Sandite Soccer Alums Conclude Successful College Seasons

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Jack Bratcher.

Men’s Soccer

Jack Bratcher (2021) wrapped up his junior campaign at Oral Roberts University earlier this month, helping the Golden Eagle to a 10-4-3 record. Bratcher saw action in five games and recorded one assist in an 8-0 rout of Western Illinois.

Women’s Soccer

Josie Gelsthorpe.

Junior midfielder Josie Gelsthorpe (2021) started 13 games for Central Baptist University this season, helping the Mustangs to a 5-10-1 record. Gelsthorpe was named to the American Midwest Conference All-Academic Team for the second consecutive year.

Freshman defender Carson Sargent (2023) and sophomore midfielder Karsen Lynch (2022) were reunited at Rogers State University this season and helped the Hillcats to a 7-9-2 record. Sargent saw action in one game while Lynch played 13 games and started 3.

Southwestern College center back Teagan Smith (2021) had a successful junior campaign, playing 18 games, 14 as starter, with nine full-time performances. She scored her first career goal in a 3-0 shutout of Bethany.

Sophomore right back Cassidy Tiepelman (2022) played in six games, helping the Moundbuilders to a 7-8-4 record.

Sandite Sports Weekly Roundup: Girls Soccer Wins Collinsville Tournament

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Track and Field

The Sand Springs junior high team kicked off its season at Ft. Gibson with several first-place finishers.

Avery Voight won at 110- and 300-meter hurdles; Kaizen Freese won in high jump; Cole Higgins won the 800-meter run; Chloe Grona won the 1600-meter run; and the seventh-grade boys won the 3200-meter relay.

Golf

It was a three-way race to lead the team at the Jenks tournament as Mason Ward, Zane Downey, and Coleman Hight all scored 85s and Cameron Villines was right behind them at 86. Next up is the Rock Creek Tournament at Sapulpa on April 12th.

Soccer

The Lady Sandites soccer team (5-2) wrapped up a successful non-district slate with a tournament title Friday, March 24th at Collinsville.

Sand Springs won 2-0 against Bartlesville JV and 3-0 against Durant (3-6) before taking down Oologah-Talala (7-2) in penalty kicks in a rematch of the previous year’s finals.

Ava Watts scored the team’s lone goal in regulation and a save from Sophia Hart secured the 5-3 shootout victory to repeat as tournament champions.

The Sandites suffered a 4-3 loss in their district opener Friday at Enid (5-2) despite a hat trick from Alyssa Cunningham.

The shorthanded visitors were down to only 12 players, missing leading scorer Watts as well as Jayden Ellenburg and Avery Miller. Those three are expected to be back in the lineup by next week but Carson Sargent also suffered a sprained ankle during the match.

Sand Springs rallied from a 2-0 deficit and tied it at 3-3 but the Pacers pulled ahead on a 25-yard penalty kick from Ava Burnett late in the match.

The boys (4-1) suffered their first loss of the year, 2-1 at Enid (6-3). The Plainsmen took a 2-0 lead before Nic Roberts averted the shutout with a penalty kick in the second half.

Both teams will return to action Tuesday at Jenks before hosting Choctaw Friday for Senior Night.

Tennis

The Lady Sandites had a successful outing at the Skiatook quad Wednesday against Skiatook and Victory Christian.

Kira Shipley defeated her Skiatook opponent 6-1, 6-1 in No. 1 Singles and Daffaney Snyder won 6-0, 6-0 against Victory Christian in No. 2 Singles.

Caitlin Shipman and Abigail Dunn won 2-0 against both Victory and Skiatook in No. 1 Doubles, beating the Conquerors 6-0 in both sets and the Bulldogs 6-4, 6-2.

Mary Alvarez and Stephanie Horton won 6-2, 6-0 against Victory in No. 2 Doubles.

Sand Springs will host a home event against Rejoice Christian and Sapulpa on Monday, April 10th.

Sandite Weekly Sports Roundup: Basketball Sweeps Roughers, Athletes Sign LOIs

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Sandite basketball swept the Muskogee Roughers Friday night with the varsity boys winning 72-65 while the girls won 63-41.

The 6A-East No. 6 Lady Sandites (12-5, 5-3) never trailed against No. 14 Muskogee. It was still a close game at 39-31 entering the fourth but the Sandites steamrolled the Roughers 24-10 in the final stanza.

Hailey Jackson scored 24 points to lead all scorers, Taiona “Yanni” Morris added 13, Sakauri Wilson had 9, and three different Sandites scored 5 apiece.

“We’re starting to play better as a unit,” said head coach Josh Berry. “We have more people stepping up.”

Sand Springs will have to cover six games over the final two weeks after meetings with Bartlesville and Booker T. Washington were postponed due to weather. This is the second time the Washington game has been rescheduled.

“This is our second game in 17 days,” said Berry. “It’s a bit different from when we start the season out with eight games in like 14 days.”

“We’re rested and we’re ready to go. It’s nothing that we can control so we just try to get better.”

The No. 11 Sandite boys (9-8, 2-6) snapped a five-game conference skid and got back above .500 overall with a win over the No. 15 Roughers (3-13, 0-9).

The Sandites led 34-27 at halftime but a seven-point run put the Roughers up 45-44 entering the final stanza.

Jamarian Ficklin tied it for the final time at 52-52 but Kooper Kelly hit a pair of free throws and layed up on a steal to put his team ahead for the final three minutes of the game.

Kelly tied his career-high with 20 points to lead all scorers while Luke Hooper also had a career night with 15 points.

“Any conference win, especially on the road, is a good feeling,” said head coach Eric Savage.

“In the past we’ve kind of lost our composure. A couple of times this wear we gave up the lead and never got it back. We showed some growth tonight and were able to weather the storm and get back in control late in the fourth quarter.”

Sand Springs will travel to Bixby on Tuesday and Bartlesville on Thursday before hosting Sapulpa Friday night.

Signing Day

School may have been canceled, but the festivities couldn’t be stopped Wednesday morning at the Ed Dubie Field House. Sand Springs celebrated 10 student-athletes who signed letters of intent to continue their careers at the collegiate level.

Many of the players will get to enjoy Sand Springs connections on their new rosters.

Kyle Morrall, Jacob Blevins, and Drake Fain signed with Northwestern Oklahoma State University to play Division II football. There they will be reunited with former Sandite assistant coach Jason Medrano, who recently took over as Offensive Coordinator for the Rangers.

Brody Rutledge signed to play Division II football at Northeastern State University. There he will join former Sand Springs teammates Gabe Brown, Landon Hendricks, and Blake Jones.

Dominic Ornelas and Jabe Schlehuber signed to play junior college baseball together at Northern Oklahoma College in Enid.

Carson Sargent signed to play Division II soccer at Rogers State University, where she will join former teammates Ali Day and Karsen Lynch.

Payton Robbins signed to play NAIA volleyball at Friends University in Kansas, where she’ll be reunited with Sandites Tehya Johnson, Charley Fahland, and Kasidy Holland.

Madori Bland signed with the stunt team at Drury University, a Division II program in Missouri.

Coleman Hight signed to play NAIA golf at Southwestern College in Kansas.

Baseball

Freshman quarterback Easton Webb has been getting lots of attention as a football prospect, but on Friday he announced his commitment to Oklahoma State University as a baseball player before ever playing a varsity minute.

Sand Springs will kick off the preseason with a home scrimmage against Sapulpa on the 16th at 4:30 p.m.

Girls Powerlifting

The Sand Springs girls powerlifting team took second place at the All-American Lift-a-thon in Shawnee Saturday with two champions. The Sandites had 137 team points, just behind Choctaw with 141.

Madison Thompson won the 220 weight class, sweeping all three events. She benched 140, squatted 285, and deadlifted 295.

Jaden Jordan won at heavyweight, taking first in squat at 335 pounds, first in deadlift at 375, and third in bench at 155.

Melani Skelly placed third, Gracie Worthington placed fourth, and Bailey Doughty and Kiyah Dover placed fifth.

Historic Sand Springs Soccer season comes to end at Broken Arrow

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This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

The winningest season in program history came to a close for the Lady Sandites soccer team Tuesday evening in Broken Arrow, as the host Tigers shut out Charles Page High School 5-0 in the first round of the playoffs.

“This has been a historic team, historic season,” said head coach Cisco Chavez. “The girls fought till the very end. It didn’t go our way tonight. We versed a very well-coached Broken Arrow team. This team is history and I couldn’t be more proud of them, even with the result tonight.”

The undersized Sandites (12-5) qualified for the postseason for the first time since 2012 but couldn’t get past the 6A-4 district champions from Broken Arrow (13-1). 

Cora Hair got the Tigers on the board in the 27th minute, then Brianna Castleberry scored on a wild bounce five minutes later. She attempted to pass the ball up to a forward, but it skipped up over the heads of both her teammate and the Sandite goalie for a 2-0 halftime lead.

In the second half Broken Arrow’s rotational depth exposed the Sandites’ short bench and holes began to open in the Sandite backfield. The Tigers only had four shots on goal in the first half but upped that number to 13 in the second half.

“We knew going into this season, having a small team would be challenging for when we versed the bigger schools, but these girls fought,” said Chavez.

Elena Conoway and Cameron Majka also scored goals in the second half and Hair added another to end the Sandites’ historic season.

“Every game they fought,” said Chavez. “They were able to upset Union, able to make the playoffs for the first time in 10 years. This team, it’s all praise from me. They left it all out there for me and that’s all you can ask for from them from a coach perspective. And this coaching staff, they’ve had a great year.”

Sophomore star Christina Thompson came away with 12 total saves for the Sandites, including 10 in the second half.

“Christina played out of her mind tonight,” said Chavez. “She played amazing. Like I said, we faced a very good BA team that won their district, so I’m very happy with our performance. Not happy with the result, of course, but these girls fought to the very end. To my seniors, I wish them nothing but the best going forward.”

The season will continue for Rogers State-bound senior midfielder Karsen Lynch, who was named to the OSCA 6A All-State team. She is the 29th All-State selection for the Lady Sandites. 

The 6A All-State game will be held June 9th at 6:00 p.m. at Bishop Kelley High School, and Chavez will be the head coach for the East girls.

The Sandites are poised for continued success in the coming seasons, as they’ll return the vast majority of their starters.

“We’re young. We’re one of the youngest teams I think,” said Chavez.

“We only started one senior, the rest were juniors, sophomores, and I think we had the most freshmen out there. So these next few years for the Sandites are very strong. I think they got their first playoff experience and they’ll come back stronger next year.”

Freshman Lainey Stanfill led the Sandites with 23 goals this season, followed by Ava Watts with 16, Alyssa Cunningham with 5, Lynch with 4, and Carson Sargent with 2. Lauren Foster, Evelin Marino, and Ashlee Feigenbaum all scored one apiece.

Broken Arrow went on to defeat Bixby 3-0 in the quarterfinals and will play Edmond Deer Creek (12-2) Tuesday at home. Deer Creek is looking for its seventh title overall and first since 2015, while Broken Arrow is looking for its eighth title overall and first since 2018.

Sand Springs Sports Roundup: Lainey Stanfill scores 4 goals in 9-0 rout of Enid

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This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

The Sand Springs girls soccer team (8-2) has won five straight games and opened district action with a bang on Friday, winning 9-0 against Enid (5-4).

Freshman star Lainey Stanfill scored four goals and Ava Watts scored a hat trick in the rout. Alyssa Cunningham and Carson Sargent also scored goals for the Sandites.

“Laynie’s having a standout year,” said head coach Cisco Chavez. “No words to describe what I’m seeing from her.”

“We’ve got one of the best defenses in the state and we look to keep them healthy and just keep going forward. 

On Tuesday they won 1-0 against Ponca City, with Stanfill scoring the lone goal on an assist from Karsen Lynch. 

The boys soccer team (0-6) is still looking for its first win after falling 5-0 to both Ponca City (2-7) and Enid (7-2). 

“This is a very young team this year,” said head coach Brent Lollis. “We played eight freshmen during the course of that game.”

“We knew going into this year that it would be a rebuilding year. First-year coaching staff, graduated a lot of guys who are good college-level players, so this was about taking a step forward.”

“They were organized, they knew their matchup, and I told them in the locker room at halftime; that was the best they’ve played all season. These freshmen are getting some valuable experience that most 6A freshmen don’t get.”

One freshman in particular stole the show for the Sandites. Midfielder Eddie Hernandez made his first appearance at goalie and notched 15 saves as the aggressive Enid forwards kept him on his toes at all times. 

“He came in for our senior goalkeeper who’s having some health issues. And as I told him at halftime, he just played out of his mind. He led the team, made tons of saves, and kept us in the game the first half.”

Sandite soccer will return to action Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. with district home matches against Jenks before traveling to Choctaw on Friday.

Fishing

Sandite duo Mack Taylor and Parker Haling took second place out of 81 teams at the Oklahoma Bass Nation trail event on Lake Texoma Saturday with five fish totaling 12.1 pounds. They also had the largest single fish of the tournament at 5.45 pounds.

Cruz Norris and Gunnar Casey took 23rd place with a 3.6-pound fish, and Nathaniel Griffin and Jaxon Trotter placed 26th with a 3.15-pound fish.

Golf

The Sandite golf teams competed at the Edison Invitational in Claremore last week, with the girls playing Heritage Hill on Tuesday and the boys on Thursday.

Gina Foster shot 111 and Madison Chambers shot 114 for the girls.

Mason Ward led the boys with an 82. Zane Downey shot 87, Cameron Villines 92, Seth Benton 93, and Drew Paden 97.

Slow Pitch Softball

The No. 16 Lady Sandites (5-4) won a 6-3 battle with Berryhill on Tuesday before going 2-2 at the Haskell Tournament on Thursday. They won 7-5 against No. 4 Jenks and 12-0 against McAlester before falling 13-5 to Ft. Gibson and 12-2 to Haskell.

Tennis

The Lady Sandite tennis team competed at the Skiatook Quad on Tuesday and won a Highway 97 rivalry dual with Sapulpa.

Abbie Dunn won in No. 2 Singles, Caitlin Shipman and Daffaney Snyder won No. 1 Doubles, and Jayden Smith and Gracie Young won No. 2 Doubles against Sapulpa.

Kira Shipley won her No. 1 Singles match against Skiatook, and Shipman and Snyder won their match against Bristow.

Track and Field

The girls track team placed 13th and the boys took 16th at Tahlequah on Friday with one champion. 

Jestin Rawlins won the boys discus throw with a mark of 143 ft. 9 in.

Layne Kirkendoll placed second in high jump with a mark of 5 ft. 2 in., and was fourth in long jump with a distance of 16 ft. 10 in.

Sand Springs Weekly Sports Roundup: Lady Sandite Soccer Routs Muskogee 7-0

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This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

Sand Springs Baseball (3-2, 0-2) hit a hiccup against the top-ranked Owasso Rams (7-0, 4-0) to start district action, falling 5-0 on Monday and 2-0 on Tuesday.

Oklahoma State commit Brennan Phillips tossed eight strikeouts and no walks against the Sandites on Monday, with Jacob Shields recording the Sandites’ only two hits. 

Jabe Schlehuber threw eight strikeouts for the Sandites on Tuesday and the Sandites combined for five hits but couldn’t bring anyone home. 

They got back in the win column on Thursday with a 7-1 win over Carl Albert (3-4) at the Owasso Festival. 

Jace Arnold surrendered only three hits over five innings while Ty Pennington went three-for-three at the plate with two runs and two RBI.

The Sandites had their Friday game against Berryhill canceled and will return to action Monday at the Best of the West tournament in Arizona.

Golf

The boys golf team competed at Muskogee on Monday and Skiatook on Wednesday. Mason Ward led the team with a score of 85 at each event. 

Muskogee (374): Mason Ward 85, Zane Downey 90, Seth Benton 96, Drew Paden 103, Cameron Villines 105.

Skiatook (346): Mason Ward 85, Zane Downey 86, Cameron Villines 87, Seth Benton 88, Drew Paden 97.

Soccer

The boys soccer team is still looking for its first win of the season after falling 3-2 Tuesday against Muskogee and Thursday at Bartlesville.

The Lady Sandites won a 7-0 rout of Muskogee led by a four-goal performance from Ava Watts and three assists from Karsen Lynch. Evelin Marino, Carson Sargent, and Alyssa Cunningham also scored goals, and Allie Wright and Kasandra Burgess also had assists.

On Thursday they suffered their first loss 3-2 in an injury-ridden trip to Bartlesville despite a two-goal effort from Stanfill with an assist from Watts.

The Sandites will take spring break off and return to action on the 22nd at Bixby.