Lady Sandite Soccer wins Hilldale Tournament

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

For the first time since 2016, the Charles Page High School girls soccer team (6-1) has won a tournament title. Sand Springs went 3-0 at the Hilldale Tournament last week in Muskogee, including two overtime shootouts. Katie Webb kicked the tournament-winning penalty kick against Fort Gibson Friday night to bring home the trophy.

“It was the classic Sandite game,” said Head Coach Matthew Watkins, whose team has gone to PKs in four of their seven games so far this season. They’re undefeated in overtime. “We come out and fight. It’s a grind.”

To Watkins, the girls’ tournament title is just evidence of what they already knew about themselves. “If we would have got to play last year, we would have seen some of the same results.” Last season was canceled after a 2-1 start due to the outbreak of COVID-19.

Coaches Watkins and Cisco Chavez have reiterated time and time again that win or lose, it’s a team effort - and that applies to the coaching staff as well as the players. The two are even sharing the title of Head Coach this season.

“It takes all of us. No matter what we go through for the rest of the season, we have to remember to play every game like we just played,” Chavez told his players after the game. “Be proud of yourselves, this is something that most teams will never accomplish.”

The Sandites kicked off the tournament with a 2-0 win over Will Rogers on Wednesday, then beat host Hilldale 2-1 in a wild 10-9 triple-overtime shootout on Thursday. In Friday’s game, the girls held Fort Gibson scoreless in regulation for the first time this season.

Both teams ended the match at 0-0, setting up a best-of-five PK shootout. Senior goalie Ali Day, who is signed to play at Rogers State next season, made two saves in overtime. Karsen Lynch and Jade Patton made their kicks and the Sandites took a 2-1 lead into the final pairing. Webb put them up 3-1 to secure the win. 

“Hard work beats talent,” says Chavez. “These girls came together as a team. I’m so proud of these girls.” Watkins also praised Carson Sargent and Bella Cheney for their performances. 

Matthew Miller’s 2018 Lady Sandites went undefeated at the festival-style Stilwell tournament, but Collinsville also did and won the tournament title on criteria. The last time Sand Springs brought home a first place trophy was under coach Bobby Behrens at the 2016 Edison Green & White Tournament. 

The Sandites’ 6-1 start is their best since 2016, and they will look to continue that success when they host Edmond Memorial (4-2) Friday at 6:00 p.m. to start district play. Boys will play at 8:00 p.m.

Sandites' Layne Kirkendoll, Joseph Mattison claim gold at Broken Arrow Relays

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

Track and Field

Layne Kirkendoll and Joseph Mattison were leaps and bounds ahead of their competition Friday at the Broken Arrow Relays, and both took home first place medals in the long jump. 

Kirkendoll has already secured her position as the second-best long jumper in Sand Springs history behind two-time State Champion Shawn Gilton, and she just keeps getting better. Her 17’08.5” leap marked a career-high and her second win of the season. She also won the high jump with a career mark of 5’06.00”.

Mattison earned his first varsity gold with a career distance of 20’02.5” in his first jumping event of the season. 

There were no individual running events in the dual-style meet, which pitted the Sand Springs relay teams against Broken Arrow’s varsity and JV squads. The Sandite runners didn’t win any events, but the girls’ 1600 team lost by less than a second.

Baseball

Sandite Baseball (5-6) went 0-4 at the Edmond Festival, but their Saturday double-header featured a pair of close shootouts. On Thursday they lost 5-1 to Norman North and 7-4 to Mustang.

On Saturday they lost 10-9 to both Edmond North and Edmond Santa Fe. In the first game against Edmond North they were down 4-0 to start the sixth and scored eight runs to take the lead, including a 2RBI triple from Rhen Rutledge and a 3RBI double from Jacob Shields. 

The Huskies tied it 8-8 with an RBI double in the seventh to force an extra inning. Shields reclaimed the lead on a ground out by Rutledge, but Toby Simpson hit a 2RBI single to win the game. 

Santa Fe took a 3-0 lead into the fourth in the next game, but Pennington tied it up with a 2RBI triple and Kaden Young scored in the fifth for the lead. The Wolves used four walks and a hit to make it 6-4, but Sand Springs wouldn’t stay down for long.

Keaton Campbell and Jabe Schlehuber hit a pair of solo home runs, then the Wolves walked four Sandites in a row to tie it in the seventh. Cason Savage and Rutledge tagged up on a pair of pop flies to make it 9-7, but Jase White hit a two-run double to tie it and Caleb Moore was walked on loaded bases for the win. 

Sand Springs Baseball will return to action Thursday and Friday at the Bartlesville Bruin Classic, which will feature a Highway 97 Rivalry game against Sapulpa Thursday at 4:00 p.m.

Slow Pitch Softball will host Owasso Thursday at 4:30 p.m., Boys’ Soccer will play in the Holland Hall Invitational Thursday, Track and Field will compete at Muskogee Friday at 4:00 p.m., and the Fishing teams will take to the waters at Ft. Gibson Saturday and Sunday.

Bailey Copeland paves the way for Sand Springs girls’ wrestling

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

Something special has been happening in the Oklahoma wrestling community. For the first time ever, the OSSAA is offering fully-sanctioned girls’ wrestling, opening the door to a sport that many girls have never even considered. One girl who is excited about the future of female wrestling is Bailey Copeland.

Copeland, a Sand Springs sixth grader, recently became the first-ever Lady Sandite to win a youth State Championship, and she did it twice. First she won the OKUSA title in January, then brought home the OKWA gold in February.

What makes her extra special? She’s only been wrestling for a few months. Initially her dad was skeptical of letting her wrestle, but he finally let her go to a few practices this fall to try it out. 

“She went to practice, then left there and went to play basketball,” said Josh Copeland. “She almost threw up twice, but she loved it. She wanted to wrestle.” Bailey quickly made the decision to drop basketball and pursue wrestling instead. She also plays softball in the spring.

“She’s a natural,” says Josh. “It’s just something you don’t see every day. She gives 100% in the room every night. She picks up things so quickly. I taught her a three-quarter stack at home and she went out and pinned somebody with it.”

Bailey comes from a large wrestling community. Her father, Josh, was a wrestler and MMA fighter. Her brother Kyler wrestled through elementary before focusing on baseball. Sand Springs as a town has seen more success in varsity wrestling than any other sport. 

She has been training with the Keystone Kids, the Sand Springs youth program, part time, but also with the Hurricane Wrestling Academy in Tulsa. At Hurricane she has other girls to train with, but in Sand Springs she’s the only girl in the room.

Charles Page High School has yet to put the wheels in motion on a girls’ varsity team, but discussions are happening. Broken Arrow became the first district in the state to do so, and many other schools have girls training and competing alongside the boys the same way they’ve been allowed to for years. Creating a girls program in Sand Springs would require approval from the Board of Education, and they would need to find space for a separate locker room for the girls. 

Bailey won’t be the first girl on the Sand Springs wrestling team. Just two years ago Hayli Jeffries won the Union preseason tournament as a sophomore. But she could be a member of the first all-girls team in Sand Springs, if other girls step up and continue to take interest in growing the sport.

Growing the sport is especially important to Bailey. “I want to try to get more girls to wrestle. If you think about wrestling, just go ahead and try it and see if you like it.” She looks up to Olympic gold medalist Helen Maroulis for inspiration, and her favorite part of wrestling is making boys cry.

Although competing at the high school level is already on her mind, for now Bailey has two more seasons of junior high wrestling to focus on. Next up for the young star will be the Reno Nationals April 15-18th at the Tulsa Convention Center.

For more information on Sand Springs youth wrestling, follow “Keystone Kids Wrestling Club” on Facebook or email jarrod.patterson@sandites.org to sign up. Freestyle and Greco-Roman practices will begin Thursday, March 25th at Charles Page High School.

Sandite Basketball ends season in Area playoffs

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Sandite high school basketball ended its season this past weekend in the Area playoffs. The boys fell 61-40 to No. 12 Union Friday night at Owasso, while the girls won their first-round game 50-46 against No. 11 Edmond Memorial before falling 36-33 to No. 7 Midwest City Saturday afternoon in Edmond.

The No. 13 Lady Sandites (12-9) paid back a December loss against Edmond Memorial with an overtime thriller Thursday night. Junior star Journey Armstead scored a game-high 22 points with five steals and six assists against the Bulldogs, but the Bombers held her to only 12 points on Saturday. She finished her season averaging 16.9 points per game and joined the 1,000 point club in January.

Click here to read the full story in the Sand Springs Leader.

Sand Springs Sandites kick off Spring sports season

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Spring sports have arrived in Sand Springs, with soccer, baseball, and track kicking off their seasons this past week. Both varsity soccer teams recorded wins to start the season. The boys won 3-2 against Glenpool on Tuesday, and the girls won 5-0 against Muskogee on Friday.

Click here to read the full story in the Sand Springs Leader.

Journey Armstead leads Lady Sandites to playoff win at Edmond

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Sometimes it’s less about how many points you score, and more about when you score them.

Isabel Langenberg only had six points for the Edmond Memorial Bulldogs Thursday night, but her two baskets gave her team their only two leads of the game. Meanwhile, Journey Armstead was only 4-of-8 on free throws until the final 30 seconds of regulation, but she focused in and went 7-of-8 when it counted to lift Sand Springs to the win.

Click here to read the full story in the Sand Springs Leader.