Sandite Cross Country Opens Season at Sapulpa, Kelsi Hilton and Cole Higgins Place 2nd

After dropping out of the Owasso Ram Relays on August 25th, the Sand Springs cross country program finally kicked off the season Saturday morning in Sapulpa.

The Lady Sandites didn’t have enough runners to earn a team place, but Kelsi Hilton placed second out of 73 runners with a time of 12:48.27 in the two-mile.

The varsity boys also didn’t have a full lineup, but Rafi Huff turned in an impressive time of 11:42.37 for 14th place out of 86 runners in the two-mile race.

The junior varsity boys placed fourth out of five teams, led by Kordel Hartmann with a two-mile time of 12:26.41 for 11th place out of 86 runners.

The junior high boys made a strong showing in the one-mile, finishing in fourth place out of 16 teams with an average time of 6:18.11. Cole Higgins took second place out of 198 runners with a time of 5:22.03 to lead the Sandites.

Anderson Schools, also located in Sand Springs, took 10th place in the junior high boys race, led by Jonathan Reeve with a 6:09.74 time for 33rd place.

Anderson’s junior high girls team took seventh place out of 13 teams, led by Tindle Smith in 6:21.74 for 12th place out of 167 runners.

The Sand Springs junior high girls didn’t have enough runners to earn a team place in the one-mile run, but Mya Wagers turned in an impressive time of 6:47.14 for 26th place.

The Sand Springs elementary boys placed sixth out of 12 teams in the one-mile run with an average time of 7:18.77, led by Kellen Adkins with a time of 6:34.86 for ninth place out of 160 runners.

Anderson Elementary took eighth place in the boys run with an average time of 7:30.31. Ezra Gibson led the Trojans with a time of 6:39.17 for 13th place.

Anderson took fifth place out of 11 teams in the one-mile elementary girls run with an average time of 8:03.16, led by Carlin Gibson in 14th place with a time of 7:31.78.

The Sand Springs elementary girls took 10th place with an average time of 8:47.79. Kinley Snow led the little lady Sandites with a time of 7:51.18 for 29th place out of 151 runners.

Sandite Cross Country will return to action at the Booker T. Washington Invitational on Thursday at O’Brien Park. Varsity girls will start the meet at 3:30 p.m., followed by varsity boys, junior varsity, and middle school.

The Anderson junior high will return to action Friday at Claremore at 10:30 a.m.

Sand Springs Varsity Boys
14th - Rafi Huff - 11:42.37
16th - Dallas Potter - 11:43.92
19th - Anshun Syong - 11:49.85

Sand Springs Junior Varsity Boys
11th - Kordel Hartmann - 12:26.41
26th - Jessen Cox - 13:17.53
28th - Dax Wilcox - 13:25.65
31st - Jaxon Perry - 13:35.55
36th - Gavin Corbin - 13:53.40
38th - Gabriel Baker - 13:59.03
47th - Malachi Waldrup - 14:29.02
62nd - Rhys Foster - 16:23.80

Sand Springs Varsity Girls
2nd - Kelsi Hilton - 12:48.27
40th - Blakelee Meeker - 16:17.10

Sand Springs Junior High Boys
2nd - Cole Higgins - 5:22.03
16th - Corbin Wesson - 5:40.99
25th - Kade Sargent - 6:02.67
43rd - Presley Quinnelly - 6:17.90
149th - Dean Ernest - 8:06.95

Sand Springs Junior High Girls
26th - Mya Wagers - 6:47.14
66th - Rowen Hull - 7:36.82
129th - Vivian Farr - 9:03.69

Sand Springs Elementary Boys
9th - Kellen Adkins - 6:34.86
31st - Karson Waag - 7:10.23
42nd - Stu Grona - 7:23.28
46th - Wyatt Snow - 7:36.21
58th - Hudson Waag - 7:49.28
73rd - Rylan Snow - 7:59.42
75th - Wyatt Goode - 8:02.95
89th - Mark Garner - 8:13.39
105th - Dante Alvarez - 8:34.93
132nd - Gage Fadenrecht - 9:36.87
141st - Noah Tackett - 10:24.82
146th - Liam Kinman - 10:51.80
152nd - Fisher Abbott - 11:06.80

Sand Springs Elementary Girls
76th - Starr Corbin - 8:42.47
80th - Makenna Cox - 8:49.79
91st - Anna Voight - 9:11.45
97th - Melanie Kinser - 9:24.05
102nd - Scout Hartmann - 9:37.97
105th - Kyall Mcaffrey - 9:48.23
108th - Katherine Stuckey - 10:04.15
124th - Brekyn Isham - 10:34.27
142nd - Ashlyn Snow - 11:36.21
151st - Claire Pilk - 12:24.38

Anderson Junior High Boys
33rd - Jonathan Reeve - 6:09.74
48th - Joshua Deeringwater - 6:21.03
110th - Jack Mundy - 7:20.88
111th - Gage Berkowitz - 7:21.06
113th - Jackson Mercy - 7:23.08
114th - Alex Roy - 7:23.08
179th - Camden Bartell - 9:21.39

Anderson Junior High Girls
12th - Tindle Smith - 6:21.74
13th - Brooklynn Bozone - 6:22.45
14th - Avery Mercy - 6:25.26
85th - Emily Logan - 8:01.43
92nd - Lyla Hansen - 8:07.14
140th - Bella Steelman - 9:31.89
143rd - Maddie Burke - 9:49.86
159th - Tatum Frits - 11:15.36

Anderson Elementary Boys
13th - Ezra Gibson - 6:39.17
39th - Elliott Gibson - 7:21.78
52nd - Wyatt Lightle - 7:44.40
60th - Michael Gragg - 7:51.26
66th - Cooper Lisicki - 7:54.93
85th - Zander Hefele - 8:09.93
92nd - Cain McCalip - 8:17.54
94th - Waylon Lightle - 8:21.88
103rd - Kiptyn Reeve - 8:30.74
104th - Grayson Shoopman - 8:31.22
109th - Lincoln Bozone - 8:38.42
115th - Joseph Parsell - 8:52.40
138th - Jaxon Couffer - 10:18.95
143rd - Elijah Ray - 10:39.24
145th - Colton Bartell - 10:50.66
154th - Vandon Flynn - 11:21.57
156th - Praxton Flynn - 11:31.36
159th - Royce Hefele - 12:05.58

Anderson Elementary Girls
14th - Carlin Gibson - 7:31.78
26th - Catherin Mundy - 7:44.89
33rd - Sterling Reeve - 7:58.39
45th - Saylor Harmon - 8:11.17
78th - Josaline Reeve - 8:49.57
84th - Beighly Ray - 8:56.46
99th - Lilly Martin - 9:29.39
115th - Sophia Reyna - 10:13.22
141st - Presley Graham - 11:31.62
148th - Hallie Graham - 12:15.00

Sandite Volleyball Falls 3-0 at 5A No. 5 Regent Prep

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Averi Tippit scored 8 kills in the match against Regent Prep. (Photo: Charity Emigh).

Sand Springs has been putting itself through the wringer lately with three matches against top-five 5A teams in the past week.

The 6A No. 16 Sandites (11-8) took a trip to Tulsa on Thursday for a non-conference battle with 5A No. 5 Regent Prep (10-4) and fell 3-0 after the Rams surged back from an early game-one deficit.

The visiting Sandites rode a three-game win streak into the match and opened strong, taking an 8-3 lead on aces from Averi Tippit and Adelynn Ray.

Regent cut it to a one-point game four times but didn’t take its first lead till Ellen Jenkins scored a trio of kills for the 21-20 advantage.

A pair of huge digs from Evyn Morrow kept the next rally alive long enough for Jayden Smith to tie it up. Brooklyn Shope served an ace and Tippit scored a kill to make it 23-21, but Jenkins scored two more kills to tie it once more.

Tippit gave the visitors one last lead with her fifth kill of the set, but Evelyn Goodwin and Liv Redman scored back-to-back kills and the Rams secured the 26-24 victory after Alia DeBerry’s attack hit the net just an inch or two short.

In game two the Sandites only led once after the Rams’ opening serve came up short, but the home team won the next four rallies and never looked back.

Sand Springs never got within two points of the Rams, but the set stayed close till 18-15 before the home team got hot and won 25-16.

The final game was the same as the second - super tight till 18-16, then Regent won seven of the final eight rallies to prevail 25-17.

Jenkins led her team to its fifth consecutive win with 22 kills while Meg Goodwin recorded 23 assists.

The Sandites were led by Tippit with 8 kills, Shope with 7, and Smith with 5, while Hannah McKelvey and Ray each had 11 assists. Morrow led the defense with 32 digs.

Sand Springs will return to conference action next Thursday with a home match against No. 7 Owasso (6-3, 2-0) where the Sandites will look for their first Frontier Valley win of the season.

Regent 3 CPHS 0 (26-24, 25-16, 25-17)
Kills: Regent 42, CPHS 25.
Blocks: Regent 0, CPHS 3.
Aces: Regent 7, CPHS 7.
Errors: Regent 22, CPHS 27.
Service Errors: Regent 9, CPHS 9.

Sand Springs Stats
Kills: Tippit 8, Shope 7, Smith 5, DeBerry 3, Ray 2.
Assists: H. McKelvey 11, Ray 11.
Solo Blocks: Pearce 1.
Assisted Blocks: Tippit 2, Ray 2.
Digs: Morrow 32, H. McKelvey 8, Shope 8, DeBerry 7, F. McKelvey 5, Tippit 5, Ray 5, Smith 1.
Aces: Tippit 2, Shope 2, Ray 1, Morrow 1, H. McKelvey 1.

Sandites Fall 11-3 to Broken Arrow, Bella Wilson Goes Yard

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Bella Wilson hit the Sandites’ first homer of the season, but Sand Springs fell 11-3 to Broken Arrow.

The Charles Page High School softball season may start to feel like a roller coaster for the Sandite faithful. After starting the year 7-1, the girls are now 1-5 over their last six games, falling 11-3 to Broken Arrow Tuesday night in district play.

Despair not! All five losses during that tough skid came against last year’s State Tournament teams and the schedule’s about to get a little friendlier.

Up next for the Sandites (8-6, 2-3) is a district double-header at Putnam City North (5-8, 2-4) on Tuesday before they’ll get a rematch against Broken Arrow on Thursday.

In the first meeting with the Tigers, the girls were mostly undone by two rough innings that made the score a little more lopsided than the game itself felt.

Broken Arrow only out-hit the home team 11 to 8, but Sand Springs left 12 runners stranded, including loaded bases twice.

The Sandites stranded two in the first inning and one in the second before the visitors took a 4-0 lead in the third on two singles, a walk, and two doubles.

Sand Springs stranded two more in the fourth and Broken Arrow made it 9-0 on two singles, two doubles, and a home run from Josie Henson.

Morgan Rector gave the home team new life with a double to lead off the fifth and Bella Wilson got the Sandites on the board with a homer to center field in the next at-bat. It was the first dinger of the season for Sand Springs.

Broken Arrow scored two more in the sixth but Kylie King caught Jordyn Davis looking to strand loaded bases.

Kenzie and Kylie King both singled in the bottom of the inning and Wilson drew a walk to load the bases, but Cali Lieurance struck out Bailey Copeland to strand the side.

Sand Springs threatened again in the seventh with a walk from Lakelyn Harger and singles from Kaylei Rake and Ashlyn Clark to load the bases with only one out, but Rake was called out for offensive interference on a single form Kenzie King.

Harger scored on a passed ball and Kylie King walked, but Jaden Hendron struck out Rector to end the game.

Addison Hughes (5-3) got the start and the loss, tossing 10 hits, one walk, and five strikeouts in 4.2 innings. Harger pitched a third of an inning and tossed one hit and two walks. Kylie King finished the game with no hits, no walks, and three strikeouts in two innings.

Kenzie King was the hot hand at the plate, going 3-for-3, while Wilson did the most scoring with one run and two RBIs.

The game marked the Tigers tenth-consecutive win against Sand Springs in a streak dating back to 2016.

Eli Rogers Places 4th at Keystone Lake Fishing Tournament

The Charles Page High School bass fishing teams got off to a strong start in the season opener on Sunday, August 20th at Keystone Lake. Junior Eli Rogers led a fleet of seven boats from Sand Springs, turning in a haul of 8.83 pounds for fourth place as a solo angler.

Drew Turner and Gunner Beasley took 14th place in the field of 56 with a haul of 6.42 pounds.

Jonathan Isley and Jaxon Trotter caught 6.36 pounds for 15th place; Nate Griffin and Caden Strawn caught 5.06 pounds for 30th; Jessen Cox and Rylan Matherly caught 3.73 pounds for 39th; Gabe Castellano and Ean Williams caught 3.33 pounds for 42nd; and Hayden Lowrance and Hunter Spencer caught 1.89 pounds for 49th place.

The one-day tournament. launched from Prairie View Ramp, was the first of five events on the Oklahoma Bass Nation high school tour. The event had a three-fish limit.

Next up for the tour will be an October 1st trip to Grand Lake where the Sandites will fish out of Wolf Creek Ramp in Grove. That tournament will have a five-fish limit.

CPHS Cheer & Dance Alumni Invited to 2023 Homecoming Reunion

The Charles Page High School Dance and Cheer teams are calling all alumni for reinforcements this Homecoming.

Past CPHS cheerleaders and dancers are invited to a reunion tailgate party and an opportunity to cheer from the sidelines during the September 29th game against Tahlequah.

Both teams are charging $25 to participate as a fundraiser for the programs. All graduating years are welcome but participants must have graduated from the program in good standing.

Dance alum can register by filling out this form and Cheer alum can register with this form.

Sandite Volleyball Places Third at Claremore, Evyn Morrow Named All-Tournament

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Evyn Morrow has been named to the All-Tournament team at both tournaments this season. (Photo: Charity Emigh).

The Charles Page High School volleyball team (11-7) entered the 6A rankings at No. 16 on Monday after going 5-3 on the week and finishing in third place at the Claremore Tournament on Saturday.

The Sandites suffered a close 3-0 loss to Union (3-6) in a conference match on Tuesday, then went 2-2 on Friday.

In the first match of the tournament they won 25-10 and 25-16 against Collinsville (4-18), but fell 25-23 and 25-12 in a Highway 97 Rivalry match with 5A No. 4 Sapulpa (17-7). They’ll get the opportunity to pay back that one, however, when they host the Chieftains on September 26th in conference action.

“We didn’t play our best,” said head coach Skylar Jackson. “One of our six rotation players got injured in the Sapulpa match. But the girls did pretty well picking up the slack with new people in new places.”

Sand Springs got back in the win column with a 25-22, 25-18 win over 5A No. 11 Edison (12-8) before falling 25-18, 25-23 to 5A No. 3 Claremore (18-3) in a battle of spouses, as the Zebras are coached by former Sandite head coach Derek Jackson, current coach Skylar Jackson’s husband.

On Saturday the Sandites went 3-0, winning 25-18, 25-11 against Memorial (3-8) in the first match of the day.

Next they won 25-18, 25-22 against 4A No. 7 Verdigris (12-7) in a match against another former Sandite head coach, Caleb Horton. Finally they won 25-10 and 25-9 against Will Rogers (3-12).

“Winning is important and we are in a very, very tough conference,” said Jackson. “At the end of the day you have to figure out how to win…having more opportunities in front of us in one weekend is good for our confidence.”

Evyn Morrow picked up her second All-Tournament accolade of the season.

“She’s super devoted and works hard nonstop,” said Jackson. “She’s just one of our strongest leaders.”

Also impressing throughout the tournament was freshman Adelynn Ray, who recorded 7 aces in the final match against Rogers.

“The best thing about Adelynn is she just loves to play volleyball,” said Jackson. “It doesn’t really get too big for her, and for a lot of underclassmen that’s one of the worries is that they’re not going to handle the pressure. The pressure doesn’t exist for her and she’s just out there playing ball.”

Sand Springs will take on another top 5A team in No. 5 Regent Prep (8-4) Thursday on the road before hosting 6A No. 7 Owasso (6-3, 2-0) in a return to conference action on September 7th.