Jasyln Mock commits to UCO Rowing

A river runs through the middle of Sand Springs, but you never see much recreational activity on it. There is no high school row team at Charles Page High School - not even a club. But despite this, the school has sent three Lady Sandites to row at the collegiate level in recent years.

Kaylee Johnson and Hannah Hammond have both seen success rowing at the University of Oklahoma, and now Jaslynn Mock will continue the tradition at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond.

Her rowing experience? Using the ergometer at her crossfit gym. 

“I’m not doing this with any of my friends that I know,” said Mock. “I’m putting myself out there more and trying something new. I’ve done dance since I was two years old and I kind of want to try something new.”

Rowing stuck out to her because of the opportunity to stay active and get exercise, while also having a group of potential friends already there waiting for her. 

UCO competes at the NCAA Division 2 level in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. They have won three consecutive National Championships and third-year Head Coach Brian Ebke was named NCAA D2 Coach of the Year. The team trains and competes on the Oklahoma River in downtown Oklahoma City.

The recruiting process is a lot different for rowing than most other sports. Because so few high schools offer it and so few students have a background in it, UCO simply offers an email form on their website to get recruited, and often recruits from within the school’s existing student body. Each of their national-championship winning rosters has consisted of over 50 percent walk-ons with no rowing experience.

During her recruiting process, Mock got to tour the CHK | Central Boathouse and row with the coaches. She will start on the junior varsity roster and will have to earn her way to the varsity roster and any potential scholarship. She plans on studying criminal justice.

Sydney Pennington sets Oklahoma State home-run record

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

Sydney Pennington was already making waves in the softball community long before she donned the orange and black at Oklahoma State University. 

At Charles Page High School she made it to four State Tournaments and saw the finals her junior year. She was an All-State selection in both softball and basketball, and even put on a show as the powderpuff quarterback. She ended her senior season with a .543 batting average, which would be enough to get any college recruiter’s attention. But, recruiting was a nonfactor as she had already committed to the Pokes prior to her sophomore year.

Then-OSU Head Coach Rich Wieligman saw her potential after a .433 freshman year, and her offensive firepower was only part of the equation. Her athletic build and defensive abilities at shortstop and in the pitcher’s circle made it clear she was a future D1 star. When current Head Coach Kenny Gajewski took over in 2015, reaffirming Sydney’s commitment was one of his first big tasks. 

The rest is history, and some of it will be preserved in the history books for a good long time. The former Sandite set the all-time Oklahoma State career home-run record at 36 after hitting a solo shot against Mississippi State in the Regional finals, Sunday, May 23rd. She added a 37th against Texas in the Super Regional series. One of the coolest homers she has hit was a three-run blast as a sophomore that her own father caught over the outfield fence. 

Pennington’s senior season came to a close at 2:18 a.m. Sunday, June 6th after a rain-delayed 4-2 loss to Florida State at the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City. The Pokes put a stop to Georgia’s 5-0 postseason run in the first round of the tournament before falling 2-1 to James Madison, who also knocked off the top-ranked Oklahoma Sooners the day before. Their elimination game didn’t even start till after midnight. 

Pennington ended the season with a .270 batting average, 33 runs, 47 hits, and 36 RBI. She also hit a career-high 13 home runs to help OSU (48-12) post the third-most wins in its history and the best season under Gajewski.

Pennington said after the game on what stood out to her most this season, “I think the biggest thing is just the way that our team grew so much closer toward the end. It’s really tough to see these seniors play their last game because coach tells us all the time that we are not really going to remember the games.

“We’re going to remember these friendships and the memories and the moments that we make, and I think it’s just really important that we remember the really good moments that we had this year and just continue to stay in touch with these people. And once a Cowgirl, you’re a Cowgirl for life. I think it’s just really exciting to be able to look back and see how much we grew together throughout this season.”

Pennington went 1-for-3 in OSU’s finale that started 10 minutes before midnight.

“We were treating it like any other game,” Pennington said. “We weren’t discouraged by the time we were starting. We were probably more amped up. With our fans, we expect them to be there. They are the ones that get the crowds going and chant and get us up if we’re down and they are loyal, so I didn’t expect anything less from the crowd. They were awesome. There was a lot of orange in OKC this week. That was really exciting to see.”

Her already storied career will continue next season, as the Hotel and Restaurant Administration Major returns for one more season to add a minor to her degree and hopefully get the Pokes into their first-ever Series Finals.

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.

Sandites blank Glenpool 5-0 on Senior Night, upset Owasso

Hayden Blair hits a home run on Senior Night.

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

Sand Springs high school baseball is peaking at the right time, winning four of their last five games, including a 7-5 non-district upset of Owasso Monday, April 26. The Sandites (15-19) rallied from a 4-0 first-inning deficit against the top-ranked team in 6A-3.

Rhen Rutledge went 3-for-3 at the plate, scoring two runs, and Dom Ornelas hit a homer. The Rams gave up three runs on bases-loaded walks, and the Sandites scored on two errors and a wild pitch. Owasso won the Tuesday rematch 1-0.

The Sandites topped Guthrie 2-1 on Thursday after Keaton Campbell tripled in the sixth and scored on a sacrifice fly from Ty Pennington. Keaton also recorded a save on the mound, and Kayden Campbell got the win. 

Senior Night saw a 5-0 shutout of Glenpool as the Sandites also celebrated seven players and three managers. Senior Hayden Blair hit a home run, Dom Ornelas hit a three-run double, and Morgan Powell got the win on the mound. On Saturday they traveled to Westmoore and picked up a 7-4 victory behind a two-hit, two-strikeout pitching performance from Jabe Schlehuber.

In college baseball news, Sandite grads Cal Watkins and Cale Savage both announced they will be continuing their careers at Washburn University. Watkins will be transferring from Seminole State, while Savage has spent the last two seasons at Northern Oklahoma College at Enid.

Basketball

Marlo Fox recently announced his decommitment from Seward County Community College. He will instead enroll at Rogers State University. Fox averaged 18.6 points per game this season to lead the Sandites.

Softball

Lady Sandite Softball ended the slow pitch season 8-18, going 1-3 in their final week of the year. On Monday, April 26, they fell 21-6 to No. 9 Union, despite a grand slam from Taylor Skipper. At Regionals they won 8-4 against Putnam City before falling 16-0 and 16-7 to No. 3 Moore. Jaden Jordan and Lauren Hammock hit home runs in the final game of the season.

Oklahoma State University senior Sydney Pennington now sits second all-time in the school home-run record book after hitting her 32nd dinger against Texas on Saturday. The school record is 35. 

Soccer

The boys soccer team fell 4-2 to Union on Monday and 2-1 to Moore on Thursday. Fernando Saldana scored both goals against the Redskins, while freshman Nick Roberts scored his first career goal at Moore. The girls fell 7-0 to Union.

Karsen Lynch committed to play at Rogers State University next season, where she will join fellow teammate Ali Day. 

Track and Field

Sand Springs took a reduced roster to the Sapulpa Track Meet on Friday. They rested several athletes before the upcoming Regional Championship, which will be Saturday at Sapulpa. The boys team placed 11th and the girls took 7th.

Alejandro Lopez placed fifth in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:04.3, and Jestin Rawlins placed seventh in discus throw with a distance of 130 ft. 4 in. Cayla Magee placed fourth in discus with a distance of 95 ft. 8 in., and Kreedence Behnke placed fifth in the long jump with a distance of 14 ft. 1 in. 

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.