Sandite Cross Country Opens Season at Sapulpa, Kelsi Hilton and Cole Higgins Place 2nd

After dropping out of the Owasso Ram Relays on August 25th, the Sand Springs cross country program finally kicked off the season Saturday morning in Sapulpa.

The Lady Sandites didn’t have enough runners to earn a team place, but Kelsi Hilton placed second out of 73 runners with a time of 12:48.27 in the two-mile.

The varsity boys also didn’t have a full lineup, but Rafi Huff turned in an impressive time of 11:42.37 for 14th place out of 86 runners in the two-mile race.

The junior varsity boys placed fourth out of five teams, led by Kordel Hartmann with a two-mile time of 12:26.41 for 11th place out of 86 runners.

The junior high boys made a strong showing in the one-mile, finishing in fourth place out of 16 teams with an average time of 6:18.11. Cole Higgins took second place out of 198 runners with a time of 5:22.03 to lead the Sandites.

Anderson Schools, also located in Sand Springs, took 10th place in the junior high boys race, led by Jonathan Reeve with a 6:09.74 time for 33rd place.

Anderson’s junior high girls team took seventh place out of 13 teams, led by Tindle Smith in 6:21.74 for 12th place out of 167 runners.

The Sand Springs junior high girls didn’t have enough runners to earn a team place in the one-mile run, but Mya Wagers turned in an impressive time of 6:47.14 for 26th place.

The Sand Springs elementary boys placed sixth out of 12 teams in the one-mile run with an average time of 7:18.77, led by Kellen Adkins with a time of 6:34.86 for ninth place out of 160 runners.

Anderson Elementary took eighth place in the boys run with an average time of 7:30.31. Ezra Gibson led the Trojans with a time of 6:39.17 for 13th place.

Anderson took fifth place out of 11 teams in the one-mile elementary girls run with an average time of 8:03.16, led by Carlin Gibson in 14th place with a time of 7:31.78.

The Sand Springs elementary girls took 10th place with an average time of 8:47.79. Kinley Snow led the little lady Sandites with a time of 7:51.18 for 29th place out of 151 runners.

Sandite Cross Country will return to action at the Booker T. Washington Invitational on Thursday at O’Brien Park. Varsity girls will start the meet at 3:30 p.m., followed by varsity boys, junior varsity, and middle school.

The Anderson junior high will return to action Friday at Claremore at 10:30 a.m.

Sand Springs Varsity Boys
14th - Rafi Huff - 11:42.37
16th - Dallas Potter - 11:43.92
19th - Anshun Syong - 11:49.85

Sand Springs Junior Varsity Boys
11th - Kordel Hartmann - 12:26.41
26th - Jessen Cox - 13:17.53
28th - Dax Wilcox - 13:25.65
31st - Jaxon Perry - 13:35.55
36th - Gavin Corbin - 13:53.40
38th - Gabriel Baker - 13:59.03
47th - Malachi Waldrup - 14:29.02
62nd - Rhys Foster - 16:23.80

Sand Springs Varsity Girls
2nd - Kelsi Hilton - 12:48.27
40th - Blakelee Meeker - 16:17.10

Sand Springs Junior High Boys
2nd - Cole Higgins - 5:22.03
16th - Corbin Wesson - 5:40.99
25th - Kade Sargent - 6:02.67
43rd - Presley Quinnelly - 6:17.90
149th - Dean Ernest - 8:06.95

Sand Springs Junior High Girls
26th - Mya Wagers - 6:47.14
66th - Rowen Hull - 7:36.82
129th - Vivian Farr - 9:03.69

Sand Springs Elementary Boys
9th - Kellen Adkins - 6:34.86
31st - Karson Waag - 7:10.23
42nd - Stu Grona - 7:23.28
46th - Wyatt Snow - 7:36.21
58th - Hudson Waag - 7:49.28
73rd - Rylan Snow - 7:59.42
75th - Wyatt Goode - 8:02.95
89th - Mark Garner - 8:13.39
105th - Dante Alvarez - 8:34.93
132nd - Gage Fadenrecht - 9:36.87
141st - Noah Tackett - 10:24.82
146th - Liam Kinman - 10:51.80
152nd - Fisher Abbott - 11:06.80

Sand Springs Elementary Girls
76th - Starr Corbin - 8:42.47
80th - Makenna Cox - 8:49.79
91st - Anna Voight - 9:11.45
97th - Melanie Kinser - 9:24.05
102nd - Scout Hartmann - 9:37.97
105th - Kyall Mcaffrey - 9:48.23
108th - Katherine Stuckey - 10:04.15
124th - Brekyn Isham - 10:34.27
142nd - Ashlyn Snow - 11:36.21
151st - Claire Pilk - 12:24.38

Anderson Junior High Boys
33rd - Jonathan Reeve - 6:09.74
48th - Joshua Deeringwater - 6:21.03
110th - Jack Mundy - 7:20.88
111th - Gage Berkowitz - 7:21.06
113th - Jackson Mercy - 7:23.08
114th - Alex Roy - 7:23.08
179th - Camden Bartell - 9:21.39

Anderson Junior High Girls
12th - Tindle Smith - 6:21.74
13th - Brooklynn Bozone - 6:22.45
14th - Avery Mercy - 6:25.26
85th - Emily Logan - 8:01.43
92nd - Lyla Hansen - 8:07.14
140th - Bella Steelman - 9:31.89
143rd - Maddie Burke - 9:49.86
159th - Tatum Frits - 11:15.36

Anderson Elementary Boys
13th - Ezra Gibson - 6:39.17
39th - Elliott Gibson - 7:21.78
52nd - Wyatt Lightle - 7:44.40
60th - Michael Gragg - 7:51.26
66th - Cooper Lisicki - 7:54.93
85th - Zander Hefele - 8:09.93
92nd - Cain McCalip - 8:17.54
94th - Waylon Lightle - 8:21.88
103rd - Kiptyn Reeve - 8:30.74
104th - Grayson Shoopman - 8:31.22
109th - Lincoln Bozone - 8:38.42
115th - Joseph Parsell - 8:52.40
138th - Jaxon Couffer - 10:18.95
143rd - Elijah Ray - 10:39.24
145th - Colton Bartell - 10:50.66
154th - Vandon Flynn - 11:21.57
156th - Praxton Flynn - 11:31.36
159th - Royce Hefele - 12:05.58

Anderson Elementary Girls
14th - Carlin Gibson - 7:31.78
26th - Catherin Mundy - 7:44.89
33rd - Sterling Reeve - 7:58.39
45th - Saylor Harmon - 8:11.17
78th - Josaline Reeve - 8:49.57
84th - Beighly Ray - 8:56.46
99th - Lilly Martin - 9:29.39
115th - Sophia Reyna - 10:13.22
141st - Presley Graham - 11:31.62
148th - Hallie Graham - 12:15.00

Sandite Sports Weekly Roundup: Girls Soccer Wins Collinsville Tournament

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Track and Field

The Sand Springs junior high team kicked off its season at Ft. Gibson with several first-place finishers.

Avery Voight won at 110- and 300-meter hurdles; Kaizen Freese won in high jump; Cole Higgins won the 800-meter run; Chloe Grona won the 1600-meter run; and the seventh-grade boys won the 3200-meter relay.

Golf

It was a three-way race to lead the team at the Jenks tournament as Mason Ward, Zane Downey, and Coleman Hight all scored 85s and Cameron Villines was right behind them at 86. Next up is the Rock Creek Tournament at Sapulpa on April 12th.

Soccer

The Lady Sandites soccer team (5-2) wrapped up a successful non-district slate with a tournament title Friday, March 24th at Collinsville.

Sand Springs won 2-0 against Bartlesville JV and 3-0 against Durant (3-6) before taking down Oologah-Talala (7-2) in penalty kicks in a rematch of the previous year’s finals.

Ava Watts scored the team’s lone goal in regulation and a save from Sophia Hart secured the 5-3 shootout victory to repeat as tournament champions.

The Sandites suffered a 4-3 loss in their district opener Friday at Enid (5-2) despite a hat trick from Alyssa Cunningham.

The shorthanded visitors were down to only 12 players, missing leading scorer Watts as well as Jayden Ellenburg and Avery Miller. Those three are expected to be back in the lineup by next week but Carson Sargent also suffered a sprained ankle during the match.

Sand Springs rallied from a 2-0 deficit and tied it at 3-3 but the Pacers pulled ahead on a 25-yard penalty kick from Ava Burnett late in the match.

The boys (4-1) suffered their first loss of the year, 2-1 at Enid (6-3). The Plainsmen took a 2-0 lead before Nic Roberts averted the shutout with a penalty kick in the second half.

Both teams will return to action Tuesday at Jenks before hosting Choctaw Friday for Senior Night.

Tennis

The Lady Sandites had a successful outing at the Skiatook quad Wednesday against Skiatook and Victory Christian.

Kira Shipley defeated her Skiatook opponent 6-1, 6-1 in No. 1 Singles and Daffaney Snyder won 6-0, 6-0 against Victory Christian in No. 2 Singles.

Caitlin Shipman and Abigail Dunn won 2-0 against both Victory and Skiatook in No. 1 Doubles, beating the Conquerors 6-0 in both sets and the Bulldogs 6-4, 6-2.

Mary Alvarez and Stephanie Horton won 6-2, 6-0 against Victory in No. 2 Doubles.

Sand Springs will host a home event against Rejoice Christian and Sapulpa on Monday, April 10th.

Case DiscGolfPark Hosts First Major Event in Oklahoma Open

Sand Springs held its first major event at Case DiscGolfPark Saturday, hosting six amateur divisions of the Oklahoma Open on its white (short) tees.

Tara Royal shot a 66 in Recreational Women. Samantha Cooper and Kelsi Snook shot 64s in Intermediate Women. Del Wytovak shot a 48 in Recreational Men, Jarrod Harris shot a 54 in Novice Men, and Eric Savage scored a 53 in Amateur Masters 60+.

Matthew Brown scored a 55 in 18U Juniors, Canton Taylor scored a 54 in 15U Juniors, and Jaxton Taylor scored a 63 in 10U Juniors.

The three-round Oklahoma Open is also being played on five other Tulsa-area courses and will conclude on Sunday.

Cross Country

Chloe Grona took first place in the Frontier Valley Conference junior high track meet at Muskogee, leading the girls to a program-best seventh place finish.

Chloe Grona ran the two-mile race in 12:39 to earn the conference title while Josie Grona placed 7th in 13:15 to also earn All-Conference honors.

The junior high boys also had a historically good seventh place finish, led by Wyatt Shaw in 12:38 for 36th place.

The varsity girls placed eighth, led by Kelsi Hilton with a 5K time of 22:09 for 26th. The varsity boys didn’t place but were led by Taigh Wright in 19:48 for 43rd.

At the 6A Regional meet in Ponca City Hilton placed 44th in 22:38.49 but the girls were one runner shy of earning a team place. The boys finished 15th, led by Wright in 19:59.32 for 74th.

Football

The Sand Springs seventh grade football team improved to 4-2 in its division with a 40-0 rout of Broken Arrow Orange on Saturday. They will play at Bixby White on Saturday.

The eighth grade team suffered its first loss of the season, 18-12 against Carver. The Sandites are 6-1 overall.

Sandite Sports Weekly Roundup: Softball Goes 3-0 to End Regular Season

Sandite softball (23-14) went 3-0 in the final week of the regular season, winning 6-0 against Sperry, 8-3 against Sapulpa, and 7-2 against Collinsville.

They also received their Regional assignment and will return to action Tuesday, October 4th, at Broken Arrow with a first round game at 2:00 p.m. against Muskogee (14-22). On the other side of the bracket is Broken Arrow (25-9) vs. Putnam City North (8-23).

Sand Springs has yet to play Muskogee this season but lost a close 7-5 meeting with Broken Arrow at the Tigers’ home tournament, and beat Putnam North 1-0 twice in district action.

The Sandites have won 17 Regional titles and are aiming to return to the State Tournament for the first time 2019.

On Monday Addison Hughes tossed seven strikeouts with only four hits in the shutout at Sperry (23-10). Kenzie King went 3-of-4 at the plate with one run and one RBI.

The Sandites haven’t lost a Highway 97 Rivalry game in over a decade and this time it was Kelsi Hilton who led the charge against the Chieftains (14-17) with a seventh-inning grand slam while tossing eight strikeouts. Jaden Jordan also hit a home run.

In the final game of the regular season Hughes tossed eight strikeouts and three hits against Collinsville (9-22). The Cardinals took an early 2-0 lead but Jordan tied it with a two-run double in the third and Mikena Stephens hit the go-ahead RBI single in a five-run fourth inning.

Volleyball

The 16th ranked Sandite volleyball team (16-16, 3-5) went 5-2 last week, splitting a pair of conference matches before going 4-1 at the Southmoore Invitational.

The team won a 3-0 sweep of Muskogee on Tuesday but fell 3-1 to Booker T. Washington on Thursday. They put up a great fight against the Hornets, however, losing close sets of 25-17, 28-26, and 25-22 after winning the first 28-26.

In Moore the girls lost 2-1 to conference foe Bartlesville, but won 2-1 against No. 12 Moore, 2-1 against Bishop Kelley JV, 3-0 against Shawnee, and 3-1 against Southmoore.

The Sandites have one last regular season match Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. against No. 1 Jenks (26-4, 7-0).

Cross Country

Josie Grona took first place in the elementary meet at Kiefer Saturday morning, running the one-mile in 6:14.92. Sophie Grona finished fifth in 7:05.26 and the team took eighth.

The elementary boys also placed eighth, led by Kellen Adkins with a 6:30.74 mile for tenth place.

Shooting

Caden Shea won the Muscogee Nation Trap Shoot Wednesday with a score of 24.

Fishing

Gabriel Castellano and Ean Williams took 22nd place at the Oklahoma Bass Nation season opener Saturday on Ft. Gibson Lake. The duo caught five fish weighing 7.32 pounds. Nate Griffin and Eli Rogers placed 31st, Caden Strawn and Drew Turner placed 46th, Decana Plummer and Gunner Beasley placed 47th, and Jonathan Isley and Jaxon Trotter placed 49th.

Sandite Sports Weekly Roundup: Volleyball Sweeps Bartlesville on Senior Night

Cross Country

Freshman Taigh Wright led the varsity boys to a 10th place finish at the Holland Hall invitational, Saturday, September 17th. Wright ran the 5K in 19:45.14 for 37th place.

The varsity girls finished in 11th place, led by Kelsi Hilton with a 15th place performance in 22:47.78.

Wyatt Shaw led the junior high boys to a 9th place finish, running the two-mile in 12:59.93 for 30th place. Alliyah Watts placed 100th for the girls in 17:56.76.

The elementary boys took 8th place in the one-mile run, led by Kellen Adkins with a time of 6:35.03 for 8th. The elementary girls took 9th, led by Sophie Grona with a 7:33.32 mile for 10th place.

The Sandites competed at the OSU Cowboy Jamboree on Saturday, September 24th. Neither the boys nor girls had enough finishers to earn a team place.

Gracie Gibson led the girls with a time of 25:04.6 for 162nd place. Rafi Huff led the boys, finishing in 20:48.1 for 200th place.

Softball

The Charles Page High School softball team (20-14, 8-6) went 5-3 in a busy week, improving to third in district play.

The Sandites lost 8-4 to Bixby (12-15, 7-6) on Monday after committing an uncharacteristic six errors, but paid the Spartans back with a 7-2 road win on Thursday.

Addison Hughes (11-10) pitched both games, striking out eight on Monday and 11 on Thursday.

On Tuesday the Sandites won a district double-header against Putnam City North (8-22, 3-11). Kelsi Hilton (9-4) got the win in game one with four hits and five strikeouts and Hughes tossed eight strikeouts with two hits in the sequel.

Sand Springs played at the Tahlequah festival over the weekend, opening with a 5-2 loss to Edmond Deer Creek (25-9) but won the second game 4-2 against Moore (21-7).

Kenzie King was 2-for-3 at the plate against Moore with a run and two RBI.

On Saturday they won 9-2 against Fort Gibson (14-17) but lost 6-4 to Grove (20-7). Kelby Little was 3-for-3 against Fort Gibson with three RBI, and King had a team-high three runs.

Hilton and Little were both .474 at the plate on the week. Hilton led in slugging average at .789 with two doubles and two triples, and had a team-high five RBI. Morgan Rector led the team in runs with six.

Hughes maintained a 2.57 ERA in 32 ⅔ innings while Hilton had a 2.23 ERA in 15 ⅔ innings.

Sand Springs has two games left in the regular season: Monday at Sperry (21-7) and Thursday at home against Oologah (9-18). Regional tournament assignments should be released on Friday.

Volleyball

Sand Springs (11-14, 2-4) picked up its second conference win of the season on Tuesday in a 3-0 Senior Night sweep of Bartlesville (9-9, 2-4) but ended the week on a five match losing streak.

The Sandites competed in the Bishop McGuinness tournament over the weekend and lost to Edmond Deer Creek, Bishop McGuinness, Choctaw, and Yukon, with a second loss to Choctaw in the seventh place match.

Sand Springs will travel to Muskogee (8-7, 0-6) Tuesday and Booker T. Washington (8-11, 3-3) on Thursday.

Football

The junior high football teams continued their undefeated seasons with wins against Sapulpa on Tuesday. The freshmen won 48-6 and the eighth graders won 46-6 as both teams moved to 4-0.

Wrestling

The Church That Matters tailgate party raised $2660 for the wrestling program at Friday night’s Homecoming football game and the wrestling program pledged 50% to the family of Ethan Gibson to help with his funeral.

Sandite Sports Weekly Roundup: Softball Places Third at Bixby Tournament

The Charles Page High School softball (15-9, 5-3) started a successful week with a pair of perfect games and ended it with a third-place finish at the Bixby tournament.

The Sandites celebrated Senior Night with a perfect double-header Tuesday against the combined team of Tulsa Memorial and Booker T. Washington (0-15, 0-7).

Kelsi Hilton (7-1) struck out 10 and the Sandites totaled 15 hits in a 20-0 game-one rout. Addie Hughes (8-8) struck out 10 and the Sandites recorded 13 hits in the 10-0 second game. 

The Sandites rode that momentum into a crucial 8-3 district win Thursday against Bartlesville (11-8, 3-4) behind a six-strikeout performance from Hughes. 

On Friday the Sandites rolled to a 14-0 shutout of Union (6-18) in the first round of the Bixby tournament. Hughes pitched a one-hitter with six strikeouts and Mikenna Stephens went 3-of-4 at the plate with four RBI.

Hilton struck out seven in a 4-2 win over El Reno (4-9) while also recording three RBI in the second game of the tournament.

The win streak came to a close in a 6-0 loss against Perry (24-5) Friday evening but the Sandites got back in the win column with a 5-1 victory over Raymore Peculiar (7-6) Saturday morning. 

To cap off the week, Hilton hit a walk-off RBI single to prevail 5-4 over Coweta (16-7) and pay back an August defeat. 

Hilton batted .583 on the week with a team-high 14 hits, three triples, 13 RBI, and 11 runs. Morgan Rector was .565 at the plate with 13 hits, six RBI, and 12 runs.

Hilton went 3-0 in the circle with a 1.44 ERA and Hughes was 4-1 with a 1.80 ERA.

Sand Springs will return to action Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. with a key district game at Jenks (19-3, 10-0), then will travel to Stillwater (14-6, 6-3) Thursday at 7:00 p.m.

Cross Country

Josie Grona led the Sandite elementary with a fourth-place finish at the Sapulpa Chieftain meet, Saturday, September 3rd. She ran the one-mile race in 6:23.36. Kellen Adkins was 18th to lead the boys in 6:47.05.

Kelsi Hilton led the varsity girls with a ninth place finish, running the two-mile in 13:29.31. Taigh Wright led the boys in 12:23.49.

Chloe Grona was runner-up in the junior high girls’ one-mile run, finishing in 5:59.85. Dax Wilcox was the top junior high boy, placing 14th in 5:54.46. 

On September 10th the Sandites took a depleted roster to Broken Arrow. 

Wright led the boys with a 50th place finish, running the 5K in 19:38.80. Gracie Gifford led the girls, finishing in 26:11.92 for 57th place. Melany Lamb led the junior high girls, placing 63rd in 37:08.79. 

Volleyball

The No. 15 Sandite volleyball team (7-6) snapped a five-match skid with a 3-0 sweep of Pryor (2-15) Tuesday night on the road. Sand Springs won 25-14, 25-10, and 25-14.

The Sandites will return to action Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. with a conference rivalry game at 5A No. 7 Sapulpa (13-10, 1-3). Sand Springs is 0-4 in conference action.

Football

The Sandite freshman class (2-0) continued an undefeated streak stretching back to its seventh grade season, winning 34-0 against Bartlesville. The eighth graders also moved to 2-0 with a 48-14 win against the Bruins. 

Wrestling

The first-year Lady Sandite wrestling program had a successful first meeting with prospective athletes. New coach Ty Bowling hopes to have as many as 20 girls in the program this season.