this school year and will be studying physical education. This is her fourth time being named Sandite of the Week. 

Sandite of the Week is a weekly recognition given to any one person with significant ties to the Sand Springs community who accomplishes remarkable achievements during the Sunday through Saturday week preceding the award. Prior achievements may be noted in the article, but do not bear direct influence on the selection committee which only considers prior week accomplishments. Candidates may be nominated by anyone by emailing SanditePrideNews@gmail.com. The award is not given to anyone in consecutive weeks, but any recipient may be nominated and awarded again in the future, so long as the weeks are not consecutive. Final selection is made by a majority vote of the Sandite Pride Editorial Board.

Businesses or organizations seeking to sponsor the Sandite of the Week award may contact the above email for inquiries.

CPHS Senior Alexis Davis signs with SWOSU Cross Country

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Charles Page High School senior Alexis Davis signed a letter of intent to run Cross Country and Track for Southwestern Oklahoma State University Tuesday morning at Ed Dubie Field House. 

SWOSU is a public university located in Weatherford, Oklahoma and competes in NCAA Division II and Great American Conference. The SWOSU Cross Country season recently came to a close at the Central Region Championship where the team placed 24th. They took third at the Conference Championship and sixth at the Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree. Head Coach Shane Brookshire is in his third year at the program.

Davis, along with Oklahoma State commit Cheyenne Walden, is the first Lady Sandite in town history to qualify for the State Championship all four years. She took 59th place her freshman year, 21st place her sophomore year, 45th place her junior year, and 21st place her senior year. She also took 21st place this year at the Meet of Champions, which matches top runners from all divisions. Her 5K personal record is 19:53 and her one-mile PR is 6:11. She has been named to the All-Conference Cross Country team twice and was selected to the Meet of Champions Senior All-Star Team.

Last year in Track she set PRs of 2:49.20 in the 800 meter run, 5:57.43 in the 1600m, and 13:19.50 in the 3200m.

SEE RELATED: CPHS Senior Jake Terry officially signs with University of Oklahoma baseball
SEE RELATED: CPHS Senior Sydney Pennington signs with Oklahoma State University Softball
SEE RELATED: CPHS Senior Jessica Collins signs with Connors State College Softball
SEE RELATED: CPHS Senior Cheyenne Walden signs with Oklahoma State University Cross Country
SEE RELATED: CPHS Senior Kyle Keener signs with University of Central Oklahoma Basketball