Stanfill's hat trick leads Sandites to 6-0 Senior Night rout of Putnam City

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This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

The Charles Page High School soccer teams went in different directions this season, with the boys going winless while the girls are still enjoying their best season in program history.

The girls (12-4) ended the regular season with a 6-0 senior night rout of Putnam City (3-12) Monday at Memorial Stadium and will travel to Broken Arrow (11-1) Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. for the playoffs.

“Great ending to a great regular season,” said head coach Cisco Chavez. “Moving forward…we’re done with the regular season. It’s out of our minds and we’re focused on postseason.”

The Lady Sandites haven’t made it to the playoffs since 2012 and likely haven’t won a playoff game since 1988, though records for the program are spotty at best.

While past successful teams have often been senior-loaded, this year’s unit is led by a lot of younger players, including freshman forward Lainey Stanfill, who scored a hat trick with two assists in Monday’s regular season finale.

Alyssa Cunningham scored the first goal of the game in the 18th minute on a second-effort kick after her first shot was smacked down by the goalie.

Stanfill had her first two shots on goal saved late in the first half and the Sandites only led 1-0 at halftime.

In the 52nd minute Stanfill juked past the Putnam goalie and tapped in a leftie layup to ignite a scoring frenzy from the home team. 

Karsen Lynch scored a header off a blocked shot from Stanfill three minutes later, then Stanfill drilled her second goal from 25 yards out in the 65th minute. 

Stanfill booted her 23rd goal of the season in the 70th minute, then freshman Ashlee Feigenbaum connected on her first goal of the year with four minutes left on an assist from Cunningham.

“Obviously Lainey’s had one heck of a season, but it’s really been this team,” said Chavez. “They’re something special. They all gel well, they all cheer each other on.”

“That last goal - we’ve been cheering for Ashlee to get her goal. She’s hit the crossbar so many times and she finally got it on Senior Night, so it’s a pretty cool ending. All the girls were happy for her.”

“This is a team that’s together, and that’s what I’m most proud of.”

Moriah Literell recorded the clean sheet in the victory.

The boys suffered a 6-0 loss despite a seven-save effort from freshman goalie Eddie Hernandez. 

The game stayed scoreless till the final ten minutes of the first half, and the Sandites only trailed 2-0 at halftime before the Pirates got hot late in the second half.

“This was a rebuilding year from the beginning, and we knew that going in,” said first-year head coach Brent Lollis. “What we did this year was, we played the youngest 6A team in the state all season.”

“They’re essentially a team that got a full year of varsity experience that the other guys their age didn’t get. So building into next year, I think these boys are going to be better for the experience that they got this year.”

“They grew together, they did a lot of things that needed to happen at Sand Springs to build a program. They raised a bunch of money, they got new training equipment, they got new uniforms, they did a lot of things that are building blocks.”

“One of the things that I think it’s important for people to know is that the goal of our team here is to build a program at Sand Springs that can compete every year without relying on star players.”

Between matches, the Sandites celebrated seniors Alisa Gramm, Litterell, Lynch, Evelin Marino, Jade Patton, Jocelyn Sigala, Cassidy Tiepelman, Evan Bise, Ryan Clark, Justin Guynn, Shawn Hayes, Kyle Haynes, and Tyson Wright.

Julia Kemp receives support from Sand Springs baseball community in face of cancer diagnosis

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This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

“Sandite baseball is more than a team,” Sandite announcer Bob Walker said before Thursday’s junior varsity baseball game. “We are a family.”

“When one of our own is hurting, we all experience the hurt together and lift one another’s heads.”

Thursday marked a somber occasion at the Sandite Baseball Complex as a packed house turned out more for the pre-game ceremonies than for the actual ballgame. 

All eyes were on freshman second baseman Lathan Kemp throughout the game, and most of the crowd was there to support his mother and family.

By the time the cancer was discovered in Julia Kemp’s liver and colon, it was already in stage four. Doctors informed her there was no cure, and she recently decided not to continue chemotherapy. 

She is currently in hospice, but she managed to make it out to the final home game of the year and was surprised to discover the outpouring of love the Sand Springs community had planned for her.

“It’s amazing,” said Julia. “I mean, I was completely surprised. I almost didn’t come because I was hurting so bad but they got me out and here I am. Sand Springs has always been a community that has pulled together. My son needs all the support he can get.”

The Sandites surprised Julia by wearing special "Sandite Support Squad" t-shirts and presented her with flowers before the game. Her husband, Trey, threw out the first pitch, and the entire family came out to show their love.

For anyone going through a similar experience, Julia offers some simple advice. 

“Just keep going one day at a time. It’s the little things. You might not be able to do the whole thing but do little things at a time and it adds up to big things.”

Jarrod Patterson resigns for assistant coaching position at Appalachian State University

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This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

For only the third time this century, Charles Page High School is looking for a wrestling coach. 

After four seasons as head coach, Jarrod Patterson has resigned to take a job as an assistant coach at Appalachian State University, an NCAA Division I program in Boone, North Carolina.

“It’s a tough place to leave because obviously there’s a lot of support and a lot of wrestling people here, and our family’s real close, but we just decided (to do this) while we’re still young,” said Patterson.

“I’ve been wanting to coach at the college level for the last couple of years so we decided if we’re not going to do it now, it won’t ever happen.”

Patterson took over the Sandite program in 2018 following the retirement of Kelly Smith. His teams went 29-19 in duals and won two district championships, placing 7th, 10th, 18th, and 13th at the State tournament with 23 qualifiers.

His stint at Sand Springs was his first as a head coach and he was previously an assistant at Brown University in Rhode Island.

“I coached for a year at Brown and really enjoyed it,” said Patterson. “Brown wasn’t a super good fit for me there. The location wasn’t great, being so far away from family and my girlfriend (now wife).”

The App State program has been trending upwards, and went 9-2 this season, placing second in the Southern Conference and 28th at the NCAA championship.

“I talked to some of my college buddies and a couple of them sent (the job listing) to me and told me about their coach, JohnMark, and said he was a good guy to work for,” said Patterson.

JohnMark Bentley has led the Mountaineers to a 51-5 conference record in the last eight seasons and has a 122-73-1 record over the last 13 years with six SoCon regular-season titles. He recently signed a contract extension through 2027.

According to Patterson, the school recently added three scholarship positions to the wrestling roster and is expected to add more in the coming years to help make the program even more competitive. 

“It’s a program that’s kind of on the rise right now, so I think it’s a good place to be.”

Patterson will finish out the school year at Sand Springs before the family moves to North Carolina on June 1st. His wife has also secured a new job in Boone. 

He informed his team before practice earlier this week that he wouldn’t be back next year.

“It’s a hard thing to do, to tell them that I’m not going to be the coach, but I also told them it was an opportunity for me. It was something I’ve been dreaming of, and we preach to the kids to chase their dreams.”

“I have a good relationship with a lot of the kids. We’re together first hour and second hour and they all come hang out in the wrestling room all day long. So I think having that relationship, they understand that it’s an opportunity for me.”

Patterson has nothing but good things to say about Sand Springs, despite leaving. 

“I’m in an awesome high school coaching position. I feel like I have all the resources I need, I have tons of support from parents and alumni. It’s just a great place to coach so leaving a position like this is kind of difficult.”

“It’s been great. I’ve had a lot of support. Obviously it’s not my hometown, but I’ve felt like within the last four years it’s kind of grown into my hometown.”

Patterson inherited the Sandites at an interesting time after the sudden retirement of 16-year head coach Kelly Smith, just a year removed from a State Championship. Smith, who now operates a Farmer’s Insurance agency in Sand Springs, has also stayed on as an assistant coach and his son is a junior on the team.

“Kelly Smith has been great. He’s helped me through that transition period,” said Patterson.

“(Earl) Shockley and TeDon (Fleischman) have been awesome with me. It’s hard to leave those guys as well. And obviously we’ve got some great junior high coaches. I had a good group of coaches to coach with and that made it hard to leave, as well.”

“I think the biggest challenge in the beginning was not having relationships with the kids, parents, and alumni. They don’t really know what to expect from me in the beginning. They don’t know my personality, how hard I work, or my goals.”

Patterson views his time in Sand Springs as a period of major personal growth.

“Those who were around me in the beginning know that I’m an introverted person by nature. Having a head coaching spot, I feel like it’s been really good for me as far as learning speaking skills, learning to fundraise, learning communication skills, doing a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff, working with kids. Kids have all different kinds of emotions, different personalities.”

“I got a lot of experience as far as working with kids individually, communication with parents, fans, kids as a whole. I feel like I’ve definitely grown in the last four years.”

“Coach Patterson has been an integral part of Sandite Wrestling,” said Sand Springs Athletic Director Rod Sitton.

“We will miss him absolutely. He has been given an opportunity that few will ever get and we wish him and his family all the best at Appalachian State.”

As for the next head coach at Sand Springs, they’ll have a great community to step into and benefit from. 

“I think we have an awesome group of coaches from youth to junior high to high school, that were on the same page,” said Patterson. 

“I think we’re in a position where somebody can step in and they’re in a good position to really just jump right in and hit the ground running. The kids work hard, they want to win, they’re disciplined. They’re all very respectful kids. It’s just a fun group of athletes and coaches to be around, and it’s a fun group of admin as well. I had a lot of support as far as that goes as well.”

Sand Springs weekly roundup: Eli Buxton pitches perfect game in 20-0 shutout of US Grant

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Left to right: Abbie Dunn, Daffaney Snyder, Caitlin Shipman. Courtesy of Dana Peacock.

This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

The Charles Page High School baseball team (26-5, 9-3) started last week with a pair of run-rule district shutouts, 18-0 and 20-0, at U.S. Grant (1-14, 0-7) before taking on Oologah-Talala, Bixby, and Tahlequah in non-district play.

Jabe Schlehuber (5-1) threw a five-inning one-hitter with seven strikeouts in the first game and Keaton Campbell went 4-for-4 at the plate with two runs and five RBI to lead a slugging crew that amassed 15 hits.

Eli Buxton (2-0) pitched a perfect game in the nightcap, tossing 11 strikeouts as the visitors recorded 14 hits. 

Keaton Campbell continued his dominant night at the plate, going 2-of-3 with three runs, three RBI, and a triple. Ty Pennington was 2-of-2 with three runs, three RBI, and a home run, and Jace Arnold was 2-of-2 with two runs, three RBI, and a triple. 

On Thursday the Sandites traveled to Oologah (15-9) and won 11-4 while out-hitting the Mustangs 12 to six. 

Kayden Campbell (3-0) tossed eight strikeouts with five hits and two walks in five innings, while Gage Elliott threw one hit, one strikeout, and one HBP in two innings of relief. 

Keaton Cambpell led at the plate, going 3-of-5, while Schlehuber scored one run and three RBI.

The Sandites’ six-game win streak came to an end on Senior Night in a 17-7 run-rule loss to Bixby (27-5).

The Spartans scored five runs in the first, second, and third innings and out-hit the Sandites 17 to eight with nine home runs.

John Keim (4-1) took his first loss of the season, tossing two hits, five walks, and three strikeouts in two-thirds of an inning. Elliott threw 10 hits, one strikeout, and one walk in two innings, and Wyatt Rutledge threw five hits and one walk in 2.1 innings.

The Sandites also had strong offensive performances in the second and fourth innings, but couldn’t stymie the Spartan bats that combined for nine homers.

Pennington went 2-of-3 with two runs, three RBI, and a home run, and Keaton Campbell hit a solo homer.

Prior to the game the Sandites celebrated seniors Carson Seabolt, Jacob Shields, Cale Askew, Keaton Campbell, Jason Clark, Brooks Dudley, Nathan Gibson, Gabe Glenn, Keim, Ethan Norton, Pennington, and manager Avery Tanner.

Sand Springs wrapped up the busy week with a high-noon showdown at Tahlequah (9-19) and won 16-3 in five innings.

Arnold (6-0) got the win on the mound, tossing three hits, six strikeouts, and no walks in four innings. Buxton threw two strikeouts and one walk, surrendering one hit in an inning of relief.

Glenn and Dom Ornelas both hit home runs and the team amassed 11 hits overall.

Sand Springs will wrap up the regular season with a district home-and-away series against Putnam City North Monday and Tuesday, followed by home games against Sapulpa Thursday at 6:00 p.m. and Westmoore Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

Softball

The No. 15 Sand Springs slow pitch team (7-12) picked up an 11-8 upset win against No. 8 Union (15-16) Tuesday but fell 8-0 to Bixby in the evening game and 16-7 to No. 5 Jenks (23-8) in Thursday’s regular season finale.

The Sandites will travel to Jenks for a three-team Regional tournament on Wednesday, April 27th, with a first-round game against No. 14 Guthrie (12-8) at 10:00 a.m. 

Sand Springs has yet to play the Bluejays this season, but they’re 1-2 against Jenks, upsetting the Trojans 7-5 at the Haskell tournament in March.

Golf

Gina Foster shot a 103 and Madison Chambers shot 116 at the Frontier Valley Conference Championship in Bartlesville on Wednesday. Chambers scored 108 and Foster scored 110 at the Skiatook tournament on Thursday.

The boys’ Skiatook tournament was rescheduled for Wednesday, April 27th.

Track and Field

The Sand Springs varsity girls placed ninth and the boys took 13th at the Terry Due Track Classic in Collinsville on Friday. The freshman girls and boys both placed eighth and Sandites won four total events.

Layne Kirkendoll won the high jump with a mark of 5 ft. 6 in. and the long jump with a distance of 17 ft. 0.75 in. Jestin Rawlins won the discus throw with a mark of 162 ft. 9 in.

Jazmin Lopez placed fifth in the 800-meter run in 2:32.42.

In freshman action, Gracie Gifford placed third in the 1600 in 6:37.39 and won the 3200 uncontested in 14:37.93. Briona Searcy was second in long jump at 14 ft. 9 in.

Caleb Goodman ran the 110 hurdles in 17.51 seconds for fourth place, Preston Kennedy ran the 100 in 11.8 for fifth, Jacob York ran the 400 in 1:00.56 for sixth. Kennedy also placed third in the high jump at 5 ft. 4 in. and was sixth in the long jump at 17 ft. 8.5 in.

The freshman boys placed third in the 4x100 relay in 48.01 and fourth in the 4x200 in 1:43.68.

Tennis

Kira Shipley placed seventh in No. 1 Singles, Abbie Dunn placed sixth in No. 2 Singles, and Caitlin Shipman and Daffaney Snyder placed seventh in No. 1 Doubles at the Broken Arrow tournament on Friday, April 15th.

On Monday, April 18th the girls won the consolation bracket at the Bartlesville tournament with Dunn defeating Muskogee and Ponca City in No. 1 Singles, while Shipman and Snyder defeated Edison and Ponca City in No. 1 Doubles. 

Lainey Stanfill leads Lady Sandites to 1-0 upset of Union

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This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

The 2022 Lady Sandite soccer season has been all about making history, and Tuesday’s 1-0 win against Union was no exception.

With under seven minutes left to play, freshman star Lainey Stanfill connected on her 20th goal of the season to knock off the perennial powerhouse RedHawks (10-5, 6-1) and lift the Sandites (11-4, 4-2) to a new program-best record.

“The Union game was something out of a movie,” said first-year head coach Cisco Chavez.

“Ava (Watts) took it from about half field, it bounced right in front of the keeper and went over. She tipped it out right to Lainey’s foot. Lainey put it in the net and the rest is history, kind of like our season. Just making history, historic moments, and we’re going to keep going.”

The game marked the first time this season the RedHawks have been shut out. Union has averaged more than four goals per game this year, led by University of Arkansas commit Makenzie Malham.

“Lockdown defense,” said Chavez. “We stopped the Gatorade Player of the Year from last year (Malham). They stuck to the assignment and they played well.”

The Sandites had an unfortunate end to the week in a 5-0 loss at Edmond North (11-1, 6-1) with a district title on the line. 

The day got off to a rocky start from the very beginning when the Sandites arrived late to the match due to a scheduling mixup. 

The teams had agreed three weeks prior to move the match up from 6:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. to help the Huskies manage extensive Senior Night festivities between the girls’ and boys’ games. That change of schedule wasn’t documented on the Sandites’ end, however, and the girls had to go straight to action right off the bus.

To make matters worse, Katie Webb suffered a likely season-ending MCL sprain shortly into the first half, and the Sandites were on the receiving end of a 30 MPH headwind that made it nearly impossible to move the ball outside of their own box. 

“We haven’t had wind like this all year,” said Chavez. “First half, (Edmond North) came out, they put their chances away. Unfortunately, we couldn’t put it in the back of the net tonight, and that happens.”

The Huskies took a 4-0 lead into the half on goals by Ady Bechtel, Maddie Holub, Elle Schuppan, and Desi Abney. 

The Sandites played a far closer match in the second half but still only managed one shot on goal, with Leslie Miller recording the save. Julia McBride added the final goal of the night in the 52nd minute to put the match away.

Sophomore goalie Christina Thompson came away with seven saves in the contest.

“I’ll put this loss on me,” said Chavez. “This was mine for miscommunication with the other coaches. This loss was on me, not on the girls. We look forward to bouncing back and moving forward.”

Due to circular losses in a hotly contested district, the Sandites would have finished first with a win, but slipped to fourth with the loss. They will play the 6A-4 District Champions in the postseason, either Broken Arrow (10-1) or Owasso (14-0).

Sand Springs will wrap up the season Monday with a Senior Night district match against Putnam City (3-11, 0-6) at 6:00 p.m.

Boys

The Sandites (0-11, 0-6) fell by way of 10-0 mercy rule Tuesday against Union (10-5, 5-2) and lost 8-0 to Edmond North (9-3, 5-2) Friday night on the road. They will have one last shot at a win Monday at 8:00 p.m. when they host Putnam City (5-7, 2-3) on Senior Night. 

Sand Springs weekly sports roundup: Journey Armstead signs with Hutchinson CC

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This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

Charles Page High School celebrated three athletes Wednesday, April 13th at the Ed Dubie Field House, who signed collegiate letters of intent.

Journey Armstead signed to play basketball at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas. The Blue Dragons went 29-6 this past season, making it to the second round of the NJCAA tournament.

Armstead finished her career as one of the most accomplished Lady Sandite basketball players in school history, scoring 1525 points, and was named to the All-State team. 

Ashley Blake signed to cheer and Alyssa King signed to dance at Oklahoma Baptist University, an NCAA Division II school in Shawnee.  

Baseball

The Sandites’ nine-game win streak came to an end in a 2-0 upset against Southmoore (9-16, 3-7) on Monday, April 11. They won the second district meeting 1-0, however, and went on to beat Bartlesville and Glenpool in non-district action.

Sand Springs (22-4, 7-3) is off to its best start since 2012, but even district-leader Owasso couldn’t get past Southmoore.

The Sabercats played spoiler once again on Monday despite being out-hit six to two. The Sandites stranded two in the first, three in the fourth, two in the fifth, and two in the seventh. 

Jabe Schlehuber (4-1) struck out 11 while giving up only two hits and three walks in his first loss of the season.

The Tuesday rematch was equally close with the Sandites stranding two in the second, three in the third, and two in the fifth before Gabe Glenn hit his third home run of the season to lead off the sixth.

Southmoore loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning but Kayden Campbell (2-0) struck out the side to earn a save. Carson Seabolt (4-1) struck out six batters in five innings with three hits for the win.

The Sandites’ bats got hot again on Thursday with a 5-0 shutout of Bartlesville (19-9) that saw Keaton Campbell hit his fourth homer of the year. Jace Arnold (5-0) tossed a complete game with seven strikeouts and only two hits.

Dom Ornelas blasted his team-leading sixth homer of the year in a 10-1 five-inning run-rule win over Glenpool (9-19) on Friday. The Sandites combined for 11 hits in the win.

John Keim (4-0) tossed three strikeouts, three walks, and two hits in four innings, and Kayden Campbell tossed one strikeout and one walk in an inning of relief.

Sand Springs will return to action Monday with a district double-header at U.S. Grant (1-10, 0-6) before traveling to Oologah (13-7) on Thursday, hosting Bixby (24-5) on Friday, and traveling to Tahlequah (8-15) on Saturday.

Girls Golf

Gina Foster shot a 111 and Madison Chambers shot 119 at the Union tournament on Tuesday, then Foster shot 103 and Chambers scored 106 at Sapulpa on Wednesday. 

Slow Pitch

The No. 15 Sand Springs softball team (6-10) ended a tough week on a high note, beating Bartlesville 9-6 on the back end of a double-header. 

The Bruins won the first game 8-6 after a sixth inning rally spoiled the Sandites’ 6-3 lead. Earlier in the week the Sandites fell 16-6 to both Berryhill and No. 5 Jenks.

The Sandites will host Bixby and Union in a double-header on Tuesday before traveling to Jenks on Thursday to wrap up the regular season against the Trojans and Pryor.

Boys Soccer

The Sandites’ Tuesday Senior Night district match with Putnam City was rescheduled for April 25th at 6:00 p.m. due to inclement weather. They fell 3-0 to Stillwater (7-6, 1-4) on Friday and dropped to 0-9 on the season.

Tennis

The Sandite girls tennis team won a quad meet with Rejoice Christian on Tuesday. 

Abbie Dubb won the No. 2 Singles battle 2-1 against Reagan Cherry, with sets of 10-7, 5-7, and 10-7. 

The No. 1 Doubles team of Caitlin Shipman and Daffaney Snyder won their match 2-1 with sets of 6-4, 2-6, and 10-6.

Track & Field

The girls track team placed fifth and the boys took eighth at the Broken Arrow Track Classic on Friday.

Layne Kirkendoll won the high jump with a mark of 5 ft. 6 in. and the long jump with a distance of 17 ft. 11.25 in. Jestin Rawlins was runner-up in discus throw with a mark of 164 ft. 8 in.

Kelsi Hilton placed third in the 3200 in 12:52.42 and Gracie Gifford took sixth in 13:51.81.

Caleb Goodman placed fourth in the 110 hurdles in 19.1 seconds. Preston Kennedy was seventh in the high jump with a mark of 5 ft. 6 in. Matthew Shelton was eighth in the shot put with a distance of 41 ft. 11.25 in.

The girls relay teams placed third in the 1600 sprint medley, fourth in the distance medley, fourth in the 4x200, and seventh in the 4x100.

The boys relay teams placed sixth in the distance medley, seventh in the 1600 sprint medley, 11th in the 4x100, and 14th in the 4x200.