Sandite Alumni Report: Aden Baughman Wins Washburn Open

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The Pittsburg State University track team competed at the Washburn Open Friday and Saturday, and 2019 Charles Page High School alum Aden Baughman took first place in the 600-yard run.

The junior former State Champion finished the race in 1:11.863, just 0.005 seconds ahead of the runner-up. He also ran the 800-meter run in 1:59.24 for 33rd place.

Pitt State will return to action next weekend when it hosts the 9th annual Indoor Gorilla Classic.

2022 alum Layne Kirkendoll is in her sophomore year at South Dakota State. She took fifth place in high jump with a mark of 5 feet, 3 inches at the Bison Open in Fargo, North Dakota on Saturday.

SDSU will host its own indoor meet next weekend.

Sandite Alumni Report: Track, Wrestling, Volleyball & More

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Courtesy of OSU Athletics.

Oklahoma State University super-senior Daton Fix, a 2017 CPHS alum, is now 8-0 on the season and ranked third in the country at 133 pounds.

Most recently Fix won an 11-3 major decision against No. 7 Evan Frost to help the No. 5 Cowboys win a 21-12 upset against No. 4 Iowa State (9-2) Saturday night.

OSU is now 10-0 on the season and will return to action Friday with a home dual against Arizona State (3-4).

2022 alum Ethan Norton is in his sophomore season at College of the Ozarks. The 157-pounder went 1-2 at the Pete Willson Invitational this weekend, earning a 6-5 decision over Muskingum’s Zeke Poulos.

Men’s Basketball

2021 CPHS alum Marlo Fox is in his junior year at Rogers State University. The Hillcats are 11-8 on the season and 8-5 in the MIAA conference.

Rogers State will look to bounce back from a 75-53 loss at Missouri Southern when it hosts Washburn (13-6, 9-4) Thursday in Claremore.

Cheer

2022 alum Ashley Blake is in her sophomore year at Oklahoma Baptist University while 2020 alum Coleman Wright is representing the Sandites at Nichols College.

Women’s Track and Field

2021 alum Erika Baker is a distance runner at Pittsburg State University, where she placed 24th in the 5000 meter run Saturday at the Gorillas’ home invitational. The junior ran the event in 19:19.54 for eighth place in her heat.

She also ran in the recent Rumble in the Jungle Invitational on January 19th and placed 28th in the 3000 meter run with a time of 11:18.55.

Layne Kirkendoll is in her sophomore season at South Dakota State and is already seeing major success.

The 2022 alum won the high jump event at the Jim Emmerich Alumni meet on January 20th with a mark of 5 ft. 5 in. and was seventh in long jump at 17 ft. 7.5 in. as the team placed second overall.

Men’s Track and Field

2019 alum Aden Baughman made his Pittsburg State University debut at the Rumble in the Jungle Invitational on the 19th.

The junior ORU transfer placed fourth in the 600-meter finals with a time of 1:12.81, just 0.6 seconds behind the champion. He also ran the second leg of the 1600-meter relay, helping the Gorillas to a sixth place finish. Pitt State won the invitational overall.

At the Pittsburg State Invitational on the 27th he took third place in the 800-meter finals in 1:53.13. He also ran the 1600-meter relay on the Pitt State B-team that placed 10th.

Volleyball

2020 alum Gloria Mutiri is playing professional volleyball with USC Muenster in Germany. Muenster is 5-12 on the season and will return to action on Saturday against the Vilsbiburg Red Ravens.

Muenster won its latest match 3-0 against VC Neuwied, 25-11, 25-21, and 25-16. Mutiri scored 7 points in the match as the No. 3 scorer for USC.

Ty Pennington to Transfer to Northern Arizona University

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Ty Pennington didn’t take long to announce his next college destination. Ten days after entering the transfer portal, the redshirt freshman has indicated he will be heading to Northern Arizona University.

Pennington, a 2022 Charles Page High School alum, posted photos in an NAU uniform Monday alongside fellow former Pitt State player Kolbe Katsis. It appears to be more than just a visit, as he captioned the post “Coming soon 🪓,” while Katsis posted on his X account that he was “100% committed” to NAU.

Pennington was 46-of-69 passing this season for 447 yards, six touchdowns, and only one interception at Pittsburg State University, an NCAA Division II program in Kansas.

He was also fourth on the team in rushing yardage with 76 carries for 359 yards and four touchdowns.

While technically the backup quarterback, Pennington frequently saw early-game action due to his dual threat capabilities.

The Gorillas went 11-2 on the season, winning the MIAA before falling 24-21 to No. 2 Grand Valley State in the second round of the playoffs.

Following the end of the season, head coach Brian Wright departed Pitt State to become head coach at NAU, an NCAA Division I program competing in the Football Championship Series (FCS).

Wright replaces Chris Ball, who was fired after going 20-30 over five seasons. The Lumberjacks went 5-6 this season to tie for fourth in the Big Sky Conference.

Pennington was an All-State selection and a four-year starter at Sand Springs, where he holds most of the school passing records. He threw for 6,455 yards and 54 touchdowns in his prep career and picked Pitt State over a preferred walk-on offer from Oklahoma State.

Ty Pennington Enters Transfer Portal

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Photo by Derek Livingston, Pitt State Media.

Ty Pennington is on the move.

The backup quarterback at Pittsburg State University announced on X Friday that he had officially entered his name into the transfer portal.

The redshirt freshman was 46-of-69 passing this season for 447 yards, six touchdowns, and only one interception.

He was also fourth on the team in rushing yardage with 76 carries for 359 yards and four touchdowns.

Notably, he wasn’t relegated to cleanup time and was frequently called upon early in competitive games due to his dual threat capabilities.

The Gorillas went 11-2 on the season, winning the MIAA before falling 24-21 to No. 2 Grand Valley State in the second round of the NCAA Division II playoffs.

Following the end of the season, head coach Brian Wright departed Pitt State to become head coach at Northern Arizona University. Pitt State hired former defensive coordinator and associate head coach Tom Anthony to the top position last week.

Pennington was an All-State selection and a four-year starter at Sand Springs, where he holds most of the school passing records. He threw for 6,455 yards and 54 touchdowns in his prep career and picked Pitt State over a preferred walk-on offer from Oklahoma State.

Sandite College Report

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Men’s Basketball

2021 CPHS alum Marlo Fox is in his junior year at Rogers State University (2-2). He played two minutes in a season-opening 82-58 loss to Minot State but didn’t see action in the past three games. The Hillcats will return to action Saturday afternoon against Fort Hays State (5-1).

Football

Pittsburg State University backup quarterback Ty Pennington (2021) saw his season come to an end in a 24-21 loss to No. 2 Grand Valley State (11-1) in the second round of the NCAA Division II playoffs.

The seventh-ranked Gorillas (11-2) took a 21-14 lead into the fourth quarter but gave up 10 unanswered points, including the go-ahead touchdown with 35 seconds remaining, to end their season.

Pennington ended his redshirt-freshman year 46-of-69 passing for 447 yards, six touchdowns, and one interception with another 359 yards and four touchdowns on 76 carries.

Cheer

Ashley Blake (2022) is in her sophomore year at Oklahoma Baptist University and Coleman Wright (2020) is in his senior season at Nichols College.

Softball

Drew Hawkins (2021) is gearing up for her junior season next spring at Northeastern State University. The starting outfielder had a flawless defensive record last season while batting .235 while the RiverHawks went 30-21.

Jordyn Pearson (2021) will look to pick up some additional playing time in her junior year at Missouri Baptist University after playing two games last season in a 35-18-1 Spartan campaign. Pearson holds a 3.82 ERA and .333 career batting average after two seasons.

Shooting Sports

Gunnar Casey (2021) and Sammy Naugle (2021) are in their junior season at Connors State College. Casey recently posted a top-20 finish at the Ft. Hayes tournament in double skeet.

Baseball

Kyler Copeland (2019) will kick off his junior year this spring at Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant. Copeland is in his second year with the Savage Storm after previous stints at College of the Ozarks and Dodge City Community College.

Kaden Young (2021) is expected to play at Randall University in Moore this spring after a two-year stint at Oklahoma Wesleyan.

2023 graduates Jabe Schlehuber and Dominic Ornelas will start their college careers at Northern Oklahoma College at Enid this spring.

2019 graduates Cale Savage and Cal Watkins will play their junior years together at Washburn University. Watkins played two years at Seminole State College while Savage played two years at NOC-Enid before the two reunited last season.

Sandites Wrap Up College Cross Country Season, Prepare for Indoor Track

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2021 Charles Page High School alum Erika Baker is in her first year at Pittsburg State University after transferring from Oral Roberts.

The Gorillas just wrapped up their season with an 18th place performance at the NCAA Division II National Championship.

Baker competed in four events for the Gorillas this season, wrapping up her season at the Firestarter Classic on October 14th when she ran a personal record 5K time of 19:58.7 for ninth place.

The junior will return to action with the Track & Field team this winter.

Aden Baughman (2019) will kick off his junior indoor season at Pitt State on December 8th at the Boo Rogers Combined Events. He also transferred from Oral Roberts this year.

Layne Kirkendoll (2022) will leap into her sophomore season at South Dakota State on December 1st in the SDSU Holiday Open. She competed in seven meets for the Jackrabbits last indoor season with five top-five finishes in the high jump.