Senior Class Wins Powerpuff and Weekly Sports Roundup

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

After a three-year hiatus, powderpuff football returned to Memorial Stadium Saturday night. The Charles Page High School seniors dominated the lower classmen in the Senior Celebration fundraiser event, not giving up a single score. The event raised nearly $1800 for the all-night lock-in event that will be held after graduation.

The 21 Puff Street senior team defeated the Hoosier Daddies underclassmen 34-0 in the first game and 19-0 in the second. Cameron Clemons, Raegan Padilla, Drew Hawkins, and Madison Lee all scored touchdown runs. Kali Baker threw a dime to Lee for a TD and ran in three PATs. Lee and Ali Day both scored pick sixes, and Day took hers 79 yards before also catching the PAT toss from Baker. 

Baseball

Sandite Baseball is in a six-game slump after dropping two district games to Enid and a non-district game against Tulsa NOAH last week.

Monday’s game against Enid went fourteen innings before the Plainsmen won 6-5 on a walkoff single. The bullpen combined for 12 strikeouts in the loss, and Cason Savage hit a triple. Tuesday’s rematch was an 8-3 decision, 

Jace Arnold threw six strikeouts and Savage hit a home run in the loss to NOAH on Thursday, but six walks, two singles, and two errors in the top of the sixth gave the Jags the comeback.

Sand Springs will host Oologah-Talala Thursday at 5:00 p.m. and Sapulpa Friday at 6:00 p.m. in non-district action.

Cheer

Senior Sandite cheerleader Claire Smith has signed to join the University of Central Arkansas cheer team next season.

Dance

Sandite Dance traveled to the Dance Team Union Nationals in Orlando, and placed seventh in Hip Hop.

Golf

Meghan Charles has been bringing home some medals for the Sandite golf team this season. The Oklahoma City University-bound senior placed second at the Jenks Invitational and won the Frontier Valley Conference title with a round of 74. 

Slow Pitch Softball

Sandite Slow Pitch is 7-14 on the season after going 0-4 this past week against a tough slate of ranked teams. The girls dropped losses of 18-17 to Jenks, 13-7 to Pryor, 16-8 to Kellyville, and 10-7 to Union. 

The girls led 17-10 going into the bottom of the seventh Monday against Jenks, but the Trojans rallied with six hits and won on a walkoff fly. Avery Tanner was 4-of-5 at the plate, scoring three runs and two RBI, and Raegan Rector hit a homer.

Jaden Jordan hit a home run against Pryor, then Jordan, Kelsi Hilton, and Taylor Skipper all went yard against Kellyville. Jordan and Hilton repeated against Union, and Avery Tanner also smacked one over the right field fence.

Sandite Softball will host No. 3 Broken Arrow Thursday at 4:30 p.m. 

Track and Field

The Sandites’ trip to Jenks was postponed due to weather, giving the athletes an off week. Joseph Mattison recently signed a letter of intent to run track at Coffeyville Community College on scholarship next season, and junior Layne Kirkendoll has received scholarship offers from Oral Roberts University and South Dakota State University. 

Joseph Mattison commits to Coffeyville Community College

A version of this story was originally published in Vype.

Charles Page High School senior Joseph Mattison came into his senior season with the goal of earning a college scholarship, and hard work and dedication have made that goal a reality. The sprinter and long jumper recently signed a collegiate letter of intent and will run at Coffeyville Community College next year.

“JoJo is the definition of hard work and determination,” says Sandite Head Coach Tim Dial. “He has been unstoppable training on the track and in the weight room. We put together a plan for him this last June to get him to college. He has executed every part of the plan without ever second guessing the path we had him on. He is the type of kid that every coach wishes they had a team full of! JoJo has some big goals to finish out his senior season and will do some great things at Coffeyville with Coach Morrie Turner.”

Mattison started running track in the seventh grade. “I decided to join the team because I saw it as an opportunity to compete,” he says. “Then I went to my first track meet, won a medal, and loved the sport ever since.”

He has really been developing in his senior year, setting new personal bests in all three of his events. He has a 100-meter dash time of 11.27 seconds, a 200 time of 22.18 seconds, and a long jump distance of 20’06.50”, all from this season. He has won one long jump event, and has earned four third-place medals in various events this year.

Mattison has also earned his way into the school record books. His sophomore 4x400 and 1600-medley relay teams set all-time Sand Springs records, and his freshman 4x100 team ranks second in town history. His sophomore 4x400 relay team qualified for State after placing second at Regionals, which is one of his favorite memories. 

The young Sandite star has yet to decide on a major or career-path. For now he is enjoying developing his abilities as an athlete, and fishing and hunting in his spare time.

Layne Kirkendoll Sets Sand Springs High Jump Record

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

Sandite Track and Field traveled to the Owasso Ram Relays Friday. The girls placed eighth and the boys placed ninth.

Layne Kirkendoll won her second high jump of the year, setting a new school record of 5 feet 7 inches. She also won her fourth long jump of the year with a personal-best mark of 18’06.5”, which is the second-best distance in school history. 

Noah Hanlon was among the top boys in the 3200m run with a time of 11:17.94 for sixth place. Alejandro Lopez had the fifth-best time in the 800m at 2:08.49. Morgan Lockhart was fifth in the 300m hurdles in 44.33. Greg Reed took sixth in the long jump at 19’10”.

Sakauri Wilson won her heat in the 100m and had the fourth-best time overall at 13.02 seconds. Jazmin Lopez placed fourth in the 800, finishing in 2:27.88. 

Soccer

Sandite Soccer had a tough past week, as both the boys and girls teams dropped district matches against Broken Arrow on Tuesday before having their Friday games at Union canceled due to weather.

The boys (5-4 overall, 1-1 district) fell 3-0 Tuesday at Memorial Stadium, while the girls (6-3, 0-2) fell 5-1 to Broken Arrow. Teagan Smith scored her third goal of the season three minutes into the match, but the Tigers rattled off five unanswered to end the game.

Sand Springs will host Putnam City West for their final home games of the regular season Friday night at Memorial Stadium. 

Baseball

Sandite Baseball (10-13, 4-6) went 0-3 last week, dropping two close district games against Stillwater, and an 8-1 trip to Union. 

Stillwater won 7-5 on Monday and 11-10 on Tuesday. Dom Ornelas hit a home run in both games, and Keaton Campbell and Ty Pennington also went yard on Tuesday. Pennington was 3-for-3 at the plate Tuesday. 

Friday’s game at Bixby was canceled due to weather, and they returned to action Saturday at Union. The Sandites put up seven hits, including three doubles, but stranded six in the loss. 

The Sandite sluggers will return to action Thursday at 6:00 p.m. with a non-district home game against Tulsa NOAH. 

Slow Pitch Softball

Sandite Softball snapped a five-game skid Thursday with a 5-0 win over Owasso. They went 0-4 Monday and Tuesday at the Jenks Festival, then fell 11-10 to Jenks on Thursday. 

A 12-run inning and a home run from Jaden Jordan wasn’t quite enough Monday against Red Oak. Down 17-0 after two innings, the girls rallied to cut it to 17-14 before running out of steam. In game two they led 9-7 before Haskell rallied with four runs in the fifth. 

The Sandites lost another close one Tuesday against Choctaw, 9-8, then Mustang won 14-3 in the final game of the festival. 

Jordan homered, Raegan Rector tripled, and the Sandites led Jenks 10-9 in the bottom of the seventh, but the Trojans won on a walkoff single. 

The win over Owasso didn’t come with much fireworks, but they got their second shutout of the year behind Kaden Barnes’s pitching. Kelsi Hilton supplied two hits, two RBI, and one run to pace the offense.

The girls will host Jenks Thursday at 5:00 p.m.

Fishing

Cruz Norris and Gunnar Casey had yet another hot finish on the Oklahoma Bass Nation high school trail, placing fifth on Keystone Lake Saturday. The duo just won their previous event on Grand Lake. 

Norris and Casey caught three fish, weighing 9.07 pounds, with their biggest coming in at 3.91. Kyle and Kale Hilligoss placed 26th with two fish weighing 4.22 pounds, and Mack Taylor and Reese David placed 28th with two fish weighing 3.96 pounds.

Fernando Saldana sparks Sandites in district soccer opener

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

Baseball

Sandite Baseball picked up a key 7-3 district win at Broken Arrow Monday, March 29th. The team recorded 11 hits with four doubles, and got it done on the mound as well. Jabe Schlehuber tossed five strikeouts for the win, and Eli Buxton recorded the save. Broken Arrow won the rematch on Tuesday, 8-7. Dom Ornelas hit a three-run homer for the 6-3 lead in the third, but the Tigers rallied with four runs in the fifth.

The Sandites headed to Jenks Friday for a non-district game and lost 2-1 on a walkoff error. They returned to form Saturday, however, with a 13-1 run-rule victory against Midwest City. Keaton Campbell went 3-for-3 at the plate with a double, two runs, and four RBI, while Kayden Campbell got the win on the mound with six strikeouts and only one hit.

Sand Springs is 10-10 overall and 4-4 in district play. They will play Friday at Bixby at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday at 12:00 p.m. at Union. 

Soccer

The Sand Springs boys’ soccer team (5-4) kicked off district play with a 3-2 win against Edmond Memorial Friday night. Fernando Saldana scored two goals, Jack Bratcher added one, and Xander Quiroga made five saves. Bratcher leads the team with nine goals this season, followed by Saldana with eight.

Lady Sandite Soccer (6-2) suffered a 1-0 loss in their district debut, snapping a four-match win streak. Both teams will travel to Union Friday for a district match. Girls will play at 6:00 p.m., followed by boys at 8:00 p.m.

Slow Pitch Softball

The Sand Springs slow pitch softball team (6-5) won a rivalry double-header against Sapulpa in dominant fashion, Monday, March 29th, beating the Chieftains 28-5 and 23-0, but hit a rough patch later in the week.

Raegan Rector hit two home runs in the first game, scoring three runs and six RBI. Lauren Hammock got the win, only giving up two hits with one strikeout in the three-inning game. 

Rector hit a triple in game two, and scored two runs and five RBI. Kaden Barnes pitched the three inning shutout, tossing one hit, one strikeout, and no walks.

On Tuesday Rector hit two more homers, scoring six RBI in a 21-13 loss to Berryhill. Taylor Skipper also had a homer and was 3-for-3 at the plate. They also fell 20-3 to Broken Arrow, with yet another homer from Rector. 

On Thursday they went 2-3 at the Haskell Tournament, beating Fort Gibson 9-4 and Bristow 9-1, but they fell 17-5 to Haskell, 13-2 to Oktaha, and 7-6 to Bixby.

Sandite Softball will travel to Jenks Thursday at 5:00 p.m. to play the Trojans and Owasso.

Track and Field

The Sand Springs boys and girls track teams both placed sixth at the Broken Arrow Track Classic Saturday. Joseph Mattison was the star of the show, running the 200-meter dash in 22.18 seconds for third place. He also jumped 20’06.5” for third place in the long jump.

Wrestling

The Keystone Kids hosted an OK USA tournament Saturday at Clyde Boyd Middle School and seven Sand Springs wrestlers won their brackets. Colton Lambert, Kason Wolfe, Ethan Norton, and Parker Ingram placed first in freestyle, Jesse Moore won in Greco, and Samuel Moore won his bracket in both styles. 

Cruz Norris and Gunnar Casey win Grand Lake fishing tournament

Courtesy of OBN.

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

Sand Springs is continuing to prove itself as one of the top high school fishing programs in the state, as yet another Sandite duo has taken top honors at an Oklahoma Bass Nation trail event. Cruz Norris and Gunnar Casey brought home the fourth trail win in program history Sunday, March 28th on Grand Lake.

Bass Nation was supposed to host two trail events, Saturday and Sunday at Fort Gibson, but high water levels resulted in the relocation to Grand Lake, and it was limited to a one-day event. 

Norris and Casey came up one fish short of the limit, but still had a healthy margin of victory. Their 4.04-pound big bass was the third-largest in the tournament, and it propelled them to a 12.87-pound total. Despite only catching four bass, they had nearly a pound on the runners-up, who caught five.

Only three teams of Sandites have won trail events, led by Seth Kearns and Cole Scott with two wins. The program was founded in 2015 and the school won the State Championship in 2017.

Mack Taylor and Reese David caught four fish totaling 9.1 pounds for 13th place out of 56 boats. They previously placed second at the season opener on Lake Eufala in October and rank fourth in the team standings so far. 

Norris and Casey are already up to 26th in the team standings after missing the season-opener. Kyle and Kale Hilligoss also missed the first event, and they are 42nd in the team race after catching two fish at Grand. They weighed in at 6.9 pounds for 25th place. Final team standings will use each team’s top-four performances this season, so missing one event won’t penalize the anglers much in the long run.

Sandite Fishing won’t have to travel far for their next event, as OBN will be coming to Lake Keystone for two trail events Saturday and Sunday, April 10-11. 

The program will also be hosting a fundraiser tournament, open to the public, April 17th on Keystone. The tournament will launch out of Prairie View Ramp at 7:00 a.m. with a 2:30 p.m. weigh-in. Entry is $60 with a 70% payout. There will be a five fish limit, with a 14 inch minimum. 

For more information on the fundraiser tournament, or about the CPHS fishing program overall, contact CPHSfishingteam@gmail.com or call/text 918-625-6853.

Sandite Athletics Weekly Roundup

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

Boys Soccer

The Sand Springs boys’ soccer team (4-4) fell 2-1 in non-district play at Enid, Tuesday, March 23rd, with Brian Boyles scoring the lone goal. They placed fourth at the Holland Hall tournament last week, beating Oklahoma Christian School 6-0 on Thursday before falling 2-1 to Holland Hall Friday and 7-3 to Owasso on Saturday. 

Fernando Saldana scored a hat trick against OCS and Jack Bratcher had a brace. Cameron Summerton added the sixth goal, his first of the season. Saldana scored one goal against Holland Hall and another against Owasso. Bratcher and Mason Ritter also had goals against Owasso. 

The boys were short handed in their placement match, playing without NSU-bound David Fancher and goalkeeper Xander Quiroga, among others. Junior backup Shawn Hayes made ten saves in the loss.

Baseball

Sandite Baseball went 3-2 last week and is 8-8 overall. Jabe Schlehuber got the win and Eli Buxton recorded a save in a 4-2 district game at Bartlesville, Tuesday, March 23rd. Bartlesville won the rematch 6-4 on Wednesday.

The Sandites returned to Bartlesville on Thursday and Friday for a festival. Gage Elliott went the distance in a 10-2 win over Ponca City Thursday, only giving up three hits, then Kayden Campbell recorded a 7-4 rivalry win against Sapulpa with another save from Buxton. Schlehuber and Ty Pennington both hit triples in the win. Bishop Kelley scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh for an 8-7 walk-off on Friday.

Rhen Rutledge paced the offense, going 7-of-15 at the plate last week with seven runs, two RBI, a double, and a triple. Cason Savage also hit a triple in the Wednesday loss to Bartlesville.

Sand Springs will travel to Jenks Friday for a non-district game, and will host Midwest City Saturday at noon.

Slow Pitch Softball

Sandite Slow Pitch started the season with a pair of wins Tuesday, March 23rd at Union High School. They beat Berryhill 13-1 in a three-inning run rule and survived a 12-11 shootout with the host team. 

Lauren Hammock got the win against Berryhill, only giving up one hit. Jaden Jordan hit a two-run homer in the first inning to give her team the lead, and Kelsi Hilton and Kaden Barnes both hit RBI triples. Hilton added a grand slam in the second inning, then Hammock threw a bases-loaded strikeout for the win. 

Barnes got the win against Union and Hammock recorded a save. Jordan went a perfect three-for-three at the plate with two home runs and six RBI. 

Sand Springs Softball will compete at the Haskell Tournament on Thursday, where they are the defending tournament champions.

Track and Field

The Sand Springs boys placed sixth and the girls took fifth Friday at the Muskogee Track Classic. Two Lady Sandites brought home three gold medals from the event. 

Jazmin Lopez won the 800-meter run in 2:29.87. Layne Kirkendoll won the high jump with a mark of 5’04.00” and the long jump with a distance of 17’06.00.” Jayda Rowe placed second in the discus throw with a mark of 105’07.00”, ranking her second in Sand Springs history in the event. 

Alejandro Lopez placed second in the 800-meter run in 2:04.95, less than half a second behind the winner. Joseph Mattison placed third in the 100-meter dash in 11.27, third in the 200 in 23.15, and third in the long jump at 19’07.00”.

The girls 4x100 relay team placed third in 52.04 seconds, the 4x400 placed fourth in 4:29.49, and the 4x200 placed fifth in 1:56.22. 

The boys 4x800 relay team placed fourth in 8:48.62, the 4x400 placed fourth in 3:41.33, and the 4x200 placed fifth in 1:38.57. 

Sandite Track will next compete at the Broken Arrow Track Classic Saturday at 10:00 a.m.