Cruz Norris and Gunnar Casey win Grand Lake fishing tournament

Courtesy of OBN.

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

Sand Springs is continuing to prove itself as one of the top high school fishing programs in the state, as yet another Sandite duo has taken top honors at an Oklahoma Bass Nation trail event. Cruz Norris and Gunnar Casey brought home the fourth trail win in program history Sunday, March 28th on Grand Lake.

Bass Nation was supposed to host two trail events, Saturday and Sunday at Fort Gibson, but high water levels resulted in the relocation to Grand Lake, and it was limited to a one-day event. 

Norris and Casey came up one fish short of the limit, but still had a healthy margin of victory. Their 4.04-pound big bass was the third-largest in the tournament, and it propelled them to a 12.87-pound total. Despite only catching four bass, they had nearly a pound on the runners-up, who caught five.

Only three teams of Sandites have won trail events, led by Seth Kearns and Cole Scott with two wins. The program was founded in 2015 and the school won the State Championship in 2017.

Mack Taylor and Reese David caught four fish totaling 9.1 pounds for 13th place out of 56 boats. They previously placed second at the season opener on Lake Eufala in October and rank fourth in the team standings so far. 

Norris and Casey are already up to 26th in the team standings after missing the season-opener. Kyle and Kale Hilligoss also missed the first event, and they are 42nd in the team race after catching two fish at Grand. They weighed in at 6.9 pounds for 25th place. Final team standings will use each team’s top-four performances this season, so missing one event won’t penalize the anglers much in the long run.

Sandite Fishing won’t have to travel far for their next event, as OBN will be coming to Lake Keystone for two trail events Saturday and Sunday, April 10-11. 

The program will also be hosting a fundraiser tournament, open to the public, April 17th on Keystone. The tournament will launch out of Prairie View Ramp at 7:00 a.m. with a 2:30 p.m. weigh-in. Entry is $60 with a 70% payout. There will be a five fish limit, with a 14 inch minimum. 

For more information on the fundraiser tournament, or about the CPHS fishing program overall, contact CPHSfishingteam@gmail.com or call/text 918-625-6853.

Sandites' Layne Kirkendoll, Joseph Mattison claim gold at Broken Arrow Relays

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

Track and Field

Layne Kirkendoll and Joseph Mattison were leaps and bounds ahead of their competition Friday at the Broken Arrow Relays, and both took home first place medals in the long jump. 

Kirkendoll has already secured her position as the second-best long jumper in Sand Springs history behind two-time State Champion Shawn Gilton, and she just keeps getting better. Her 17’08.5” leap marked a career-high and her second win of the season. She also won the high jump with a career mark of 5’06.00”.

Mattison earned his first varsity gold with a career distance of 20’02.5” in his first jumping event of the season. 

There were no individual running events in the dual-style meet, which pitted the Sand Springs relay teams against Broken Arrow’s varsity and JV squads. The Sandite runners didn’t win any events, but the girls’ 1600 team lost by less than a second.

Baseball

Sandite Baseball (5-6) went 0-4 at the Edmond Festival, but their Saturday double-header featured a pair of close shootouts. On Thursday they lost 5-1 to Norman North and 7-4 to Mustang.

On Saturday they lost 10-9 to both Edmond North and Edmond Santa Fe. In the first game against Edmond North they were down 4-0 to start the sixth and scored eight runs to take the lead, including a 2RBI triple from Rhen Rutledge and a 3RBI double from Jacob Shields. 

The Huskies tied it 8-8 with an RBI double in the seventh to force an extra inning. Shields reclaimed the lead on a ground out by Rutledge, but Toby Simpson hit a 2RBI single to win the game. 

Santa Fe took a 3-0 lead into the fourth in the next game, but Pennington tied it up with a 2RBI triple and Kaden Young scored in the fifth for the lead. The Wolves used four walks and a hit to make it 6-4, but Sand Springs wouldn’t stay down for long.

Keaton Campbell and Jabe Schlehuber hit a pair of solo home runs, then the Wolves walked four Sandites in a row to tie it in the seventh. Cason Savage and Rutledge tagged up on a pair of pop flies to make it 9-7, but Jase White hit a two-run double to tie it and Caleb Moore was walked on loaded bases for the win. 

Sand Springs Baseball will return to action Thursday and Friday at the Bartlesville Bruin Classic, which will feature a Highway 97 Rivalry game against Sapulpa Thursday at 4:00 p.m.

Slow Pitch Softball will host Owasso Thursday at 4:30 p.m., Boys’ Soccer will play in the Holland Hall Invitational Thursday, Track and Field will compete at Muskogee Friday at 4:00 p.m., and the Fishing teams will take to the waters at Ft. Gibson Saturday and Sunday.

Mack Taylor and Reese David place second at OBN season opener

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The 2020-2021 Oklahoma Bass Nation High School Fishing season kicked off Saturday on Lake Eufaula, and Sand Springs continued its tradition of success on the trail. Mack Taylor and Reese David, hot off a fourth-place finish in last year’s trail standings, placed second in the event.

Taylor and David caught five fish, weighing a total of 12.02 pounds. The two Sandites are in their third season with OBN and had their second-heaviest haul, with their highest finish. There were 57 total entrees in the event.

OBN is planning to hold four more trail events this school year, plus a State Championship. The next date and location have yet to be announced. The top teams from the final trail standings will advance to the Bass Nation High School National Championship next summer.

It isn’t too late to sign up for the season, and interested parties can contact OBN High School Director Richard Minyard at nokcrichard@aol.com or the Charles Page High School club at cphsfishingteam@gmail.com for more information.

Jerret Haley and Dalton DuVall place 2nd at OBN Fishing State Championship

After the Spring events were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Oklahoma Bass Nation high school fishing season resumed on Saturday, June 13th, at Lake Tenkiller. Saturday saw the third and final Trail event, and on Sunday the State Championship was held.

Gunner Casey and Cruz Norris placed ninth on Saturday with four fish totaling 10.88 pounds. Mack Taylor and Reese David were 13th with four fish weighing 9.96 pounds. Austin Smith and Joe Nelson placed 14th with four fish weighing 9.72 pounds. Jerret Haley and Dalton DuVall placed 38th with three fish weighing 5.64 pounds. Kyle and Kale Hilligoss placed 47th with two fish weighing 4.26 pounds. There were 72 total entrees in the event.

Haley and DuVall placed second on Sunday with four catches weighing 13.01 pounds, including the biggest fish of the tournament at 4.76 pounds. The Hilligosses were third with four fishing totaling 12.36 pounds. Taylor and David were 16th with four fish totaling 9.74 pounds. Casey and Norris were 25th with four fish weighing 8.56 pounds. Smith and Nelson placed 40th with three fish weighing 5.7 pounds.

Taylor and David finished fourth in the final team trail standings. Haley and DuVall were seventh, Norris and Casey were 14th, Smith and Nelson were 18th, and the Hilligosses were 32nd. Cole Scott and Seth Kearns missed the final two events but finished 40th.

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.