Carson Griggs finishes 20th at State Championship, Garrett Griggs places 38th

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Brothers Carson and Garrett Griggs were the lone Sandite golfers to qualify for the State Tournament this year, and both fared well at Karsten Creek in Stillwater earlier this week. 

The State Tournament started Monday morning with 18 holes and concluded Tuesday with 36 holes. Garrett and Carson were neck and neck in the first round with scores of 86 and 87 respectively. Garrett was tied for 28th place and Carson was tied for 35th place.

The two went opposite directions in round two, however, and Carson shot 155, the 11th best score of the day, bumping him up to 20th overall. Garrett shot a 170 and dropped to 38th, still a solid performance in a field of 78. 

Carson shot 242 against an average score of 255, while Garrett shot 256. Carson was a mere thirteen strokes behind the State Champion. He placed 30th last year, so 20th as a sophomore puts his career on a good track. Garrett is a senior and finished his career in style with his first State Championship appearance.

Sandite of the Week: Cheyenne Walden

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

This week Sandite Pride News would like to recognize Charles Page High School junior Cheyenne Walden as Sandite of the Week for her outstanding performance at the Regional Track Meet Saturday at Claremore High School.

Walden is the first Lady Sandite ever to qualify for State in four different categories. She placed first in the 1600 meter run with a time of 5:17.06, first in the 3200 with a time of 11:00.78, and third in the 800 with a time of 2:21.30. 

Additionally, Walden carried the baton on the last leg of the two mile relay and helped her teammates become the first squad to ever qualify from Sand Springs in that category. Nia Byrd, Alexis Davis, and Elizabeth Watts will be joining her at the State Championship this weekend at Moore High School. 

Walden is quite possibly the greatest runner in school history and already holds four State Championship medals. She claimed her third-consecutive Cross Country State Championship this fall and she also won the 3600 at last year's State Track Meet.

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Sandite of the Week is a weekly recognition given to any one person with significant ties to the Sand Springs community who accomplishes remarkable achievements during the Sunday through Saturday week preceding the award. Prior achievements may be noted in the article, but do not bear direct influence on the selection committee which only considers prior week accomplishments. Candidates may be nominated by anyone by emailing SanditePrideNews@gmail.com. Bylaws prevent the giving of the award to anyone for two consecutive weeks, but any recipient may be nominated and awarded again in the future, so long as the weeks are not consecutive. Final selection is made by a majority vote of a three-person staff committee. 

Businesses or organizations seeking to sponsor the Sandite of the Week award may contact the above email for inquiries.

Four Sandites qualify for State Championship Track Meet

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School girls track team qualified four for the State Tournament at the 6A East Regional Track Meet in Claremore Saturday morning. Alexis Davis, Nia Byrd, Elizabeth Watts, and Cheyenne Walden placed fourth in the 4x800 meter relay with their best performance of the season in 10:18.1. Walden also qualified individually in the 800, 1600, and 3200 races with first place finishes in the later two. 

Walden is undefeated in the 3200, having won seven first place medals this season. She finished the 3200 at Regionals in 11:00.78 and picked up her fourth win of the season in the 1600 with a time of 5:17.06. She also qualified in the 800 with a third place finish in 2:21.30. Last year Walden won a State Championship in the 3200 with a time of 11:08.366, beating the runner-up by an 18-second margin. She also came in runner-up in the 1600 behind teammate Morgan Long. As a freshman she placed third in 3200, and she's a three-time Cross Country State Champion.

Elizabeth Watts placed 8th in High Jump at 4'06.00" and 9th in the 300 hurdles with a time of 56.19. Lauren Barkdull placed 16th in the 1600 with a season-best time of 6:39.91. Sara Abbet placed 17th in the 1600 with a season-best time of 6:44.22.

Overall, the girls placed seventh as a team and the boys came in eighth. Landin Green, Jacob Garby, Ian Baustert, and Aden Baughman ran the 4x800 relay and placed 6th with a season-best 8:42.1.

Freshman Aden Baughman set a personal record with a 6th place finish in the 1600 in 4:45.49. Colton Washington placed 10th in long jump with a distance of 19'09.5". 

Jacob Fortune placed 12th in the 100 in 11.97, 15th in the long jump at 17'04.5", and 16th in the discus throw with a personal best of 98'10". Austin McCaskey came in 12th in the 800 with a season-best 2:12.79.

Jacob Smith placed 16th in the 3200 with a season-best 11:48.26, closely followed by Danny Murray who placed 17th with a season-best 11:50.25. Kobe Chin placed 19th in discus with a distance of 77'05". 

The State Tournament Track Meet will be held at Moore High School on Friday the 13th and Saturday the 14th. Events will begin Friday at 10:00 AM. 

The photo gallery from the Regional Track Meet can be found at https://sanditepride.smugmug.com/20152016-Track-and-Field/5716-Regional-Track-Meet-at/

Sandite Baseball season comes to a close at the hands of Broken Arrow

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School baseball team (22-16) came out on the losing side of a well-fought shootout in Owasso Thursday evening and was eliminated from the Regional Tournament. 

The Sandites took an early lead in the top of the first as Joey Montgomery singled in Rhett Rutledge to draw first blood. The Broken Arrow Tigers (23-16) quickly tied things up, however, as Mack Chambers scored on a double by Colton Croft.

Ty Fain advanced to home on a throw for the Sandites in the second inning to retake the lead, but the Tigers would retaliate with four runs in the bottom of the inning for the advantage.

Jake Ward (4-3) got the start on the mound for the Sandites, but was replaced by Brock Youngblood after loading the bases in the second and giving up two singles and three walks, and two runs. 

Youngblood (4-2) pulled out the inning without allowing too much damage. He walked in Brady Bean for one run, and Drew Lowe batted in Devon Johnson, but Croft was put out at second on a fielder's choice and Tucker Dunlap flied out to Josh Taber to bring the inning to a close at 5-2.

The Sandites quickly made up for the last inning with five runs in the top of the third to reclaim the lead. Ward sacrificed to score Treyce Tolbert, Fain doubled to score Hunter Greathouse, and Trevor Tolbert reached on sacrifice bunt to score Tyler McCallie and tie the game up. Rutledge doubled in Fain and Taber sacrificed to score Trevor Tolbert before the inning came to a close. 

Broken Arrow put in work as well in the third with Bean reaching on a fielder's choice to score Landon Hulet and Chambers hitting a double to bring in Bean for the 8-7 advantage.

The back-and-forth continued in the top of the fourth as the Sandites took their fourth lead of the game. Treyce Tolbert and Greathouse singled and Ward smacked a double to bring in Tolbert. Fain grounded out to short to score Greathouse and once again the boys were back on top.

The scoring frenzy finally took a break till the bottom of the sixth. Sand Springs put up an impressive effort in the top of the inning with a double from Treyce Tolbert and a single from Greathouse, but both runners were caught stealing and Ward flied out.

The Tigers came out big in the bottom of the sixth with back-to-back doubles from Chambers and Croft to tie things up. Lowe singled and scored on a double by Dunlap, Hulet was hit by pitch, and the Sandites sent their third pitcher of the night to the mound.

Montgomery caught CJ Ivy stealing at third, but Connor Dennis (1-0) walked one batter and struck another to load the bases. Hulet scored on a passed ball, Bean hit a sacrifice, and Johnson scored one on a dropped third strike. Josh Cordell (2-3) became the fourth Sandite to go to the mound and only pitched at one batter, who flied out to right field to bring the inning to a close.

It was down to the top of the seventh for the Sandites, and they went down swinging. McCallie reached on an error and scored on a sacrifice fly from Trevor Tolbert, but Rutledge struck out swinging to bring the game (and the season) to a close 14-10.

Down but not out: Sandites fall 4-0 to Owasso, but could get rematch Thursday

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School varsity baseball team got off to a great start at Regionals Wednesday when they handed the Broken Arrow Tigers a 6-3 defeat at Stigall Field in Owasso. The Rams would prove to be too much for the Sandites in round three, however, and the host team shut out their foe 4-0.

The Regional Tournament is double-elimination, so despite the loss the boys could still earn their ticket to State if they can win three more games. The Sandites will face the winner of the Broken Arrow vs Sapulpa game Thursday at 5:00 PM, and if they win that match they'll get to play Owasso again Thursday at 7:30. Because Owasso is undefeated, the Sandites will have to beat them twice to win the Regional. 

It may sound improbable, but the Lady Sandite Fast Pitch Softball team accomplished that feat last fall when they battled their way through the consolation bracket to win the Regional Tournament and ultimately lost the State Championship by a single run.

University of Oklahoma committed junior Jake Terry (5-4) pitched all six innings for the Sandites, giving up seven hits, six walks, and four earned runs against three strikeouts. Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College-signee Shane Lang got the win for the Rams, allowing just six hits and one walk against six strikeouts and zero runs in seven innings. 

The game was a slow starter with neither team getting on the board till the bottom of the third when Lang hit a sacrifice fly to score Connor Beichler. The score held at 1-0 till the bottom of the fifth when the Rams finally began to put in work at the plate. 

Beichler walked, stole second, advanced to third on a passed ball, and scored on a sacrifice by Tyler Brown. All-American Parker Dunn singled, Lang walked, and Nick Keim hit a sacrifice fly to score Dunn. Kyle Petty brought in pinch runner Sam Thompson on a single for the 4-0 lead.

It was down to the wire for the Sandites. Trevor Tolbert reached on an error and Joey Montgomery was hit by pitch in the top of the sixth, but both were stranded. Terry pitched a no-hitter in the bottom of the inning with one strikeout, and the Sandites had one shot left to tie or take the lead.

Hunter Greathouse grounded out to short. Jake Ward hit a line drive single into left field and was replaced on base by Kameron Adcock. Mack Thompson flied out in foul territory. Ty Fain picked up a single, but the two runners were left stranded as Tolbert grounded out to second to end the game.

Rhett Rutledge leads Sandites to 6-3 playoff win over Broken Arrow

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School baseball team (22-14) got off to a great start in the Regional Tournament at Owasso's Stigall Field Thursday afternoon, taking a quick lead over the Broken Arrow Tigers (21-15) that propelled them to a 6-3 victory.

Rhett Rutledge (3-1) got the start and win on the mound while Colton Croft came out with the loss.

The first two innings were scoreless for both teams, but Joey Montgomery broke the game open with a single scoring Rutledge. Hunter Greathouse doubled to bring in Josh Taber and Mack Thompson hit a sacrifice fly to score Malachi Walton.

Broken Arrow nearly got in a bind in the top of the fourth as the Sandites loaded the bases with their top batter at the plate, but Croft pulled off the impressive strikeout to save the inning. The bottom of the fourth belonged to the Tigers as well, as Devon Johnson scored on a double by Mack Chambers to get the team on the board.

A series of mistakes handed the Sandites another run in the top of the sixth. Rutledge hit a hard double to the centerfield fence, advanced to third on a balk, and scored on an error in left field for the 4-1 advantage.

The Tigers threatened in the bottom of the sixth as Johnson singled, Tucker Dunlap drew a walk, and Chambers reached on an error to load the bases with a single out. Drew Lowe hit a sacrifice fly to score Johnson. Kade Goines walked to reload the bases and Evan Fulps drew the full count walk to score pinch runner Declan Spurlock. Landon Hulet was next to the plate and hit a grounder to short stop for the force at second to end the inning with Sandites riding a close 4-3 lead.

Treyce Tolbert reached base on balls to start the seventh, Greathouse hit a single, and Jake Ward was hit by pitch to load the bases. Keaton Stamp went to the mound for the Tigers, but was unable to prevent runs as Mack Thompson sacrificed to bring in Tolbert and Ty Fain sacrificed to score Greathouse for a 6-3 advantage.

It came down to the bottom of the seventh for the Tigers. Brady Bean flied out to center field and Croft grounded out to short stop. Johnson got on base with a bunt to third but Dunlap hit a pop fly to end the game.

The Sandites will get only a brief rest before taking on the Owasso Rams (27-6) in round three. The Rams defeated Sapulpa in the first round of the Regional, and have two wins over the Sandites this season. Just last week the Sandites threatened to upset the top-seeded team in a close 11-10 home field loss, but were handily defeated 11-2 the following day in Owasso. If the Sandites defeat Owasso in this game, they'll have a rematch Thursday at 7:30 PM. If they lose to Owasso, they'll play either Sapulpa or Broken Arrow Thursday at 5:00 PM.