Nate Griffin and Caden Strawn Place Top-15 at Back-to-Back Fishing Tournaments

The Charles Page High School fishing duo of Nate Griffin and Caden Strawn competed at a pair of tournaments over the weekend, posting two top-15 finishes on the Student Angler Federation (SAF) Southern Division trail.

On Saturday the duo placed 15th out of 29 teams at Lake Texoma, fishing out of Catfish Bay. The Sandites caught three bass for a total of 4.17 pounds. Only five teams caught the five-fish limit and six came back without a single catch.

Sunday’s event was held on Lake Murray where the Sandite finished in 7th place out of 32 teams. Strawn and Griffin landed the five-fish limit for a total 6.4 pounds.

The next SAF event will be April 7th on Grand Lake while the Oklahoma Bass Nation (OBN) trail will resume on March 17th at Pine Creek. Griffin and Strawn are currently 12th out of 84 teams in the OBN standings.

Eli Rogers Wins OBN Tournament at Lake Texoma

For the first time since 2021, Sand Springs brought home the gold from an Oklahoma Bass Nation fishing tournament.

Eli Rogers, fishing solo, hauled in 20.6 pounds during the two-day event on Lake Texoma, October 7-8th, 2.6 pounds more than the runner-up duo. His largest bass was 5.12 pounds, the third-largest of the event.

The win marks a first on the OBN trail for Sand Springs since March of 2021 when Cruz Norris and Gunnar Casey won on Grand Lake. It was Rogers’s second top-five finish of the year.

Drew Turner and Gunner Beasley turned in their second top-ten performance of the season, catching 13.6 pounds for 10th place out of 63 teams.

Decana Strawn and Abby Tabor placed a season-best 15th with 11.01 pounds.

Nate Griffin and Caden Strawn placed a season-best 17th with 10.32 pounds for their second top-20 finish of the year.

Zane Downey and Tyler Barnes placed 38th with 5.37 pounds; Gabriel Castellano and Ean Williams placed 49th with 2.42 pounds; and Jessen Cox and Rylan Matherly placed 50th with 1.95 pounds.

Turner and Beasley are now second overall in the Athletes of the Year standings, followed by Rogers in third out of 84 teams.

Griffin and Caden Strawn are 12th; Castellano and Williams are 30th; Cox and Matherly are 33rd; Decana Strawn and Tabor are 41st; Downey and Barnes are 43rd; Jonathan Isley and Jaxon Trotter are 58th; Hayden Lowrance and Hunter Spencer are 69th; and Christian Orcutt and Diego Voight are 83rd.

The Lake Texoma event was the last of 2023 for Bass Nation. The OBN Trail will resume on March 17th at Pine Creek Lake in McCurtain County. Some of the Sand Springs teams may also return to Texoma for the Student Angler Federation event on October 21st.

Drew Turner & Gunner Beasley Lead Sandite Fishing at Grand Lake Tournament

Drew Turner and Gunner Beasley led the Sandite fishing team at the OBN Grand Lake tournament on October 1st. The duo caught 10.4 pounds for sixth place out of 85 teams.

Nate Griffin and Caden Strawn caught 8.77 pounds for 18th place; Jonathan Isley and Jaxon Trotter caught 7.36 pounds for 26th place; Eli Rogers caught 6.73 pounds for 33rd place; Gabriel Castellano and Ean Williams caught 6.69 pounds for 34th place; Zane Downey and Tyler Barnes caught 5.43 pounds for 42nd place; Hayden Lowrance and Hunter Spencer caught 4.26 pounds for 49th place; Decana Strawn and Abby Tabor caught 3.08 pounds for 54th place; and Jessen Cox and Rylan Matherly caught 2.91 pounds for 55th place.

The one-day tournament was the second of the season on the Oklahoma Bass Nation high school trail. Boaters launched from Wolf Creek Ramp with a five-fish limit.

Next up for the Sandites will be an October 7-8th two-day OBN tournament on Lake Texoma, launching from Catfish Bay near Kingston.

Weekly sports roundup: Sandites win OBN fishing tournament at Lake Texoma

This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

Two teams of Sandites won first place in their divisions at the Oklahoma Bass Nation trail event on Lake Texoma, Sunday, April 3rd. 

Eli Rogers and Carrick Cooke won the high school division with five fish weighing 12.45 pounds for a $656 payout. 

Caden Strawn and Drew Turner won the youth division with four fish weighing 9.8 pounds. 

Softball

The No. 14 Sandite Slow Pitch team (5-7) went 0-3 this week, falling 13-10 to No. 4 Moore (11-5), 18-0 to No. 1 Southmoore (15-2), and 14-12 to Kellyville (5-12).

Soccer

District leader Jenks (6-1, 3-0) spoiled the Lady Sandites’ five-match win streak 4-0 on Tuesday but Sand Springs bounced back on Friday with a 9-0 road win against Choctaw (1-7, 0-3).

Freshman Lainey Stanfill scored five goals in the rout, and has 18 on the season. Ava Watts scored two, and Alyssa Cunningham and Karsen Lynch scored one each.

The Sandites (9-3, 2-1) are having their best season since 2016 and don’t show any signs of slowing down. They will host Putnam City (3-8, 0-3) on Tuesday before traveling to Stillwater (4-6, 1-1) on Friday.

The boys (0-8, 0-3) are still looking for their first win after falling 10-0 to Jenks and 3-1 to Choctaw. 

Track and Field

The Sandite track teams competed at the Jim Thorpe Invitational in Shawnee on Friday and crowned two champions. The boys took seventh place and the girls finished sixth.

Briona Searcy won the long jump with a mark of 14 ft. 11.5 in. and Jestin Rawlins won the discus throw with a distance of 147 ft. 

Gracie Gifford placed third in the 3200-meter run in 13:15.45 and sixth in the 1600 in 6:38.99.

Hannah George was fifth in the long jump at 13 ft. 3 in. Kelsi Hilton was fourth in the 3200 13:56.44. Brynley Smith finished fifth in the 400 in 1:12.05.

Dalton Wilcox placed second in the 800-meter run in 2:19.19. Noah Hanlon placed sixth in the 3200 in 11:45.99. 

Matthew Shelton placed third in shot put with a distance of 41 ft. 6 in. Alex Turner was fourth in discus with a distance of 105 ft. 1 in. 

The girls placed third in the 4x800 relay and fourth in the 4x100. The boys placed fifth in the 4x100 and fifth in the 4x800.

Layne Kirkendoll competed solo at the Jenks meet that morning and won the high jump at 5 ft. 6 in. She also placed second in long jump at 18 ft. 1 in.

CPHS Fishing: Cole Scott and Seth Kearns win Texoma Tournament

Charles Page High School anglers Cole Scott and Seth Kearns recently took first place out of more than seventy teams at the Oklahoma Bass Nation season opener, catching four fish for a total of 13.18 pounds at Lake Texoma.

On Sunday Scott and Kearns finished 19th with two fish weighing 6.48 pounds. They are 4th out of 72 teams on the yearly trail standings and are automatic State Qualifiers thanks to their win on Saturday.

Mack Taylor and Reese David placed 13th on Saturday with four fish totaling 8.7 pounds. They improved to 7th on Sunday with four fish weighing 9.88 pounds and are 5th overall on the trail standings.

Jerret Haley and Dalton Duvall placed 11th on Saturday with two fish weighing 8.81 pounds, the highest two-catch weight of the tournament. They tallied 6.55 pounds between two fish on Sunday for 18th place and are 9th on the trail standings.

Austin Smith and Joe Nelson caught a 2.5 pounds bass on Saturday for 44th place. They caught two fish weighing 3.42 pounds on Sunday for 34th place and are 34th on the trail standings.

Cruz Norris and Gunnar Casey placed 39th on Saturday with two fish totaling 2.89 pounds. They were 42nd on Sunday with a 2.04 pound bass and are 37th on the trail standings.

Kyle and Kale Hilligoss caught a 2.66 pound bass on Sunday for 40th place and are 56th in trail standings.

Corbin Williams and Lane Webster caught a 1.87 pound bass on Sunday for 45th place and are 58th in trail standings.

OBN High School Fishing is an unofficial sport that receives no funding from the school. The two-man teams are coached by parents or volunteer pilots on privately owned vessels and expenses are paid through sponsorships by local businesses.

The trail season consists of two fall events and three spring events, plus a State Championship. The top-two finishers at the Championship, as well as one out of every 25 teams to participate in the season will advance to the National Championship.

Individuals with children who would like to compete, or individuals who would like to co-sponsor a team or volunteer as pilots/captains can attend the monthly team meeting at the CPHS Library September 25th at 6:00 p.m.

CPHS Fishing: Two Sandite teams place top-ten at OBN State Championship

Five teams and ten anglers from Charles Page High School competed at a pair of Oklahoma Bass Nation High School events this past weekend. The fifth OBN Trail event was held Saturday on Lake Texoma, followed by the State Championship on Sunday.

Mack Taylor and Reese David had the best performance overall for Sand Springs, catching the five-fish limit both days. They placed 26th on Saturday with 10.44 pounds and 9th on Sunday with 13.07 pounds. Both were season-best performances.

Kyle and Kale Hilligoss also caught the limit both days. On Saturday they hauled in 9.03 pounds for 32nd and on Sunday they had a season-best 13.00 pounds for 10th place.

Austin Smith and Joe Nelson had their best performance of the season Saturday, placing 18th with five fish weighing 11.99 pounds. On Sunday they caught five fish weighing 9.13 pounds for 22nd place.

Seth Kearns and Cole Scott caught a season-best five fish weighing 10.69 pounds for 25th place on Saturday. On Sunday they took 36th with two fish weighing 5.59 pounds.

Hayden King and Collin Brady caught a 1.74 pound fish on Saturday for 61st. On Sunday they caught two fish totaling 3.25 pounds for 46th.

Grove High School’s Kade Sharp and Josh Glenn won the Saturday event with 19.50 pounds. Central Oklahoma’s Hunter and Cameron Meadows won the State Championship handily with an 18.52-pound haul. Westmoore duo Jaxon Hanson and Seth Lee came in runner-up with 15.93 pounds.

The top-two teams from the Championship will advance to the National Tournament. Several of the top-placing teams from the Trail standings will also qualify. Final Trail standings and National qualifiers have yet to be announced.