Sand Springs Weekly Sports Roundup: Baseball Starts Season With Wins

This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

Baseball

The Sandite baseball team is off to a strong start on the season, winning its first two games 11-0 against Shawnee and 9-2 against Yukon. 

Jabe Schlehuber and Kayden Campbell combined for eight strikeouts in a no-hitter against the Wolves in Friday’s season-opener. Dom Ornelas went three-for-three at the plate with a double and a home run for 5 RBI.

Schlehuber went four-for-four at the plate on Saturday with two doubles and a homer, and Ornelas and Keaton Campbell also hit home runs.

Boys Basketball

The Sandites wrapped up a 5-18 season with a 69-54 loss at Putnam City West in the Regional playoffs. Cale Askew scored 14 points, Ethan Oakley scored 12, and JD Dickson added 10.

Soccer

The Lady Sandite soccer team won its opening week of matches, coming back from a 2-0 halftime deficit to beat NOAH 4-3 on Tuesday before routing Coweta 5-1 on Thursday.

Karsen Lynch scored two goals, and Lauren Foster and Lainey Stanfill also scored against NOAH. Ava Watts posted a hat trick against Coweta and Stanfill scored twice. Christina Thompson got the wins at goalie.

The boys are still looking for their first win of the Brent Lollis era, falling 4-2 to NOAH and 2-0 to Coweta.

Golf

The boys golf team placed sixth at the Olive Wildcats Golf Classic in Sapulpa. Mason Ward shot 81 to tie for tenth, Seth Benton shot 87, Drew Paden 93, Zack Downey 93, Hunter Brenner 99, Sidney Horton 101, Jacob Halpain 116. Madison Chambers shot 114 as the lone Lady Sandite.

Tennis

The boys tennis team placed 16th at the Jenks tournament led by Connor Shipman with a 13th finish in #2 Singles.

Track and Field

The Sand Springs girls placed 10th and the boys took 15th at the season-opening Owasso Track Invitational.

Freshman star Lainey Stanfill placed fifth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.79 and was third in the 200 in 26.69. Jazmin Lopez paced fifth in the 800 in 2:33.38.

Bowling

The Sand Springs boys bowling team placed second at Regionals and third at State.

Girls Powerlifting

The girls powerlifting team placed second at the North Regional with Jaden Jordan winning squat, deadlift, and overall at heavyweight. Jordan squatted 335, deadlifted 380, and benched 155 to qualify for State. Madison Thompson placed fourth at 198 and Mikah Hampton placed fifth at 108 to qualify. 

Sand Springs Sports Roundup: Girls Basketball wins first playoff

This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

Inclement weather couldn’t stymie the Sandites for long, and the Charles Page High School girls basketball team rolled to a 70-50 win against Muskogee in the first round of the regional playoffs Saturday night at the Ed Dubie Field House.

In a game that was originally scheduled for Thursday, the 6A-East No. 2 Sandites (20-3) won their eighth consecutive game to extend their season by an extra week against No. 15 Muskogee (2-14).

“They’re a good team,” said head coach Josh Berry. “They make shots and they don’t quit. You look at their record and you don’t see what they really are. They’re well-coached and they’re going to play hard.”

The Roughers held pace with the Sandites throughout the first half, entering the second quarter 12-12 and leading by as much as 23-19.

Journey Armstead and Kiaryn Taylor hit back-to-back three pointers to end the first half with a 35-29 advantage, however, and the Sandites never trailed again.

“We had everybody in foul trouble in the first half, but once we got in and got settled down, I think everything took care of itself,” said Berry. 

The two teams combined for 37 fouls overall and 22 in the first half, with 45 free throw opportunities. Muskogee made the most of their trips to the charity stripe, shooting 14-of-18, while the Sandites went 18-of-27.

Zhayn Mayes scored 17 to lead the Roughers, followed by Akira Eubanks with 16, but the Sandites had three double-digit scorers.

Armstead led all scorers with 20 points, followed by Hailey Jackson with 15 and Taiona Morris with 10. Morris also collected a team-high five steals, and Layne Kirkendoll added 9 points with 9 rebounds. 

“Layne did good tonight,” said Berry. “Kiaryn played well, Yanni (Taiona Morris) played well. It’s about that - different people stepping up and finding a way to win and I think we did that tonight. I think that’s a team effort.”

Next up for the Sandites will be a rematch with No. 7 Putnam City North (12-10), who won its game 53-47 in double overtime against No. 10 Ponca City (9-12). 

The Lady Sandites previously beat the Panthers 50-33 at the Jenks/Union tournament in January.

“Hopefully we guard and don’t let them shoot some open shots, and make some shots,” said Berry. 

“Tonight we made some shots and we haven’t done that in a long time either. We made quite a few threes. We need to continue to do that, continue to share the basketball, and play for each other.”

The regional championship will be played Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. at Sand Springs, and both teams will advance to the area playoffs.

Boys Basketball

The No. 14 Sand Springs boys (5-17) had their Regional playoff game postponed to Monday at 8:00 p.m. The Sandites will play No. 3 Putnam City West (17-5) in an elimination game.

Wrestling

Mitchell Smith (30-7) placed third in the 145-pound bracket at the OSSAA 6A State Championship on Saturday. It was the junior’s third trip to state but his first medal, and he was the only Sandite to earn a medal.

Smith won his first match 2-1 but gave up a 7-4 decision to West Champion Layton Schneider in the semifinals. In consolation he won 6-3 against Bixby’s Caden Kelley and 3-2 against Yukon’s Boston Powell.

David Ritchey and Zander Grigsby both won their wrestle-in matches, Carter Goodman won his quarterfinal, and Blake Jones won a consolation match to help the team to a 13th place finish overall.

Six of the Sandites’ state qualifiers will return next year, with Jones being the lone senior. Jones wrapped up his career with an 82-42 record as a four-time State qualifier. 

Track and Field

Several Sandite alums competed in the Summit League Indoor Championship for Oral Roberts University on Saturday. 

Aden Baughman placed 8th in the 800 meter run. Joel Mackey placed 14th in the 60 meter and 15th in the 200. Mitchell Mefford placed 14th in the weight throw. 

Soccer 

The Lady Sandite soccer team is off to a strong start in preseason action, winning 4-0 against Sapulpa before sweeping the Skiatook scrimmage tournament and outscoring their foes 11-0. They suffered their first loss 1-0 at Owasso. 

The season will officially begin March 1st at home with non-district matches against Tulsa NOAH. The girls will play at 6:00 p.m. followed by the boys at 8:00 p.m.

Baseball

Sandite baseball took its first preseason loss, 13-5, at Owasso. The Sandites previously routed Glenpool 16-5, Tahlequah 8-0, and Lawton MacArthur 11-0, and tied Westmoore 2-2. Their season will begin March 1st at Guthrie.

CPHS Basketball: Marlo Fox joins 1,000 point club, Sandites split with NOAH and Bartlesville

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Charles Page High School senior Marlo Fox has spent a lot of time in the spotlight while playing for the Sand Springs boys’ basketball team, but it was extra bright this week for the young star. Not only did he put up his 50th career double-digit game, but he also scored his 1,000th career point and was named Kissing Captain at the Sandite Winter Homecoming.

The Sandites (6-9 overall, 1-7 conference) rolled to an 80-62 win over the Northeast Oklahoma Association of Homeschools (6-8) Thursday night on Homecoming, but fell 71-66 to Bartlesville (5-13, 2-6) Friday night in overtime. The girls’ game against Bartlesville was canceled due to COVID problems in the Bruin program.

Fox rolled into the game against NOAH with 999 career points after four years of varsity action and three years as a starter. After Jason Clark made the opening bucket, Fox drained a three for the 5-0 lead and the crowd went wild.

Sand Springs never trailed against the Jaguars but never quite pulled away. The visitors did their best to create a better matchup than their first meeting - a lopsided season-opening 103-67 Jaguar loss. The Sandites led 31-21 at the half and went on an eleven-point run late in the fourth quarter for their biggest lead at 80-59 before NOAH’s Jarreth Ingram hit a three for the final basket.

Corbin Fisher led the team for the second game in a row with 21 points but had a career night cut short by an early fourth quarter foul-out. He was only two points away from a career high and one board away from a double-double when he left the game with 5:04 to play. Fox finished the game with 17 points, also fouling out early in the fourth, and Jason Clark had 17 as well. Ingram led all scorers with 24.

The Sandites played from the hole through almost the entire game against Bartlesville, trailing 18-8 after the first quarter before rallying to a brief 23-21 lead midway through the second. The Bruins ended the half on a ten-point run and didn’t give up the lead again till there was only 2:24 left in regulation.

Down 55-49 after a pair of free throws from Adam Nakvinda, Fisher drained a three, then Fox converted an and-one to tie it up. A free throw from Cooper Wood and a three from Aadhi Ayyappan put the Bruins back up, Oakley responded with two free throws, then Ayyappan made a free throw for a three-point lead with 32 seconds left.

Fisher tied it back up with a three from the left corner with an assist from Savage. On the final play of the game, with both teams in the double-bonus, Nakvinda missed a two-pointer and was fouled by Oakley on the rebound with 0.1 seconds remaining. He missed both shots, sending the game to overtime.

David Castillo opened on a four-point run for the Bruins, but John Keim and Costen Brockman made buckets to tie it. Then Castillo added two more and Jordan Carter added a third from the stripe for the final lead of the game.

Bartlesville won a crucial jump ball with 57 seconds to go and Fisher fouled out moments later, removing a key weapon for the Sandites. Castillo ended the game with three more free throws and led all scorers with 39 points, 16 of which came at the free throw line.

Fox led the Sandites with 20 points, followed by Savage with 17, Fisher with 12, and Oakley with 10. Nakvinda was the only other Bruin in double digits with 16 points.

Sandite Basketball will return to action Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. with a conference home game against No. 16 Muskogee (10-3, 7-1). They previously had a December match-up canceled due to COVID problems in the Sand Springs program. Bartlesville will travel to No. 13 Bixby (10-5, 4-4) Tuesday at 8:00. The Spartans are riding a four-game losing streak.

CPHS 80 NOAH 62
1Q: CPHS 15-8.
2Q: CPHS 16-13.
3Q: CPHS 21-20.
4Q: CPHS 28-21.
Free Throws: CPHS 11-of-16, NOAH 19-of-27.
Field Goals: CPHS 31-of-62, NOAH 19-of-42.
Offensive Rebounds: CPHS 15, NOAH 3.
Defensive Rebounds: CPHS 20, NOAH 14.
Total Rebounds: CPHS 35, NOAH 17.
Steals: CPHS 12, NOAH 5.
Blocks: CPHS 1, NOAH 1.
Fouls: CPHS 20, NOAH 12.

(Sand Springs stats)
Scoring: Fisher 21, Clark 17, Fox 17, Oakley 8, Savage 6, Keim 4, Brockman 3, Hawkins 2, Shoemaker 2.
Offensive Rebounds: Fisher 4, Keim 3, Hawkins 2, Fox 2, Oakley 2, Clark 1, Askew 1.
Defensive Rebounds: Fisher 5, Oakley 4, Savage 3, Clark 2, Askew 2, Hawkins 1, Shoemaker 1, Keim 1, Corona 1.
Total Rebounds: Fisher 9, Oakley 6, Keim 4, Askew 3, Clark 3, Hawkins 3, Savage 3, Fox 2, Shoemaker 1, Corona 1.
Steals: Clark 2, Hawkins 2, Savage 2, Fisher 2, Brockman 2, Fox 1, Askew 1.
Assists: Savage 2, Fisher 1, Fox 1, Corona 1.
Blocks: Fisher 1.
Fouls: Fisher 5, Fox 5, Hawkins 4, Clark 2, Oakley 2, Keim 2.

(NOAH stats)
Scoring: Ingram 24, Crow 13, Bell 11, Babcock 7, Wagner 7.
Fouls: Bell 4, Babcock 4, Edwards 1, Garner 1, Wagner 1, Hislop 1.

BHS 71 CPHS 66
1Q: BHS 18-8.
2Q: CPHS 15-13.
3Q: CPHS 16-14.
4Q: CPHS 21-15.
OT: BHS 11-6.
Free Throws: BHS 29-of-44, CPHS 20-of-29.
Field Goals: BHS 19-of-44, CPHS 21-of-55.
Offensive Rebounds: BHS 9, CPHS 11.
Defensive Rebounds: BHS 19, CPHS 19.
Total Rebounds: BHS 28, CPHS 30.
Steals: BHS 6, CPHS 5.
Blocks: BHS 1, CPHS 2.
Fouls: BHS 19, CPHS 28.

(Sand Springs stats)
Scoring: Fox 20, Savage 17, Fisher 12, Oakley 10, Hawkins 2, Brockman 2, Keim 2, Clark 1.
Offensive Rebounds: Savage 2, Fisher 2, Fox 2, Keim 2, Hawkins 1, Oakley 1, Brockman 1.
Defensive Rebounds: Fisher 5, Savage 4, Fox 4, Oakley 4, Clark 1, Hawkins 1.
Total Rebounds: Fisher 7, Savage 6, Fox 6, Oakley 5, Hawkins 2, Keim 2, Clark 1, Brockman 1.
Steals: Fisher 3, Savage 2.
Assists: Savage 2, Fisher 1, Fox 1.
Blocks: Fisher 1, Keim 1.
Fouls: Oakley 5, Fisher 5, Fox 4, Brockman 4, Savage 4, Clark 3, Hawkins 1, Keim 1.

(Bartlesville stats)
Scoring: Castillo 39, Nakvinda 16, Wood 7, Ayyappan 6, Carter 2, Smith 1.
Fouls: Smith 5, Wood 4, Nakvinda 4, Carter 3, Ayyappan 1, Gilkey 1, Castillo 1.

CPHS Basketball: Lady Sandites roll NOAH, Darrian Jordan crowned Homecoming Queen

It wasn’t quite as lopsided as their season-opening 84-30 rout, but the Sand Springs girls basketball team still handily won their rematch with the Northeast Oklahoma Association of Homeschools Thursday evening at the Ed Dubie Field House.

Class 6A No. 13 ranked Charles Page High School improved to 10-7 on the season with a 51-34 win against NOAH (11-10) on Homecoming, despite playing without their top-scorer. Journey Armstead has now missed three of the last five games while recovering from a knee injury, but her team was more than capable of handling the Jaguars without her.

Not one Sandite scored in double digits as they put together their most balanced team effort of the season. Darrian Jordan and Sakauri Wilson led the victors with nine points apiece, while Layne Kirkendoll put up seven points and ten rebounds. Jordan was also crowned Homecoming Queen at halftime of the boys’ game.

It took a few minutes for the girls to get going, and the Jaguars led 7-6 late in the first quarter before KiAryn Taylor kicked off a twelve-point run spanning two quarters. Wilson gave them their first double-digit lead at 18-7 early in the second quarter and they took a 28-18 advantage into the half.

Emma Hay gave the Jags the first bucket of the second half, but Leyshia Morris kicked off an 11-point run for their biggest lead of the game at 39-20. Hay stayed hot for the Jags and scored seven points in the quarter, getting it as close as 41-30 before Victory Johnson ended the quarter with a free throw.

The fourth quarter was fairly low scoring for both teams but the Sandites worked their way back up to another 19-point lead before Heaven Smith made the final bucket of the game.

Hay was the workhorse for the Jaguars, scoring a game-high 14 points. Only four NOAH players made their way onto the scoreboard, while eight Sandites found the net.

Darrian Jordan followed up her back-to-back team-leading performances by signing a letter of intent Friday to play collegiate ball at Seminole State College. The Trojans compete at the NJCAA Division II level out of Seminole, Oklahoma, and went 13-16 last season. Jordan is averaging 6.4 points, one steal, and 2.8 rebounds per game this season.

Lady Sandite basketball was scheduled to host Bartlesville in conference action Friday night, but that game was canceled due to COVID problems in the Bruin program. They will return to action Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. on the road at No. 16 Muskogee (7-8, 3-5). The Sandites previously beat the Roughers 54-49 in December and they are 5-4 in conference play.

NOAH will play Hoops For Christ Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

CPHS 51 NOAH 34
1Q: CPHS 13-7.
2Q: CPHS 15-11.
3Q: CPHS 14-12.
4Q: CPHS 9-2.
Free Throws: CPHS 7-of-19, NOAH 11-of-18.
Field Goals: CPHS 20-of-55, NOAH 11-of-35.
Offensive Rebounds: CPHS 19, NOAH 6.
Defensive Rebounds: CPHS 18, NOAH 13.
Total Rebounds: CPHS 37, NOAH 19.
Steals: CPHS 12, NOAH 4.
Blocks: CPHS 2, NOAH 1.
Fouls: CPHS 20, NOAH 13.

(Sand Springs stats)
Scoring: Jordan 9, Wilson 9, Jackson 8, Kirkendoll 7, Taylor 7, L. Morris 5, Cheney 3, Johnson 3.
Offensive Rebounds: Kirkendoll 5, Jordan 4, Tanner 4, Jackson 3, Wilson 1, Taylor 1, T. Morris 1.
Defensive Rebounds: Kirkendoll 5, Taylor 4, Wilson 3, L. Morris 2, Cheney 1, Jordan 1, Jackson 1, T. Morris 1.
Total Rebounds: Kirkendoll 5, Jordan 5, Taylor 5, Wilson 4, Jackson 4, Tanner 4, L. Morris 2, T. Morris 2, Cheney 1.
Steals: Wilson 4, Jordan 2, Kirkendoll 1, Jackson 1, L. Morris 1, Taylor 1, Tanner 1, T. Morris 1.
Assists: Wilson 2, Jordan 1, Kirkendoll 1.
Blocks: Kirkendoll 1, Jackson 1.
Fouls: Wilson 4, L. Morris 3, Cheney 2, Jordan 2, Jackson 2, Tanner 2, T. Morris 2, Kirkendoll 1, Hampton 1, Johnson 1.

(NOAH stats)
Scoring: Hay 14, Smith 9, Langley 7, Stevens 4.
Fouls: Hay 4, Stevens 3, Langley 2, Smith 2, Trost 1, Padgett 1.

CPHS Volleyball: Sand Springs beats NOAH, goes 5-2 at home tournament

The Charles Page High School varsity volleyball team (5-3) wasn’t able to defend its home tournament title after graduating seven players from last year’s unit, but the young team was still able to post a 5-2 record for third place in the round-robin event. Bixby won the tournament, and Bishop Kelley JV came in second.

The Sandites won matches against Lawton, Sapulpa, Tecumseh, Edison, and Northeast Oklahoma Association of Homeschools (NOAH), but lost to the top two teams. They beat NOAH 2-0 in the final match Saturday afternoon with sets of 25-22 and 25-20.

Both games against NOAH were fairly close. The Jaguars had the talent to compete with Sand Springs, doubling the Sandites in kills. They didn’t have the discipline, however, nearly doubling the home team in errors.

Sand Springs led for most of the first set, but it was always fairly close. In game two it looked like they might run away with it, taking a 17-6 lead before the Jaguars won six straight rallies to keep it competitive.

The Sandites needed only 11 kills to win the match, thanks to 30 errors from the Jaguars. Layla Lenex led the Sandites with four kills and two assisted blocks, while Jacelyn Smith scored three aces, a kill, and two assisted blocks.

Sandite volleyball will return to action Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. with a conference home match against Broken Arrow (3-2, 1-0).

Sandites of the Week for August through September

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Football season may have just started, but the high school sports season is well under way. We had initially planned on waiting till school started to begin naming a Sandite of the Week again, before realizing that some sports started several weeks before the school year. Out of fairness to the hardworking athletes who gave excellent performances over the last month, we have decided to retroactively name a Sandite of the Week back to August 13th when the first week of high school athletics ended.

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August 7 through 13: Sydney Pennington

The athletic season began on Tuesday, August 9th for the Lady Sandite Softball team on a trip to the Claremore Festival where the girls split with a 13-0 shutout win over Mannford and a 5-0 loss to Coweta. Pennington scored two runs on three at-bats against the Lady Pirates, each from a single. Against Coweta she had a perfect batting performance with a single and a double on two at-bats.

On Friday the Sandites traveled to the Broken Arrow Tournament where they amassed a 4-2 record. In the opening game against Owasso, Pennington landed one of only three hits for the Lady Sandites in a 2-1 loss. In the next round the girls got payback on the defending State Champions from Choctaw. After being defeated 4-3 in the State Finals last year, the Sandites avenged themselves with a 4-1 victory in which Pennington scored two runs, one on a fielder’s choice and one on a home run. In the third game of the day the girls handled Putnam City North 3-1. Pennington scored a run and went to the mound for the first time this season. She didn’t give up a single earned run and allowed only four hits against seven strikeouts.

On Saturday the girls dropped a 6-2 loss to Durant and Pennington scored one RBI and hit two singles on three at-bats. Pennington went back to the mound for a 4-1 defeat of Edmond North and Pennington scored two runs on two walks. She allowed only one run, five hits, and zero walks against two strikeouts.

In the tournament finale against the host team, the Sandites prevailed 3-1 to take fifth place out of sixteen teams. Pennington scored one run and two RBI with a perfect batting performance. Two singles, one double, and a home run.

Pennington is a senior and is verbally committed to Oklahoma State University. She is the daughter of Amy and Brett Pennington. This is her third time being named Sandite of the week.

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August 14 through 20: Jacie Taber

Charles Page High School sophomore Jacie Taber entered week two of softball with a 2-1 record from the mound, but a series of impressive games bumped her up to 5-1 by the end of the week.

In the first game of a Tuesday night double header against Norman, Taber didn’t give up a single run in the 4-0 shutout. She allowed only three hits and three walks against six strikeouts. In game two she got on base with a double and scored in the 10-0 run rule shutout.

On Thursday the Lady Sandites played a double header against their Highway 97 rivals from Sapulpa. They won the first game 6-0 and the second game with a 10-0 run-rule shutout. In game two Taber got it done on the mound and at the plate, scoring one run and two RBI on three hits for a perfect batting average with two singles and a double. In only five innings she pitched ten strikeouts and only gave up one hit and two walks.

On Friday they headed to the RSU Festival in Claremore and Taber scored a run with a single in an 11-0 shutout run-rule victory over Muskogee. In the next game they played last year’s 5A State Runners-Up and defeated Pryor 3-0 with Taber on the mound. In five innings, Taber gave up only two hits and five walks and struck out ten batters.

Taber is the daughter of Amy and Ronnie Taber. Her father and two older brothers are stars on the Sandite football team. Ronnie played on the State semifinal team in 1988. Jacob, a former SOTW, just graduated after leading the team to the State Finals as Defensive Captain and is currently a freshman at Fort Hays State, while Josh made a great season debut this past weekend as a receiver and defensive back. This is Jacie's first time as Sandite of the Week.

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August 21 through 27: Gloria Mutiri

CPHS junior Gloria Mutiri is a 6’2” left-handed middle hitter who has only been playing since the eighth grade. But despite only discovering the sport a few years ago, you would think she was born on the court. Mutiri has been the leading scorer all three years at Charles Page and is one of the top competitors in the entire state.

This was a less than stellar week for the Sandite Volleyball team as a whole, going 2-4 for a seventh place finish at the Broken Arrow Tournament. But Mutiri excelled, averaging nearly 5 kills and 5 digs per set.

The Lady Sandites dropped a close one to 4A No.4 Victory Christian. They won two sets 26-24 and 25-22, but couldn’t pull it together for the whole match. Mutiri smacked down 22 kills and 5 blocks in the exciting match.

At the Broken Arrow Tournament the team struggled with communicating and gave up several close matches that could have gone either way. In the first match, Mutiri got into a shootout with Malia Leatherland of Tulsa NOAH Home School and both scored 31 points in the wild 3-2 loss. The Sandites won the first two games 25-16 and 29-27 before the Jags rallied for wins of 29-27, 25-20, and 15-13.

The next match was mostly a blowout by No. 3 Norman North, but the Sandites didn’t go down without a fight. They were the only team to win a set against Norman North in pool play and prevented the shutout with a 25-20 win. The other three games only scored a total 27 points for the Sandites, however.

Mutiri posted 23 points and 9 aces in a 3-1 win over Moore during pool play, then added 19 in a 3-0 victory against Moore in the placement match. In between matches against Moore, the girls played a tough one against Bartlesville, losing 3-0 in hotly contested sets. The Bruins didn’t win a single set by more than five points. Over the course of the tournament Mutiri scored 23 aces in only 19 games.

Mutiri is the daughter of the late Reverend Chantal Mutiri and has four sisters, three of whom also attended Charles Page. She is a two-year starter on the varsity basketball team and has been named Sandite of the Week once before for basketball.

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August 28 through September 3: Cheyenne Walden

Sand Springs will be hard pressed to ever find a runner as gifted, hard-working, and sportsmanlike as senior Cheyenne Walden. The three-time Cross Country State Champion and three-time Track State Champion not only beats her competitors by impressive margins, but she then stops at the finish line to cheer them on and congratulate them when they finish.

Walden has broken her one-mile personal record two weeks in a row with first place finishes in both events. The Sandites rarely participate in one-mile runs and this was the first year she’s officially clocked one since the Sapulpa race in 2013. In the first race this year, two Saturdays ago, she beat her PR by eight seconds with a 5:23 mile at Kiefer. This past Saturday she shaved another two seconds off for 5:21 at Sapulpa, beating her closest competitor by fifteen seconds.

This is Walden’s fifth-straight Cross Country victory. She went undefeated in the state of Oklahoma her junior year, and only came in runner-up one time at the Fayetteville Chile Pepper Festival.

Walden is the daughter of Angela Rhodes and Alvin Walden. Her sister, Kaitlyn Walden is a freshman this year and has also been performing well in JV and finished her mile in 7:07 for sixth place. This is Cheyenne’s second time being named Sandite of the Week.

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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.