OSSAA Announces New Districts for Baseball, Basketball, Football

The Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association has announced new district assignments for the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years.

Football

The football districts are still pending OSSAA board approval on September 6th.

The Sandites will remain in Class 6A-II, playing in District 2 with Stillwater, Bartlesville, Capitol Hill, Muskogee, Northwest Classen, Piedmont, and Ponca City.

Capitol Hill, Northwest Classen, Piedmont, and Ponca City will all be newcomers while Tahlequah, Putnam City West, and U.S. Grant will drop from the Sandites’ schedule.

Sand Springs has never played Capitol Hill, Northwest Classen, or Piedmont. The two Oklahoma City schools are currently in 6A-II but play in the opposite district, while Piedmont will be moving up from 5A.

Ponca City is a longstanding rival of the Sandites, with the two teams having met every year since 1978, even in non-district years.

Baseball

Sand Springs will play alongside Bartlesville, Jenks, Moore, Muskogee, Norman North, Owasso, and Stillwater in District 6A-3.

The Sandites are currently in a district with Jenks and Owasso, but Bartlesville, Moore, Muskogee, Norman North, and Stillwater will all be new foes.

Sand Springs played Bartlesville and Muskogee last year in non-district action but haven’t played Moore since 2017. The Sandites and Norman North last played in 2021.

The Stillwater and Sand Springs meetings will be particularly exciting after the Pioneers sabotaged the Sandites’ home regional this past year.

Basketball

Sandite fans will see a big change in basketball scheduling as the OSSAA implements districts for the first time, effectively ending the conference era.

Sand Springs will retain longtime Frontier Valley foes Owasso, Union, and Bartlesville while forging new rivalries with a slate of west-side schools in Edmond Memorial, Enid, U.S. Grant, and Putnam City.

Sandite Volleyball Downs Sapulpa 3-1

Sandite Volleyball defeats Sapulpa in Highway 97 Rivalry play.

The Highway 97 Rivalry trophy is back in Sand Springs.

The 6A No. 15 Sand Springs volleyball team (8-6, 1-4) recorded its first conference win of the season, 3-1, Tuesday night at 5A No. 6 Sapulpa (13-11, 1-4) in a thriller.

After losing the first set 25-18, the Sandites cleaned up their act and won the next three games 25-18, 25-17, and 25-18.

“My husband lost (the trophy) so I had to go get it back,” joked first-year head coach Skylar Jackson after the match. Jackson took the program over from her husband, Derek, who is now at Claremore.

Sapulpa stormed out to an insurmountable 9-1 lead in the first game after four consecutive Sandite attacks sailed out of bounds to kick off an eight-point run. 

The Sandites totaled 11 errors in the first set, while Stailee Heard and Wrigley Adkisson combined for nine kills. Jayden Smith tallied five kills for the Sandites. 

Game two was all tied up at 15-15 till the Sandites ran away with things late in the set. Sand Springs only committed six errors and that proved to be the difference maker. Payton Robbins recorded six kills and two aces for the Sandites.

In game three the Sandites only led 19-16 before winning six of the final seven rallies. Hannah McKelvey’s ace secured the win and this time it was Layla Lenex leading the set with five kills.

Robbins played her best in game four with seven kills and two aces and Lenex won a thrilling final rally on a tipped ball.

Six different Sandites recorded kills in the match, led by Robbins with 20, Lenex with 16, and Smith with 12.

“Our setters do a really great job of making sure all of our hitters are involved,” said Jackson. 

McKelvey recorded a team-high 24 assists and Allie Wright had 18. Olivia DeWitt had a team-high 17 digs and Evyn Morrow added 12.

Robbins was the star of the night with 16 digs and four aces to complement her attacking prowess. 

“She’s the calm in the middle of the storm,” said Jackson. “She’s not a real high emotional player. She doesn’t get real down, she doesn’t get real up. She’s kind of the even tone of our team, so for her to come out and have a good night is important. It’s really important for our team.”

Stailee Heard, an OSU basketball commit, led all scorers with 22 kills, but Adkisson was the only other Chieftain in double digits with 10.  

Sand Springs has now won eight of the last ten meetings with Sapulpa.

“This game is kind of big on its own because it is a rivalry, but we have a tough tournament coming up so it was even more important for us to gain some momentum before going into our tournament,” said Jackson.

The Sandites will play No. 6 Owasso (12-9) at 10:00 a.m. Friday in the first round of the Ram Invitational in a rematch of their 3-0 conference loss. 

They will also play No. 4 Edmond Memorial (16-4) and Southmoore (7-11) in Friday’s pool play. They previously defeated Southmoore 2-1 at the Sandite Invitational.

Bracket play will begin at 10:00 a.m. Saturday with two guaranteed matches.

Sand Springs Sports Roundup: Mack Taylor and Parker Haling take fourth at Skiatook tournament

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

Cross Country

The Sandites got their first taste of the postseason Tuesday at the Frontier Valley Conference Meet in Bartlesville. The girls didn’t have a full lineup, but the varsity boys played eighth and the junior high boys placed seventh.

Jazmin Lopez led the varsity girls with a 5K time of 24:32 for 37th place. Alejandro Lopez led the varsity boys in 19:15 for 30th place, closely followed by Noah Hanlon in 19:22 for 33rd. 

Chloe Grona led the junior high girls with an 11:57 two-mile run for fourth place. Taigh Wright led the junior high boys with a time of 11:39 for 13th. 

The varsity teams will return to action Saturday, October 23rd at Mohawk Park in the 6A-East Regional.

Fishing

Sandite duo Mack Taylor and Parker Haling placed fourth at the Oklahoma BASS Nation trail event on Lake Skiatook Saturday, catching three fish totaling 6.29 pounds. On Sunday they caught one fish weighing 1.19 pounds for 37th place. 

Standings have not been updated with this weekend’s results yet, but the duo should rank among the top 10 in the state. The OBN season will take a winter break and return to action April 2nd at Lake Tenkiller.

Softball

The Charles Page High School softball team recently ended the season with an 18-15 record as Regional runners-up. 

Despite not advancing to the State tournament, the Sandites showed flashes of brilliance this year, including wins over Edmond Memorial and El Reno, who did go to State. They pitched three shutouts and won seven games by run rule.

Lauren Hammock led the team in batting average (.446), on-base percentage (.532), and hits (41). Kelsi Hilton batted .413 and led the team in slugging (.543) with a team-best four triples and 30 RBI. Raegan Rector led the team in doubles (11) and Jolee McNally led in runs (36).

Rector led the team in put-outs with 183, and Avery Tanner led in assists with 66. Rector turned 14 double plays and Tanner had 12. Rector was also among the most efficient fielders, holding a .995 fielding percentage on 204 opportunities.

Hilton was the team’s ace pitcher this season, collecting a 10-6 record with a 4.5 ERA, 1.61 WHIP, and a team-high 46 strikeouts. Nataley Crawford went 5-6 in the circle with a 4.2 ERA, 1.65 WHIP, and 42 strikeouts.

The Sandites will graduate five seniors this year: Tanner, McNally, Hammock, Rector, and Taylor Skipper.

Volleyball

Sandite Volleyball wrapped up its season with a 14-20 record, going 2-6 in Frontier Valley Conference action, and winning its home tournament.

The girls played a tougher schedule than they have in the past few years, competing at several A-league tournaments, and 12 of their 20 losses came at the hands of eventual State Qualifiers. 

Payton Robbins led the offense with 259 kills, followed by Kasidy Holland with 204, Layla Lenex with 192, and Jacelyn Smith with 147. Robbins also led the team in aces with 49, followed by Charley Fahland with 36 and Smith with 34. 

Lenex led the team in blocks with 64, Robbins had 31, and Smith had 29. Fahland had a team-high 353 digs, Robbins had 265, and Teyha Johnson had 217. Johnson handled most of the setting, recording 689 assists.

Sand Springs will graduate Smith, Holland, Fahland, and Johnson this year.

Bishop Kelley Volleyball wins 36th consecutive Regional Championship

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A version of this story was originally written for the Tulsa World.

It’s hard to stop a freight train, and it’s hard to stop Bishop Kelley from reaching the State Tournament. The Class 6A No. 1 Comets (28-5) streaked their way to a 36th consecutive Regional Championship Tuesday night at the Eusebius S. Beltran Activities Center.

Moving up from 5A in 2020 has done little to slow down the powerhouse volleyball program, which won its 19th gold ball last year and appears to be on a collision course for another State Finals appearance.

The Comets swept past Ponca City (5-13) and Booker T. Washington (15-21) in straight sets, winning 25-4, 25-10, and 25-7 against the Wildcats, and 25-15, 25-11, and 25-14 against the Hornets. 

“We’re really proud to get to play Booker T.,” said head coach Jerri Berna. “They’re a fine team and we really enjoyed competing with them and the way they pushed us to have to overcome. We couldn’t be more excited to go to State.”

Bishop Kelley was led offensively by sophomore star Curry Kendall, who racked up 12 kills and two aces against the Hornets, with seven kills in the first set alone. 

“Curry is absolutely one of the best outside hitters in the state,” said Berna. “We’re really proud of the work that she does and the balls she puts away, but I know she would also give a big shoutout to her team.”

There was no shortage of offensive firepower from the team. Brooke Goen scored nine kills, and Madeline Barton added six. Kate Schneeberg recorded 30 assists, while Milee Jackson and Jessica Shildt led the team on defense. 

“This is probably the most parity there’s ever been in 6A,” said Berna. “We’re really proud of the way we played tonight. We’re really quite honored to be part of such a legacy of 36 years in a row and we’re just going to do the best we can to keep working up until the State Tournament, see what the draw looks like and give it our best shot.”

Joining the Comets at State will be Edmond Santa Fe, Jenks, Edmond Deer Creek, Norman North, Edmond Memorial, Broken Arrow, and Owasso.

The Hornets defeated No. 16 Sand Springs (14-20) in straight sets to reach the finals, with sets of 25-12, 25-18, and 26-24. Taryn McIntosh scored eight kills, Makenzie Johns had seven kills, and Sydney Thompson scored six. Brenna Weaver and Bridget Johnson recorded 11 kills apiece.

Leading the Sandites was Kasidy Holland with seven kills, Teyha Johnson with 18 assists, and Charley Fahland with 15 digs. 

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.