Sandite Athletics Weekly Roundup: Softball upsets Bixby

A version of this story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

Cross Country

The Sand Springs elementary cross country team competed at Bishop Kelley Tuesday, September 21st and took third place in a combined boys and girls run. Chloe Grona led the team with a second-place finish, running a 5:48 mile. Josie Grona placed seventh in 6:11 and Jacob Lovins placed eighth in 6:12.

Fast Pitch Softball

Sandite Softball (15-13) wrapped up district action with a 3-2 upset of Bixby Thursday, holding the Spartans scoreless after the first inning. 

JoLee McNally scored on a double from Lauren Hammock in the first inning, then hit a triple in the third inning and tied it up on a double from Avery Tanner. Kelsi Hilton scored the go-ahead run on a single from Morgan Rector in the sixth. 

Bixby put two runners on in the seventh, but Tanner scooped a groundball and made the throw to first to end the game. Hilton got the win in the pitcher’s circle with seven hits, two strikeouts, and three walks. 

Sand Springs then competed at the Tahlequah-NSU festival and went 1-3. 

Raegan Rector pitched a 10-5 win against Jay on Saturday, giving up only four hits and three walks with five strikeouts. Hilton led the offense, batting 2-of-3 for two runs, two RBI, and a double. 

The Sandites lost games of 11-4 to Tuttle, 6-0 to Moore, and 10-2 to Edmond Deer Creek. 

They will wrap up the regular season Thursday on the road at Oologah-Talala. Regional Assignments will be released Friday. 

Fishing 

The Charles Page High School fishing club competed at the Oklahoma Bass Nation trail events on Broken Bow Lake September 18th and 19th. 

Mack Taylor and Parker Haling placed ninth on Saturday, catching five fish weighing 8.77 pounds. Then on Sunday they caught five fish weighing 8.06 pounds for tenth place. They are currently sixth overall in this season’s standings. 

Nate Griffin and Jaxon Trotter caught two fish weighing 3.31 pounds on Saturday for 33rd place. 

The next OBN trail event will be October 16th on Skiatook Lake. 

Volleyball

Class 6A No. 16 Sand Springs (13-17 overall, 2-4 conference) went 3-3 last week, winning a 3-0 conference sweep of Muskogee on Tuesday before competing at the Bishop McGuinness tournament over the weekend.

In Tuesday’s match against Muskogee Payton Robbins scored 10 kills and five aces, Teyha Johnson recorded 19 assists, Jacelyn Smith scored eight kills, Charley Fahland made nine digs and scored four aces, and Layla Lenex had four blocks. All five of Robbins’s aces came in a 9-0 run during set two. The Sandites easily dismantled the Roughers 25-13, 25-9, and 25-11. 

In Oklahoma City the Sandites won 2-0 against Choctaw and Yukon, but fell 2-0 to Bishop McGuinness, Deer Creek, and Carl Albert.

Sandite Volleyball will return to action Thursday, September 30th with a conference match against Booker T. Washington at home. 

Averi Tippit is rising star on Sandite Volleyball team

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A version of this story was originally written for Vype.

Some people are born into their sport and continue a family tradition. Others find it at a young age and it’s all they’ve ever known. Averi Tippit, on the other hand, didn’t get into volleyball till she got to high school, though you wouldn’t know it from watching her play.

The Charles Page High School sophomore is already a rising young star on the varsity team thanks to her height, hard work, and her natural skill. 

“Everyone said I was tall,” says Tippit, on why she got into volleyball. “They said ‘you should play volleyball.’ I tried it and I liked it.” The rest is history.

“Volleyball takes over my life. I play all year round. My goals are definitely to be a good teammate and to have good energy with my team and just to be a team player. I’m working on keeping my attitude up and being consistent with hits and my tips and stuff.”

“Our last tournament in Oklahoma City, I think we all had a good dynamic. We were all working together as a team, and that was the best we’ve played by far. They’ve definitely been really supportive. When I’ve been down on myself they’ve helped me stay up and I really appreciate that.”

“Tippit’s done a good job for being so young and never playing before,” says Sand Springs head coach Derek Jackson. “Kind of stepping into a really big role as far as defense. As a right-sider her main job is to block. She’s going up against the best hitters that most teams have. For her to step into a tough position at a young age, hat’s off to her. I think she’ll develop into a pretty special player. She’s a good kid. She works her tail off and she has great character.”

As for the future, Tippit is hoping to play collegiate volleyball and dreams of playing at the Olympic level. She also wants to be a veterinarian and belongs to an animal science club.

Sand Springs Weekly Sports Roundup: Daton Fix wins World Team Trials, Carter Young flips to OSU

A version of this story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

Varsity Cross Country traveled to Stillwater Saturday for the Cowboy Jamboree but neither the boys nor the girls had a complete lineup to earn a team place. The junior high and elementary teams competed at Holland Hall.

Jasmin Lopez led the varsity ladies in 64th place with a 5K time of 23:06. Alex Lopez led the boys in 130th place with a time of 19:33, followed by Noah Hanlon in 142nd with a time of 19:43.

Junior high boys placed seventh, led by Taigh Wright’s 12:28 two-mile run in 19th place. Junior high girls didn’t have a full lineup, but Maddyx Hampton placed 48th in 15:14.

The elementary boys placed second, led by Conner Williamson with a 6:11 mile for second place. The elementary girls placed fifth, led by Josie Grona with a 6:48 mile for sixth place.

Softball

Sand Springs (11-10, 5-6) went 2-2 in district action last week, winning a pair of 16-0 district double headers against the combined Tulsa Memorial / Booker T. Washington team before falling 9-3 to Jenks and 8-3 to Stillwater.

The Sandites needed only three innings apiece to run-rule the Tulsa team on Monday, out-hitting TPS 19-1 over the two games. 

Kelsi Hilton and Raeagn Rector combined for a no-hitter with six strikeouts in game one, and Hilton got the win. Nataley Crawford pitched all of game two and tossed six strikeouts with one hit.

The Sandites will host Bixby Thursday at 5:30 p.m. to wrap up district play.

Volleyball

The 6A No. 15 Sandites (10-14) went 3-3 overall last week and 2-3 at the Owasso tournament. They beat No. 14 Bartlesville 3-1 on the road Tuesday in conference action, then beat Ponca City 2-0 and Southmoore 3-1 in tournament play. They dropped matches of 2-0 to Owasso, 2-0 to Edmond Memorial, and 2-0 to Booker T. Washington.

Wrestling

Former 4X State Champion Sandite and current Oklahoma State wrestler Daton Fix won the 61kg freestyle world team trials in Lincoln, Nebraska. Fix outscored his opponents 41-5 with two technical falls to earn the right to represent the United States at the World Championships in Oslo, Norway this October.

In the Round of 16 he defeated Carter Young 13-2, then he beat 2018 NCAA Champion Seth Gross 11-0. In the semifinals he topped defending World Team member Tyler Graff 2-0 to earn a best-of-three finale against Nathan Tomasello. The 2015 NCAA Champion was no match for Fix, who won 8-3 and 7-0. 

After falling to Fix in his second match, Carter Young battled back to win the consolation bracket and place third. Young is also a former Sandite, winning a state title as a freshman at Sand Springs before transferring to Stillwater.

Young won his first match 8-6 over 2020 ACC Champion Jakob Camacho. In consolation he received a forfeit from Ethan Lizak, won 10-8 against 2016 NCAA Champion Nahshon Garrett, received a forfeit from Nick Suriano, then beat Graff 9-2 and Gross 15-12.

Young previously committed to and enrolled at Northwestern in Illinois, but he has now signed with Oklahoma State University instead.

Sandite Sports Weekly Roundup: Softball Rolls at Bixby Tournament

Down 5-4 and riding a four-game losing streak, the Sandites needed a spark in the first round of the Bixby tournament Friday morning.

JoLee McNally stepped up to the plate with two runners on and smacked a ground ball single to center field in the top of the sixth, bringing in Morgan Rector and Kinzie King to kick off a great weekend for the Charles Page High School softball team (9-7).

After taking down Newcastle 6-5, the Sandites got a huge 5-4 upset against title contender Edmond Memorial then steamrolled Union 17-2 and El Reno 11-2 before falling 4-1 to Broken Arrow in the final game. 

“They had an awesome weekend, I thought,” said head coach Shelli Brown. “The turnaround from Bartlesville where we left a lot of runner-on-base opportunities, I felt like this weekend they were able to get the runners on and push them across the plate. That was the difference.”

Prior to the tournament, the Sandites had a rough stretch of district road games at Stillwater, Jenks, Bixby, and Bartlesville. 

Thursday was a tough loss, as the Sandites had previously beaten Bartlesville 12-3 at home, and led 5-0 early before the Bruins surged back with seven runs in the bottom of the third.

Friday’s win over Edmond Memorial (19-4), however, showed that this team is still capable of beating anyone in the state on any given day. 

The Bulldogs took a 4-2 lead in the third inning, but the Sandites rallied in the bottom with RBI doubles from Lauren Hammock and Nataley Crawford, and Kelsi Hilton scored on a passed ball for the lead.

Crawford got the wins in the pitching circle against Edmond and Newcastle, Hilton got the win against Union, and Addie Hughes got the win against El Reno.

“Team effort for sure on the pitching,” said Brown. ”We’ve been kind of double-teaming, so I thought our pitchers did a really good job with that.”

The team’s bats also came alive during the tournament, with McNally, Hammock, Hilton, and Crawford all hitting over .500. McNally scored eight runs and four RBI and Hammock had seven runs and seven RBI over the five games.

“I’m just happy with them,” said Brown. “I told them let’s keep moving forward. I felt like we’ve made the turn a little bit here.”

The Sandites are currently 3-4 in district action, sitting fifth in the standings. They’ll be heavily favored in four of their remaining seven district games, and they’ll have home-field advantage in their rematches with Jenks, Stillwater, and Bixby.

The Sandites have hosted Regionals seven consecutive years but that streak could be in jeopardy if they don’t finish strong in district action.

“We need to focus one game at a time, win those games, and get ourselves in a good situation,” says Brown. “Whether we host or we go travel, we’re going to have to play good teams, and we’ve just got to be ready. I think it’s going to be about timing - peaking at the right time. We’re starting to get everybody back, starting to get everybody healthy, and starting to have that team chemistry that takes some time to develop.”

“I’ve seen both districts. Whether you host or you travel, you’re going to face some really good teams so I just want us to be ready for that.”

Cross Country

Sandite Cross Country traveled to the Sapulpa Chieftain meet on Saturday, September 4th.

Chloe Grona led the elementary girls to a second place finish in the one-mile, finishing in 5:54 for first place, a full 21 seconds ahead of the runner-up, and Josie Grona placed third in 6:23.

The elementary boys placed eighth, led by Canyon Carnahan in 25th place with a time of 7:26.

Junior high boys placed fifth in the one-mile, led by Taigh Wright in 11th with a time of 5:51.21. Junior high girls didn’t have a full team, but Maddyx Hampton placed 18th in 6:38.

The varsity girls didn’t have a full team, but Jazmin Lopez placed fifth in the two-mile run with a time of 13:57.

The varsity boys finished sixth, led by Alejandro Lopez in 11:52 for 25th place, and Dalton Wilcox in 11:55 for 26th.

On Saturday, September 11th, the high school and junior high teams traveled to Broken Arrow. The junior high boys placed sixth in the 1.5 mile run, but were the only team with a full lineup. 

Lopez led the varsity girls in 26th place with a 5K time of 22:22. Noah Hanlon led the boys in 18:56 for 42nd place. Hampton led the junior high girls with a 12:01 1.5-mile run for 33rd, and Wright led the junior high boys in 9:52 for 13th.

Football

The Class 6A-II No. 5 ranked Sandite football team (2-0) will look to remain undefeated when they travel to Arkansas 3A No. 1 Shiloh Christian (2-0). Both teams will be well-rested after bye weeks.

Last year Sand Springs hosted the first-ever meeting of the two teams and topped the Saints 27-26. It would be Shiloh’s only loss of the season as they went on to earn their eighth State Championship.

Volleyball

Class 6A No. 15 ranked Sand Springs (7-11) is riding a tough nine-match losing streak after traveling to the prestigious Heather Harkness Invitational in Edmond, one of the toughest tournaments in the state.

Sandite Volleyball fell 2-0 to No. 6 Deer Creek, 2-0 to No. 4 Edmond Memorial, 2-0 to OKC Storm, 3-2 to No. 10 Edmond North, and 3-0 to No. 16 Moore. 

Sand Springs will compete at the Owasso tournament this weekend with pool matches against Owasso, Edmond Memorial, and Ponca City.

Chieftains take down Sandites 3-1 in Highway 97 Rivalry

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A version of this story was originally published in the Sapulpa Times.

Just four days after the Sapulpa football team suffered a 53-26 defeat at the hands of their archrivals, the volleyball team found themselves in a similar position Tuesday night. 

Down 10-1 in the first set of a Highway 97 rivalry matchup at Sand Springs, the Chieftains could have counted themselves out, but instead they surged back with a seven-point streak to make it competitive. And even when the Sandites ultimately won the first set 25-20, the Chieftains didn’t let it get them down. They stayed focused and rallied to win the next three.

“I think Sapulpa and Corey (Harp) just did a really good job,” said Sandite head coach Derek Jackon after the game. “The Heard sisters played really well, both offensively and defensively.”

Stailee Heard, a 5’11” junior, led the Chieftains offensively with 13 kills, as well as three blocks and three aces, while 6’0” sophomore Tyla Heard added eight kills and two blocks.

Even with all that firepower, it was a close match and the Chieftains trailed late in each of the last three sets

Down 24-23 in game two, they scored three straight points for the win on Sandite errors.

In game three Amauri Pratt served two aces and Hoey scored a block and a kill en route to a 5-0 start, and the Chieftains held that margin till 19-14 when the Sandites’ Kasidy Holland kicked off a six-point run for the lead. Down 22-20, Tyla Heard scored a kill to get the visitors back on track, and Sapulpa won 25-23. 

It looked like Sand Springs might tie things up in game four after a pair of Chieftain errors put them up 23-21, but this time it was Stailee Heard’s time to shine, scoring a kill to launch a 4-0 run, and capping the 25-23 win with an ace.

5’10” uncommitted senior Ryann Hoey was the heart and soul of the Chieftains, scoring 11 kills with two blocks, two aces, and countless impressive digs while firing up her team at every opportunity with energetic cheers and unbridled passion.

Sapulpa, ranked No. 5 in Class 5A is 12-9 on the season after falling 3-0 to 6A No. 5 Jenks (8-1) on Thursday. They are 2-2 in Frontier Valley Conference action, having beaten Muskogee 3-0 last week to snap a 15-game conference losing streak dating back to 2019. 

Last season saw a successful 18-15 outing that was one win shy of matching their win total for the previous five seasons combined. They even won a Regional Championship and made a State Tournament appearance, despite not winning any conference matches. With two conference wins already under their belts this year, it’s safe to say the Chieftains are aiming for even greater heights.