Sports Roundup: Daton Fix wins World Freestyle Silver

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

The Sand Springs fast-pitch softball team (16-13) has received its Regional assignment. The Sandites will be traveling to Owasso on Tuesday and Wednesday October 5-6th. 

In the first round they will play Muskogee (17-16) Tuesday at 12:30 in the first meeting of the season between the two teams. On the other side of the bracket is Owasso (27-5) vs. the combined Tulsa Memorial / Booker T. Washington team (2-21). 

Sand Springs previously lost 8-0 to Owasso in the second game of the season while it was short five starters due to injuries and COVID protocols. They beat the Tulsa Public Schools team 16-0 twice in district play.

Sand Springs has won ten Regional Championships in its 25 years under head coach Shelli Brown, including five in a row from 2015 to 2019 before coming up one game short last season. The team will look for its 18th in school history. 

Sand Springs finished the regular season with a 7-2 senior night win over Sperry, Monday, September 27th. 

After giving up two runs in the top of the first inning, the Sandites tied it up in the bottom of the fourth. Lauren Hammock hit a double and scored on an error, then Kelsi Hilton hit an RBI double to score Nataley Crawford.

Avery Tanner’s RBI single gave her team the lead in the fifth, then Crawford added a two-run double. Hammock scored on a passed ball and Crawford made it 7-2 on a ground out for the final run of the game.

Hilton picked up the win in the pitcher’s circle with no hits, no runs, no walks, and three strikeouts in four innings. 

The final game of the regular season, scheduled for Thursday at Oologah, was canceled due to rain.

Cross Country

The Sand Springs Varsity Boys Cross Country team placed seventh and the girls took ninth at Claremore, Friday, October 1st. 

Jazmin Lopez placed 13th in the 5K run, finishing in 21:57 to lead the girls. Alejandro Lopez led the boys in 18:01 for 28th place, closely followed by Noah Hanlon in 18:03 for 31st. 

The junior high boys placed ninth in the two-mile run, led by Taigh Wright in 12:05 for 20th. 

Volleyball

The Class 6A No. 16 Sandite Volleyball team (13-18) lost a 3-0 set to No. 3 Jenks on Tuesday, September 28th. The Sandites are 2-5 in Frontier Valley Conference action.

Senior setter Tehya Johnson surpassed the 1,000 assist career milestone in the match, and Layla Lenex set the school record in career blocks.

The Sandites were supposed to host Booker T. Washington on Thursday, but that match was canceled due to a leak in the roof of the Ed Dubie Field House, and will not be rescheduled. 

Sand Springs will host 5A No. 12 Glenpool (13-16) for senior night Tuesday, October 5th at 6:00 p.m. and will wrap up regular season action at No. 9 Union (21-9, 4-3) on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

Wrestling

Charles Page High School graduate Daton Fix placed second at the Senior Freestyle World Championship finals Sunday in Oslo, Norway. 

The Oklahoma State University redshirt junior won his first four matches by technical superiority, outscoring his opponents 41-0. 

In the finals he fell 4-1 to Russia’s Abasgadzhi Magomedov in a rematch of their 2015 Cadet World Championship finals match, which Madomedov won 3-2. 

The tournament earned Fix his first Senior-level World medal, and his sixth World Championship medal at any age level. He has won one World Championship, earning Junior gold in 2017 in Finland. He currently holds a 37-10 record in Senior Freestyle. 

Sandite Roundup: Shelli Brown celebrates 600th win in 25th season

25th-year Sandite Softball Head Coach Shelli Brown is presented with a commemorative ball for her 600th win by the Class of 2022 seniors.

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

Shelli Brown has been the head softball coach at Charles Page High School since before her current class of seniors was even born. In fact, she’s been the head coach since before some of her assistant coaches were born.

Now in her 25th season as a Sandite, Coach Brown is a pillar in the community. 

“Shelli’s an icon in women’s softball at the high school level,” says Sand Springs Athletic Director Rod Sitton. “She started her career here, hopefully she ends her career here. She’s not only a great coach, but a great leader and a great example for the young ladies that go through here. It’s been a real privilege to have her here and work with her, and also be her boss. She’s just a great person all around.”

On Tuesday, August 24th, the team celebrated Brown’s 600th career win in fast pitch. The milestone came in a 14-6 rout of Adair on Thursday, August 19th at the Rogers State festival in Claremore. They also beat Lincoln Christian 11-2 in the first game of the festival.

Owning a 603-326 record with 10 regional championships, two academic state championships, two district championships, and one conference championship, Brown has been one of the most successful coaches in school history in any sport. Under her guidance, 32 sandites have received All-State accolades and at least 60 have signed to play at the next level.

“It’s not about excellence just in softball itself, but it’s also about academic excellence,” added District Superintendent Sherry Durkee. “Personally, I’m super proud of the two academic state championships.” 

Prior to the Tuesday-night doubleheader against Enid, Brown’s senior class presented her with a commemorative game ball signed by the entire team, along with flowers and balloons. Then they gave her a 601st and 602nd win by drubbing the Pacers 20-3 and 3-1.

Raegan Rector went 3-for-3 at the plate with five RBI and two doubles in the first game, Mikenna Stephens was 3-of-4 with four RBI, and Kelsi Hilton was 3-of-4 with four runs. 

With temperatures nearing 100℉, the bats slowed down in game two, and the Sandites actually needed a fifth-inning comeback. Trailing 1-0, Taylor Skipper tied it up with a single to score Ashlyn Clark, then Skipper and Jolee McNally scored on an error for the lead.

Nataley Crawford pitched eight strikeouts and only three hits in the first game, and Hilton got the win in game two. 

The Sandites followed it up with a 12-4 district beatdown of Bartlesville on Thursday that saw Hilton go 3-of-4 at the plate with a triple, two runs, and four RBI, while also striking out four batters in four innings from the circle. Lauren Hammock was also 3-of-4 with three runs and two RBI.

Sandite Softball is now 5-3 on the season and will continue district action on the road with a Thursday game at Bixby (9-2, 5-0).

CPHS Volleyball

The Class 6A No. 13 ranked Sandite Volleyball team (7-4) suffered a 3-1 conference loss to No. 3 Broken Arrow (10-3) Tuesday, August 24th at the Ed Dubie Field House.

The Sandites lost sets of 25-15, 25-22, and 25-9, but stole the third set 25-20 for their first game win against the Tigers since 2018.

Payton Robbins scored nine kills with three blocks, 16 digs, and three aces in the loss. Layla Lenex had three kills and five blocks. Tehya Johnson had two kills, two aces, and 23 assists. Jacelyn Smith scored seven kills and two blocks. Charley Fahland had two aces and 17 digs, and Kasidy Holland had seven kills and three digs.

Sandite Volleyball will travel to Regent Prep Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

CPHS Cross Country

The Lady Sandite varsity cross country team placed 11th in a 5K run at Edmond Deer Creek, August 21st, led by Jazmin Lopez in fifth place out of 105 runners with a time of 23:13.98. 

The boys team didn’t have enough runners to place as a team, but Noah Hanlon finished in 26th with a time of 19:13.58.

The elementary girls placed third at Kiefer Saturday, August 28th. Chloe Grona won the one-mile run in 5:52.45, Josie Grona placed third in 6:19.71, and Sophie Grona placed 15th in 7:06.99.

Lady Sandite Volleyball wins 2021 Sandite Invitational

Sand Springs Sandite Volleyball team wins first place at the 2021 Sandite Invitational.

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

For the second time in the tournament’s three-year history, the Sandite Invitational was won by the home team, but it didn’t come easy.

Bixby wrapped up the round-robin tournament with a 6-1 record - their only defeat being a 2-1 match against Sand Springs. Despite the loss, they still had a shot at the tournament title if Southeast could knock the Sandites down to 5-2 after Lincoln Christian dealt the home team a 2-0 loss earlier in the day.

The Spartans tried their best, and rebounded from a lopsided 25-10 defeat in the first set to storm back and win the second 25-22. After taking a 7-1 lead in the final game, it looked like they would succeed in stymying the home team’s hopes for gold, but Layla Lenex and Payton Robbins combined for four-straight kills to tip the momentum.

Charley Fahland scored an ace to tie it at 10-10, Jacelyn Smith knocked down a pair of kills for the 14-12 lead, and Olivia Dewitt secured the team trophy with an ace that was almost a service error. The hard-hit ball connected with the top of the net and just barely dropped over on the Spartans’ court, who were playing deep and couldn’t get there in time.

“I just told them to stay up and stay together,” said third-year Head Coach Derek Jackson. “One person ain’t going to win it, it’s going to be one team that’ll win it. They did a phenomenal job of believing in me, believing in themselves and their teammates, and that belief that the next ball will be better got them to where they wanted to be.”

The Sandites cleaned up in individual accolades as well, and Kasidy Holland, Tehya Johnson, and Fahland were all voted to the All-Tournament team.

“One of our team goals for the year is to win 70% of our home games and defend the home court,” said Jackson, whose teams are 31-12 at the Ed Dubie Field House. “Winning as many games as we did tonight, yesterday really helps push our goals. We’re pretty goal-driven. As far as the program, winning your home tournament always gives you a little extra juice.”

The Sandites (7-2) won’t be resting on their laurels after the tournament victory, however. They will launch right into another busy tournament weekend at Holland Hall on Friday and Saturday before hosting Broken Arrow in conference action Tuesday, August 24th, and they have some work to do before then.

“I think we could be a little more disciplined up front, get a couple more touches, a couple more blocks,” says Jackson. “I think our serve is aggressive, it’s tough, but statistically it’s a really good serve. We just need to be a little more consistent. And then just talking. I think we can always talk more, which I don’t know a coach who wouldn’t say that.”

On Tuesday the Sandites fell 3-1 to Owasso in sets of 25-21, 20-25, 25-20, and 25-20 in the season opener. Payton Robbins scored 11 kills and four blocks as the Sandites won their first set against the Rams since 2017. The girls were down 20-17 in the second game before rattling off eight straight points, capped by an ace from Fahland.

Smith added nine kills, Holland had eight, and Johnson recorded 25 assists. Defensively they were paced by Fahland with 16 digs and Johnson with 12. 

On Thursday they rebounded with a 3-0 non-conference sweep of Collinsville (25-21, 25-12, 25-12) behind a balanced team effort offensively. Robbins scored three aces, four kills, and a block, with seven digs. Lenex scored six blocks and five kills, and Dewitt scored four aces. 

Over the course of the tournament, Robbins had 12 aces, 55 kills, and 43 digs. Lenex had 46 kills and five blocks. Smith had 25 kills, six blocks, and six aces. Fahland had 78 digs, 14 assists, and nine aces. Johnson had 141 assists, two blocks, nine kills, and six aces. Dewitt scored five aces and made 34 digs. 

Officially, Smith set the school record for career aces at 86, beating Madison Blaylock’s 78. Robbins set the school record for career kills with 280, beating Devree Youngblood’s 260. However, those numbers only go back to 2019, as previous year’s statistics were never preserved.

Tournament Results

CPHS 2-0 Lawton (25-12, 25-12)
CPHS 2-0 Choctaw (25-15, 25-21)
CPHS 2-0 Enid (25-14, 25-20)
CPHS 2-1 Bixby (21-25, 25-21, 15-7)
CPHS 2-0 Southwest Covenant (25-11, 25-14)
Lincoln Christian 2-0 CPHS (25-22, 25-16)
CPHS 2-1 Southeast (25-10, 22-25, 15-12)

High expectations for Sandite Volleyball in new season

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Sandite Volleyball Camp, grades 7-9. Courtesy of Lisa Wright.

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

After two of the winningest seasons in school history, expectations are high for the Charles Page High School volleyball team as the 2021 fall season approaches. The girls recently wrapped up Catoosa summer league and youth camp, and are poised for success as they return the bulk of their roster from last season.

“I think we have a veteran group this year,” said Head Coach Derek Jackson. “Last year we were a little bit younger, lot of sophomores, quite a few juniors, a couple of seniors. This year it’s going to be a lot more senior and junior-type kids with maybe a couple of sophomores or freshmen tossed in. So I think it may be the most seasoned team I’ve had since I’ve been here.”

Jackson is entering his third season as coach and owns a 37-29 record. The team’s 19 wins last season are the second-most in school history, and marked the first time that the program had back-to-back winning records.

“Obviously these first two years you’re going to have some bumpiness in terms of a new coach, a new system, and learning that culture. And we’ve had success along the route with that, which is good. Now it’s time to see some of that start to pay off. Summer league was pretty beneficial and showed we could compete with a lot of people.”

“They have been with me for a couple of years, they understand what we’re trying to do, the culture we’re trying to build. I think that’s going to be the difference between here and the very first year. I had a group of seniors that first year, but they hadn’t been with me, they were still learning the ins and outs, and this group kind of already has that under their belt.”

A big part of the team’s recent success has been building out the middle school and junior varsity programs. Last season they added a third middle-school team, and the 7th Grade-only team finished with a winning record in their first year. Jackson has also focused on introducing the sport to younger grade levels, offering a camp for grades 3-9.

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Volleyball youth camp, grades 3-6. Courtesy of Lisa Wright.

“Last year we didn’t get to do the little kids’ camp (due to COVID-19). We were able to do it this year and it went really well. We had about 50 kids between two age groups. A lot of kids had a ton of fun and got a little bit better. That was our motto for the entire camp, ‘lots of fun, little bit better,’ so it was awesome.”

Jackson will have a big talent pool to draw from next season. “We had a really big freshman class last year, 18 kids. A lot of them played club, a lot of them went to clinics and camps. I think honestly that’s one of the biggest things I’m looking forward to is that JV is going to be so much stronger and can push varsity in practices every day.”

Evyn Morrow, Jayden Smith, Hannah McKelvey, and Averi Tippit are expected to make an impact as rising young players, while the team will be anchored by upperclassmen Tehya Johnson, Kasidy Holland, Jacelyn Smith, Olivia DeWitt, Payton Robbins, Charley Fahland, and Layla Lenex.

“I really think this year we really have an opportunity to be the most successful in school history. We’ve had the second and third-winningest seasons. I think this year if big players play big, younger ones step up, we stay together and stay healthy, we have a chance to upset some people that we maybe haven’t ever beat.”

Sandite Volleyball will start the season with a conference home game against Owasso, August 10th at 6:30 p.m. and will host the third annual Sandite Invitational that weekend. They will also compete at the Holland Hall, Edmond Santa Fe, and Glenpool tournaments this year.