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. 

Tough Start for Lady Sandite Softball

The Charles Page High School fast-pitch softball team had a tough start to the season, going 0-2 in their first week before canceling a game against Sperry and pulling out of the Broken Arrow weekend tournament due to injuries and COVID protocols. 

Sand Springs hosted Tahlequah Monday, August 9th and fell 8-6 despite out-hitting the Tigers 12 to 8. Down 1-0, Jolee McNally tied it up on a bases-loaded single in the second inning, then Raegan Rector gave her team the lead with a two-run single. 

Tahlequah tied it up in the fourth and made it 6-3 in the fifth on a pair of errors at first base. Ashlyn Clark scored on a sacrifice bunt from Kelsi Hilton in the fifth, but Tahlequah added a two-run single in the sixth to pad their lead. Clark put two more on the board in the sixth with a two-run single, but couldn’t muster up another run before the game drew to a close.

On Tuesday at Owasso the Sandites were swept 8-0 and lost in a six-inning run-rule walkoff. Lauren Hammock and Hilton made two hits apiece, but all five Sandite baserunners were left stranded. Freshman ace Preslee Downing struck out eight Sandites to lift the Rams to the win.

Rector got the loss against Tahlequah with eight hits, four strikeouts, and three walks, while Hilton got the loss against Owasso with 13 hits, three strikeouts, and one walk.

Sandite Softball will return to action at the Rogers State University festival Thursday with games against Lincoln Christian and Adair, then will play the Stillwater festival on Friday. 

Other Sandite News

The Sand Springs Public School District is still hiring for three coaching positions. The Girls’ Varsity Tennis Head Coach, Boys’ Soccer Head Coach, and Head Debate Coach positions are still hiring, and interested parties can apply at Sandites.org

Side 92 FC wins UPSL Central Conference North Premier Division

Courtest of WSA.

A version of this story was originally published in the Sand Springs Leader.

The West Side Alliance has long been a staple in the Sand Springs sports community, and since its founding in 1992, it has grown into one of the largest and most competitive organizations in the state. No longer just a youth soccer club, it is now building its brand as a national-caliber adult league as well.

In the fall of 2020 the WSA launched Side FC 92, a semi-pro extension of the league for high school, collegiate, and young adult players. Among the roster you’ll see Division 1 players from the universities of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tulsa, and more. This deep pool of talent has catapulted both the men’s and women’s teams into the national playoffs.

The men’s team got started in the fall and went undefeated 11-2-0 to win the UPSL Central Conference North Division II title, and was promoted to the Premier League. Now they own a 13-1-2 record in their inaugural season, and have already brought home two more championship trophies, winning both their division and the Central Conference Championship.

The Side has the second-highest-scoring offense in a league of over 300 teams with 79 goals this season, and they are now bound for Kansas City to play Des Moines United FC in the national round of 32. 

Side FC 92 Head Coach and WSA Technical Director Alexander McLaurin credits that success to both the immensely talented players, as well as to the supportive organization that backs them.

“We’ve got a staff that works really hard to make sure all the training sessions are focused, that there’s a clear message and that they’re very well organized. We’ve got top-quality players that are willing to push forward. They’ve all got ambitions. It makes it easy when you’ve got players that are looking to potentially break into the professional game. Everything is on a professional level from the training to the coaching to the way the players go about things. That makes it easy, as well as having the backing of a good organization as well. Having Roger Bush as club director, making sure that the team is supported in any way that we need, that’s really made it pretty easy on us.”

“That was our biggest motivation behind (forming the Side FC 92) is being able to get younger players inside of the club a pathway - something to look up to,” says McLaurin. “We’re never going to be at the level of an MLS club or anything like that, but we can at least bridge the gap and give the kids inside of the club kind of a realistic view to kind of get that next step. We call our program the “Pathway to Pro,” so we’re kind of that bridge in between that. We’re not getting any financial gain from it or trying to get into the MLS, we’re just there to promote our youth and our academy players.”

McLaurin himself is a 2006 graduate of Charles Page High School in Sand Springs, and several of his players are also former Sandites. The men’s team features Gustavo Saldana of Oklahoma Wesleyan, Fernando Saldana (who just graduated CPHS this year), and Luke Jeffus of the University of Tulsa. 

The women’s team, which is 6-3-1 in their inaugural season and headed for the United Women’s Soccer League playoffs, also features two Sandites in Karsen Lynch and Danielle Greminger. Lynch is a soon-to-be senior at Charles Page High School. Greminger competed at Oklahoma Wesleyan and Coffeyville Community College the past two seasons, and will enroll at Casper College this fall.

“Already this year we’ve got 16 and 17 year olds that are featuring in the team and playing in important playoff matches,” says McLaurin.  “It’s giving kids something to connect to and really see a clear pathway to potentially make their way towards that professional goal if that’s what they have.”

Sports Roundup: Layne Kirkendoll places second in State Championship Long Jump

Courtesy of Tommy Dial.

A version of this story was originally published in the Sand Springs Leader.

The Charles Page High School track and field team ended its season Saturday afternoon in Edmond, and three Sandites made the trip. 

Junior Layne Kirkendoll repeated her freshman performance in the Long Jump by finishing as Runner-Up. Her 18 ft. 1.75 in. jump was her third-best mark of the season. She also placed fifth in the High Jump with a height of 5 ft. 4 in. The top five jumpers all cleared the same height, but Kirkendoll took fifth on criteria. 

Senior Joseph Mattison signed a letter of intent to run for Coffeyville Community College last Tuesday, and at State he competed in two events. His 22.51-second 200-meter dash earned 10th place and his 20 ft. 1.5 in. long jump placed 11th. 

“JoJo (Mattison) is the definition of hard work and determination,” said Head Coach Tim Dial. “He is the type of kid that every coach wishes they had a team full of.”

Greg Reed also competed in the long jump and placed 16th at State with a distance of 14 ft. 11.25 in.

Baseball

Brock Swanson, Brycen Peterman, and Kaden Young all signed letters of intent to play at Oklahoma Wesleyan University next season. 

Basketball

Former Sandite Colt Savage signed to play at Cameron University after spending two seasons at the University of Central Oklahoma. “Colt is an extremely poised guy that brings our team a lot of versatility at the small forward position,” said CU Head Coach Andrew Brown. “He has great touch shooting on the perimeter along with a strong build to take advantage of size matchups. We are excited about how he fits in our system.” 

Marlo Fox signed a letter of intent to play at Rogers State University after decommitting from Seward County Community College.

Savage is the second-highest scoring player in Sand Springs history with 1,697 points, and Fox ranks sixth with 1,065.

Cheer

Claire Smith signed a letter of intent to cheer for the University of Central Arkansas Bears. 

Football

Zach Heinen signed a letter of intent to kick for Concordia University Wisconsin. The future Falcon was a perfect 32-of-32 kicking PATs this past season and 51-of-52 in his career, and he was 3-of-4 on field goals with a career long of 39 yards. 

Daren Hawkins signed to play at Abilene Christian University in Texas. Hawkins played three years at receiver and totaled 546 yards on 37 catches, with nine touchdowns before switching to defense. He totaled 22 tackles and one fumble recovery his senior year. 

Soccer

Xander Quiroga signed a letter of intent to play goalie at Murray State College in Tishomingo. Teagan Smith signed with Southwestern College in Kansas. Smith led her team in scoring this season with five goals.

Sports Roundup: Layne Kirkendoll and Greg Reed win Regional Championships

Courtesy of Tommy Dial.

A version of this story was originally published in the Sand Springs Leader.

The Charles Page High School baseball team ended the season 19-21 in their first full year under Head Coach Matt Brown, falling 6-4 in the Regional Championship against Bixby (28-12). They went 3-2 in their final week of the season and battled back through the losers’ bracket at Stillwater’s Couch Park to force a tie-breaker game against the Spartans.

Bixby rallied from a 5-0 deficit to win game one of the tournament on Thursday. Blake Nichols hit a three-run blast to tie it in the seventh, and the Spartans won on a walk off in the eighth. 

Carson Seabolt tossed five strikeouts as the Sandites rolled Booker T. Washington 11-3 in the next game, then Brycen Peterman pitched a 5-3 upset win against host Stillwater. Cason Savage went 3-for-3 at the plate with 2 RBI and a run as the Sandites earned a rematch with Bixby.

Wes Strand gave Bixby a 1-0 lead with a solo homer Friday evening, but the Spartans left nine runners stranded and Sand Springs scored four runs on five hits in the fifth. Keaton Campbell hit a two-run double for the final score and Jace Arnold got the win on the mound.

The Sandites out-hit the Spartans 9-7 in Saturday’s Championship game, but the Spartans blasted three homers in the 6-4 win. 

On Monday, May 3, the Sandites ended the regular season with a 6-4 win over Meeker after scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth. 

Fishing

Three Sandite high school fishing teams qualified for the Oklahoma Bass Nation State Championship. Mack Taylor and Reese David, Cruz Norris and Gunnar Casey, and Kyle and Kale Hilligoss will all fish Lake Eufala on June 13th. Nate Griffin and Jaxon Trotter qualified for the junior high tournament on June 12th. 

Golf

The boys team ended their season with a 12th place finish at Regionals, while the girls qualified two to the State Championship. Meghan Charles shot 162 to tie for 16th while Alyx Edwards shot 240 for 73rd. 

Boys Regionals: Drew Paden 162, Mason Ward 164, Cole Hight 178, Cameron Villines 189, Seth Benton 191. Girls Regionals: Charles 74, Edwards 97, Gina Foster 108, Madison Chambers 117.

Soccer

The boys’ soccer team (8-8) ended their season in a 3-2 first-round playoff loss at Stillwater, Tuesday, May 4. Jack Bratcher and Cameron Summerton scored the Sandites’ two goals. Fernando Saldana ended the season as the team’s leading scorer with 15 goals, followed by Bratcher with 13 and Summerton with 6. 

Track and Field

Sand Springs crowned two Champions and qualified three athletes for State, Saturday at the 6A Regional Track Meet in Sapulpa. Greg Reed and Layne Kirkendoll both won Regional titles in the Long Jump, and Joseph Mattison also qualified in that event.

Kirkendoll remains undefeated in the long jump this year, leaping 17 ft. 11 in. to win her eighth gold medal in that event and her 13th overall. She also came in runner-up in the high jump with a mark of 5 ft. 2 in. 

Reed crushed his previous personal best with a leap of 21 ft. 4.5 in., which ranks eighth in school history. Mattison recorded a jump of 20 ft. 9 in. for third place, and he placed fourth in the 200-meter dash in 22.4 seconds. 

The boys’ 4x800 relay team placed fourth with a time of 8:56.5 and Jazmin Lopez placed fifth in the 800-meter run in 2:28.07.