Meghan Charles wins Frontier Valley Conference Championship

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

The top female golfer in the Frontier Valley Conference is a Sandite this year. Meghan Charles isn’t a new name on the scene - she is already a two-time State Qualifier. But the young star has found another gear in her senior season and has already earned three first-place medals. 

Charles won the Sand Springs and Sapulpa tournaments, and earned the Frontier Valley Conference title. The conference meet was held simultaneously with the Jenks Invitational at South Lakes. There were also non-conference teams at the tournament, and Charles placed second overall with a round of 74, but was the top-performing FVC athlete. 

“Meghan is a joy to have coached for these last four years,” says Head Coach Matt Webb. “She’s one of those athletes that every coach wants to have. She’s worked hard. She’s very driven. She wanted to play college golf and she signed back in November with Oklahoma City University.”

“After this year she should be a four-time State Qualifier, but last year we didn’t have (a State Tournament). I expect her to qualify again this year. Freshman year she shot both rounds in the 90s, sophomore year both rounds were in the 80s, and she hasn’t shot out of the 70s yet this year. She’s really worked hard to develop her game. She can play. She’s definitely one of our better female golfers we’ve had around here.”

Charles also placed sixth at Edmond North, second at Stillwater, third at Owasso, fourth at Union, and fourth at the State Preview tournament. She has shot under 80 at every single tournament, and has logged three rounds of 74. 

“It has felt so good,” says Charles. “I feel like for so long I put in a lot of work and the scores didn’t really come along, but this year I feel like it’s starting to really pay off.”

She started golfing at a young age and really fell in love with it in middle school. “I love how much of a mental game it is. You don’t really need to be super strong or athletic to do golf. It’s more about the mental game, so it’s really helped me grow in that way.”

As her senior season draws to a close, she has two goals: place top-five at Regionals, and top-five at State. Next year she plans on studying nursing at OCU. “I’m really passionate about helping people, and I felt like I was being called in that direction.”

The boys team is also seeing some success this season, and placed second at the Skiatook tournament last week, just four strokes back from first place. Drew Paden shot 78 for second place, Mason Ward shot 81 for ninth, Cole Hight shot 86, Seth Benton shot 89, and Zane Downey shot 98.

Sandite Soccer Slays on Senior Night

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

Sandite Soccer couldn’t have had a better Senior Night, as both the boys and girls teams rolled to lopsided district shutouts against Putnam City West, Friday night at Memorial Stadium.

The girls won their match 4-0 to snap a three-game losing streak. They previously lost 2-0 Tuesday at Moore while playing without starting goalie Ali Day, but the Rogers State-bound senior returned from injury for the clean sheet against the Patriots. Teagan Smith scored two goals, and Lauren Foster and Evyn Morrow scored one apiece. Josie Gelsthorpe added an assist.

“This group of seniors has been a pretty impactful group,” said Head Coach Matthew Watkins. “Through the coaches turnover over the years, they’ve kind of been a solid set that have really started setting the foundation for Sandite soccer in the future. It’s just a good group of girls. Quality leadership on the field and off.”

The girls are 7-4 on the season with three matches left, and one more win will give them their best mark since 2016.

The boys stormed out to a 5-0 lead at the half and ultimately won 8-0 behind a hat trick from Fernando Saldana. Jack Bratcher added two goals, and Joel Hendricks, Zach Heinen, and Cameron Summerton scored one piece. Bratcher and Saldana had two assists each, and Xander Quiroga made two saves for the clean sheet. 

“We’ve got a good group of seniors,” said Head Coach Garland Betts. “Six of them have been starting since they were freshmen, so it's a good group of kids that’s been playing together for four years. Fernando played really well, he always plays hard. That whole group of seniors, they always play hard, they always compete no matter what the score is. Fernando is a really good player, probably one of the best in the state, if not the best player in the state.”

Saldana now leads the team in scoring this season with 11 goals and one penalty kick, followed by Bratcher with 11 goals. Bratcher is signed with Oral Roberts University, but Saldana has yet to commit. 

The boys have had their past two games canceled due to severe weather. A district match at Union will be made up on Tuesday the 27th, and the Moore game will be played on the 30th. Both the boys and girls will return to action Friday at Booker T. Washington, with the girls playing at 6:00 p.m. and the boys at 8:00 p.m.

Between games, the teams honored 13 seniors: Shyanne Cooke, Day, Gelsthorpe, Alyssa Perry, Smith, Bratcher, Hayden Brooks, Isaiah Edwards, David Fancher, Heinen, Quiroga, Saldana, and Summerton. 

Senior Class Wins Powerpuff and Weekly Sports Roundup

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

After a three-year hiatus, powderpuff football returned to Memorial Stadium Saturday night. The Charles Page High School seniors dominated the lower classmen in the Senior Celebration fundraiser event, not giving up a single score. The event raised nearly $1800 for the all-night lock-in event that will be held after graduation.

The 21 Puff Street senior team defeated the Hoosier Daddies underclassmen 34-0 in the first game and 19-0 in the second. Cameron Clemons, Raegan Padilla, Drew Hawkins, and Madison Lee all scored touchdown runs. Kali Baker threw a dime to Lee for a TD and ran in three PATs. Lee and Ali Day both scored pick sixes, and Day took hers 79 yards before also catching the PAT toss from Baker. 

Baseball

Sandite Baseball is in a six-game slump after dropping two district games to Enid and a non-district game against Tulsa NOAH last week.

Monday’s game against Enid went fourteen innings before the Plainsmen won 6-5 on a walkoff single. The bullpen combined for 12 strikeouts in the loss, and Cason Savage hit a triple. Tuesday’s rematch was an 8-3 decision, 

Jace Arnold threw six strikeouts and Savage hit a home run in the loss to NOAH on Thursday, but six walks, two singles, and two errors in the top of the sixth gave the Jags the comeback.

Sand Springs will host Oologah-Talala Thursday at 5:00 p.m. and Sapulpa Friday at 6:00 p.m. in non-district action.

Cheer

Senior Sandite cheerleader Claire Smith has signed to join the University of Central Arkansas cheer team next season.

Dance

Sandite Dance traveled to the Dance Team Union Nationals in Orlando, and placed seventh in Hip Hop.

Golf

Meghan Charles has been bringing home some medals for the Sandite golf team this season. The Oklahoma City University-bound senior placed second at the Jenks Invitational and won the Frontier Valley Conference title with a round of 74. 

Slow Pitch Softball

Sandite Slow Pitch is 7-14 on the season after going 0-4 this past week against a tough slate of ranked teams. The girls dropped losses of 18-17 to Jenks, 13-7 to Pryor, 16-8 to Kellyville, and 10-7 to Union. 

The girls led 17-10 going into the bottom of the seventh Monday against Jenks, but the Trojans rallied with six hits and won on a walkoff fly. Avery Tanner was 4-of-5 at the plate, scoring three runs and two RBI, and Raegan Rector hit a homer.

Jaden Jordan hit a home run against Pryor, then Jordan, Kelsi Hilton, and Taylor Skipper all went yard against Kellyville. Jordan and Hilton repeated against Union, and Avery Tanner also smacked one over the right field fence.

Sandite Softball will host No. 3 Broken Arrow Thursday at 4:30 p.m. 

Track and Field

The Sandites’ trip to Jenks was postponed due to weather, giving the athletes an off week. Joseph Mattison recently signed a letter of intent to run track at Coffeyville Community College on scholarship next season, and junior Layne Kirkendoll has received scholarship offers from Oral Roberts University and South Dakota State University. 

Joseph Mattison commits to Coffeyville Community College

A version of this story was originally published in Vype.

Charles Page High School senior Joseph Mattison came into his senior season with the goal of earning a college scholarship, and hard work and dedication have made that goal a reality. The sprinter and long jumper recently signed a collegiate letter of intent and will run at Coffeyville Community College next year.

“JoJo is the definition of hard work and determination,” says Sandite Head Coach Tim Dial. “He has been unstoppable training on the track and in the weight room. We put together a plan for him this last June to get him to college. He has executed every part of the plan without ever second guessing the path we had him on. He is the type of kid that every coach wishes they had a team full of! JoJo has some big goals to finish out his senior season and will do some great things at Coffeyville with Coach Morrie Turner.”

Mattison started running track in the seventh grade. “I decided to join the team because I saw it as an opportunity to compete,” he says. “Then I went to my first track meet, won a medal, and loved the sport ever since.”

He has really been developing in his senior year, setting new personal bests in all three of his events. He has a 100-meter dash time of 11.27 seconds, a 200 time of 22.18 seconds, and a long jump distance of 20’06.50”, all from this season. He has won one long jump event, and has earned four third-place medals in various events this year.

Mattison has also earned his way into the school record books. His sophomore 4x400 and 1600-medley relay teams set all-time Sand Springs records, and his freshman 4x100 team ranks second in town history. His sophomore 4x400 relay team qualified for State after placing second at Regionals, which is one of his favorite memories. 

The young Sandite star has yet to decide on a major or career-path. For now he is enjoying developing his abilities as an athlete, and fishing and hunting in his spare time.

Layne Kirkendoll Sets Sand Springs High Jump Record

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

Sandite Track and Field traveled to the Owasso Ram Relays Friday. The girls placed eighth and the boys placed ninth.

Layne Kirkendoll won her second high jump of the year, setting a new school record of 5 feet 7 inches. She also won her fourth long jump of the year with a personal-best mark of 18’06.5”, which is the second-best distance in school history. 

Noah Hanlon was among the top boys in the 3200m run with a time of 11:17.94 for sixth place. Alejandro Lopez had the fifth-best time in the 800m at 2:08.49. Morgan Lockhart was fifth in the 300m hurdles in 44.33. Greg Reed took sixth in the long jump at 19’10”.

Sakauri Wilson won her heat in the 100m and had the fourth-best time overall at 13.02 seconds. Jazmin Lopez placed fourth in the 800, finishing in 2:27.88. 

Soccer

Sandite Soccer had a tough past week, as both the boys and girls teams dropped district matches against Broken Arrow on Tuesday before having their Friday games at Union canceled due to weather.

The boys (5-4 overall, 1-1 district) fell 3-0 Tuesday at Memorial Stadium, while the girls (6-3, 0-2) fell 5-1 to Broken Arrow. Teagan Smith scored her third goal of the season three minutes into the match, but the Tigers rattled off five unanswered to end the game.

Sand Springs will host Putnam City West for their final home games of the regular season Friday night at Memorial Stadium. 

Baseball

Sandite Baseball (10-13, 4-6) went 0-3 last week, dropping two close district games against Stillwater, and an 8-1 trip to Union. 

Stillwater won 7-5 on Monday and 11-10 on Tuesday. Dom Ornelas hit a home run in both games, and Keaton Campbell and Ty Pennington also went yard on Tuesday. Pennington was 3-for-3 at the plate Tuesday. 

Friday’s game at Bixby was canceled due to weather, and they returned to action Saturday at Union. The Sandites put up seven hits, including three doubles, but stranded six in the loss. 

The Sandite sluggers will return to action Thursday at 6:00 p.m. with a non-district home game against Tulsa NOAH. 

Slow Pitch Softball

Sandite Softball snapped a five-game skid Thursday with a 5-0 win over Owasso. They went 0-4 Monday and Tuesday at the Jenks Festival, then fell 11-10 to Jenks on Thursday. 

A 12-run inning and a home run from Jaden Jordan wasn’t quite enough Monday against Red Oak. Down 17-0 after two innings, the girls rallied to cut it to 17-14 before running out of steam. In game two they led 9-7 before Haskell rallied with four runs in the fifth. 

The Sandites lost another close one Tuesday against Choctaw, 9-8, then Mustang won 14-3 in the final game of the festival. 

Jordan homered, Raegan Rector tripled, and the Sandites led Jenks 10-9 in the bottom of the seventh, but the Trojans won on a walkoff single. 

The win over Owasso didn’t come with much fireworks, but they got their second shutout of the year behind Kaden Barnes’s pitching. Kelsi Hilton supplied two hits, two RBI, and one run to pace the offense.

The girls will host Jenks Thursday at 5:00 p.m.

Fishing

Cruz Norris and Gunnar Casey had yet another hot finish on the Oklahoma Bass Nation high school trail, placing fifth on Keystone Lake Saturday. The duo just won their previous event on Grand Lake. 

Norris and Casey caught three fish, weighing 9.07 pounds, with their biggest coming in at 3.91. Kyle and Kale Hilligoss placed 26th with two fish weighing 4.22 pounds, and Mack Taylor and Reese David placed 28th with two fish weighing 3.96 pounds.

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.