Sports Roundup: Layne Kirkendoll places second in State Championship Long Jump

Courtesy of Tommy Dial.

Courtesy of Tommy Dial.

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

The Charles Page High School track and field team ended its season Saturday afternoon in Edmond, and three Sandites made the trip. 

Junior Layne Kirkendoll repeated her freshman performance in the Long Jump by finishing as Runner-Up. Her 18 ft. 1.75 in. jump was her third-best mark of the season. She also placed fifth in the High Jump with a height of 5 ft. 4 in. The top five jumpers all cleared the same height, but Kirkendoll took fifth on criteria. 

Senior Joseph Mattison signed a letter of intent to run for Coffeyville Community College last Tuesday, and at State he competed in two events. His 22.51-second 200-meter dash earned 10th place and his 20 ft. 1.5 in. long jump placed 11th. 

“JoJo (Mattison) is the definition of hard work and determination,” said Head Coach Tim Dial. “He is the type of kid that every coach wishes they had a team full of.”

Greg Reed also competed in the long jump and placed 16th at State with a distance of 14 ft. 11.25 in.

Baseball

Brock Swanson, Brycen Peterman, and Kaden Young all signed letters of intent to play at Oklahoma Wesleyan University next season. 

Basketball

Former Sandite Colt Savage signed to play at Cameron University after spending two seasons at the University of Central Oklahoma. “Colt is an extremely poised guy that brings our team a lot of versatility at the small forward position,” said CU Head Coach Andrew Brown. “He has great touch shooting on the perimeter along with a strong build to take advantage of size matchups. We are excited about how he fits in our system.” 

Marlo Fox signed a letter of intent to play at Rogers State University after decommitting from Seward County Community College.

Savage is the second-highest scoring player in Sand Springs history with 1,697 points, and Fox ranks sixth with 1,065.

Cheer

Claire Smith signed a letter of intent to cheer for the University of Central Arkansas Bears. 

Football

Zach Heinen signed a letter of intent to kick for Concordia University Wisconsin. The future Falcon was a perfect 32-of-32 kicking PATs this past season and 51-of-52 in his career, and he was 3-of-4 on field goals with a career long of 39 yards. 

Daren Hawkins signed to play at Abilene Christian University in Texas. Hawkins played three years at receiver and totaled 546 yards on 37 catches, with nine touchdowns before switching to defense. He totaled 22 tackles and one fumble recovery his senior year. 

Soccer

Xander Quiroga signed a letter of intent to play goalie at Murray State College in Tishomingo. Teagan Smith signed with Southwestern College in Kansas. Smith led her team in scoring this season with five goals.

Sports Roundup: Layne Kirkendoll and Greg Reed win Regional Championships

Courtesy of Tommy Dial.

Courtesy of Tommy Dial.

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

The Charles Page High School baseball team ended the season 19-21 in their first full year under Head Coach Matt Brown, falling 6-4 in the Regional Championship against Bixby (28-12). They went 3-2 in their final week of the season and battled back through the losers’ bracket at Stillwater’s Couch Park to force a tie-breaker game against the Spartans.

Bixby rallied from a 5-0 deficit to win game one of the tournament on Thursday. Blake Nichols hit a three-run blast to tie it in the seventh, and the Spartans won on a walk off in the eighth. 

Carson Seabolt tossed five strikeouts as the Sandites rolled Booker T. Washington 11-3 in the next game, then Brycen Peterman pitched a 5-3 upset win against host Stillwater. Cason Savage went 3-for-3 at the plate with 2 RBI and a run as the Sandites earned a rematch with Bixby.

Wes Strand gave Bixby a 1-0 lead with a solo homer Friday evening, but the Spartans left nine runners stranded and Sand Springs scored four runs on five hits in the fifth. Keaton Campbell hit a two-run double for the final score and Jace Arnold got the win on the mound.

The Sandites out-hit the Spartans 9-7 in Saturday’s Championship game, but the Spartans blasted three homers in the 6-4 win. 

On Monday, May 3, the Sandites ended the regular season with a 6-4 win over Meeker after scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth. 

Fishing

Three Sandite high school fishing teams qualified for the Oklahoma Bass Nation State Championship. Mack Taylor and Reese David, Cruz Norris and Gunnar Casey, and Kyle and Kale Hilligoss will all fish Lake Eufala on June 13th. Nate Griffin and Jaxon Trotter qualified for the junior high tournament on June 12th. 

Golf

The boys team ended their season with a 12th place finish at Regionals, while the girls qualified two to the State Championship. Meghan Charles shot 162 to tie for 16th while Alyx Edwards shot 240 for 73rd. 

Boys Regionals: Drew Paden 162, Mason Ward 164, Cole Hight 178, Cameron Villines 189, Seth Benton 191. Girls Regionals: Charles 74, Edwards 97, Gina Foster 108, Madison Chambers 117.

Soccer

The boys’ soccer team (8-8) ended their season in a 3-2 first-round playoff loss at Stillwater, Tuesday, May 4. Jack Bratcher and Cameron Summerton scored the Sandites’ two goals. Fernando Saldana ended the season as the team’s leading scorer with 15 goals, followed by Bratcher with 13 and Summerton with 6. 

Track and Field

Sand Springs crowned two Champions and qualified three athletes for State, Saturday at the 6A Regional Track Meet in Sapulpa. Greg Reed and Layne Kirkendoll both won Regional titles in the Long Jump, and Joseph Mattison also qualified in that event.

Kirkendoll remains undefeated in the long jump this year, leaping 17 ft. 11 in. to win her eighth gold medal in that event and her 13th overall. She also came in runner-up in the high jump with a mark of 5 ft. 2 in. 

Reed crushed his previous personal best with a leap of 21 ft. 4.5 in., which ranks eighth in school history. Mattison recorded a jump of 20 ft. 9 in. for third place, and he placed fourth in the 200-meter dash in 22.4 seconds. 

The boys’ 4x800 relay team placed fourth with a time of 8:56.5 and Jazmin Lopez placed fifth in the 800-meter run in 2:28.07. 

Sandites blank Glenpool 5-0 on Senior Night, upset Owasso

Hayden Blair hits a home run on Senior Night.

Hayden Blair hits a home run on Senior Night.

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

Sand Springs high school baseball is peaking at the right time, winning four of their last five games, including a 7-5 non-district upset of Owasso Monday, April 26. The Sandites (15-19) rallied from a 4-0 first-inning deficit against the top-ranked team in 6A-3.

Rhen Rutledge went 3-for-3 at the plate, scoring two runs, and Dom Ornelas hit a homer. The Rams gave up three runs on bases-loaded walks, and the Sandites scored on two errors and a wild pitch. Owasso won the Tuesday rematch 1-0.

The Sandites topped Guthrie 2-1 on Thursday after Keaton Campbell tripled in the sixth and scored on a sacrifice fly from Ty Pennington. Keaton also recorded a save on the mound, and Kayden Campbell got the win. 

Senior Night saw a 5-0 shutout of Glenpool as the Sandites also celebrated seven players and three managers. Senior Hayden Blair hit a home run, Dom Ornelas hit a three-run double, and Morgan Powell got the win on the mound. On Saturday they traveled to Westmoore and picked up a 7-4 victory behind a two-hit, two-strikeout pitching performance from Jabe Schlehuber.

In college baseball news, Sandite grads Cal Watkins and Cale Savage both announced they will be continuing their careers at Washburn University. Watkins will be transferring from Seminole State, while Savage has spent the last two seasons at Northern Oklahoma College at Enid.

Basketball

Marlo Fox recently announced his decommitment from Seward County Community College. He will instead enroll at Rogers State University. Fox averaged 18.6 points per game this season to lead the Sandites.

Softball

Lady Sandite Softball ended the slow pitch season 8-18, going 1-3 in their final week of the year. On Monday, April 26, they fell 21-6 to No. 9 Union, despite a grand slam from Taylor Skipper. At Regionals they won 8-4 against Putnam City before falling 16-0 and 16-7 to No. 3 Moore. Jaden Jordan and Lauren Hammock hit home runs in the final game of the season.

Oklahoma State University senior Sydney Pennington now sits second all-time in the school home-run record book after hitting her 32nd dinger against Texas on Saturday. The school record is 35. 

Soccer

The boys soccer team fell 4-2 to Union on Monday and 2-1 to Moore on Thursday. Fernando Saldana scored both goals against the Redskins, while freshman Nick Roberts scored his first career goal at Moore. The girls fell 7-0 to Union.

Karsen Lynch committed to play at Rogers State University next season, where she will join fellow teammate Ali Day. 

Track and Field

Sand Springs took a reduced roster to the Sapulpa Track Meet on Friday. They rested several athletes before the upcoming Regional Championship, which will be Saturday at Sapulpa. The boys team placed 11th and the girls took 7th.

Alejandro Lopez placed fifth in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:04.3, and Jestin Rawlins placed seventh in discus throw with a distance of 130 ft. 4 in. Cayla Magee placed fourth in discus with a distance of 95 ft. 8 in., and Kreedence Behnke placed fifth in the long jump with a distance of 14 ft. 1 in. 

Layne Kirkendoll sets school long jump record, wins Frontier Valley Conference

Photo courtesy of Tommy Dial.

Photo courtesy of Tommy Dial.

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

The Sandite track teams had a successful week, competing at the Jenks Invitational last Monday and the Frontier Valley Conference meet on Saturday. The team won five first-place medals between the two meets, including three conference championships.

Junior star Layne Kirkendoll won the high jump and long jump at both events, and at the FVC meet she broke her own school record in long jump with a mark of 18 ft. 8 in. She has now won 12 events this season and is undefeated in long jump. Joseph Mattison won the 200-meter FVC title in 22.37 seconds and placed fourth at Jenks. 

The team will take a reduced roster to the Sapulpa meet on Friday, and some will take the week off to rest for the Regional meet Saturday, May 8th, also at Sapulpa.

Baseball

Sandite Baseball (11-18 overall, 5-9 district) split a district double-header with Putnam City Monday, April 19th, beating the Pirates 9-1 in game one before falling 4-3 in the sequel. 

Cason Savage hit a triple and a home run, scoring three runs and two RBI, and Keaton Campbell hit two doubles for two runs and two RBI in the first game. Jabe Schlehuber got the win on the mound, throwing nine strikeouts, no walks, and only one hit in five innings. 

Sand Springs out-hit the Pirates ten to six in game two, but stranded eight runners in the loss. The Sandites led 3-1 till the seventh inning when Putnam loaded the bases on two hits and a walk, and scored all three runners on an error.

They lost another close one 11-9 against Oologah on Thursday, leading 9-8 till the top of the seventh. Savage and Brooks Dudley were both 3-of-4 at the plate. 

The Sandites will host Guthrie Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and Glenpool Friday at 6 p.m. 

Soccer

The varsity girls (7-5, 1-4) fell 1-0 to Bixby last Tuesday in an overtime shootout. The girls made it through regulation and both OT periods without giving up a goal, despite playing shorthanded after two players fouled out. Alyssa Perry and Katie Webb made their PKs, but the Spartans won the shootout.

The Sandite boys (7-4, 3-1) won their district match with Bixby 3-0 behind goals from Jack Bratcher, Fernando Saldana, and Cameron Summerton. 

The girls started their game against Booker T. Washington last Friday, but it was rained out before either team scored. That match will be made up Friday, with girls at 6 p.m. and boys at 8 p.m. The boys will also play a make-up match Thursday at Moore at 7 p.m.

Slow Pitch Softball

Raegan Rector and Jaden Jordan hit home runs, and Lauren Hammock hit a grand slam against Broken Arrow Thursday, but the No. 2 ranked Tigers rolled to a 20-11 win after scoring eight runs in the top of the seventh. No. 15 Sand Springs (7-15) will travel to No. 3 Moore Thursday for the Regional tournament, starting with Putnam City at 11 a.m.

Wrestling

Former two-time State Champion Sandite Riley Weir went 4-3 at the NJCAA National Championships for eighth place at 125 pounds. Weir is in his freshman year at Labette Community College.

Sandite Soccer Slays on Senior Night

Jack Bratcher.jpg

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

Sandite Soccer couldn’t have had a better Senior Night, as both the boys and girls teams rolled to lopsided district shutouts against Putnam City West, Friday night at Memorial Stadium.

The girls won their match 4-0 to snap a three-game losing streak. They previously lost 2-0 Tuesday at Moore while playing without starting goalie Ali Day, but the Rogers State-bound senior returned from injury for the clean sheet against the Patriots. Teagan Smith scored two goals, and Lauren Foster and Evyn Morrow scored one apiece. Josie Gelsthorpe added an assist.

“This group of seniors has been a pretty impactful group,” said Head Coach Matthew Watkins. “Through the coaches turnover over the years, they’ve kind of been a solid set that have really started setting the foundation for Sandite soccer in the future. It’s just a good group of girls. Quality leadership on the field and off.”

The girls are 7-4 on the season with three matches left, and one more win will give them their best mark since 2016.

The boys stormed out to a 5-0 lead at the half and ultimately won 8-0 behind a hat trick from Fernando Saldana. Jack Bratcher added two goals, and Joel Hendricks, Zach Heinen, and Cameron Summerton scored one piece. Bratcher and Saldana had two assists each, and Xander Quiroga made two saves for the clean sheet. 

“We’ve got a good group of seniors,” said Head Coach Garland Betts. “Six of them have been starting since they were freshmen, so it's a good group of kids that’s been playing together for four years. Fernando played really well, he always plays hard. That whole group of seniors, they always play hard, they always compete no matter what the score is. Fernando is a really good player, probably one of the best in the state, if not the best player in the state.”

Saldana now leads the team in scoring this season with 11 goals and one penalty kick, followed by Bratcher with 11 goals. Bratcher is signed with Oral Roberts University, but Saldana has yet to commit. 

The boys have had their past two games canceled due to severe weather. A district match at Union will be made up on Tuesday the 27th, and the Moore game will be played on the 30th. Both the boys and girls will return to action Friday at Booker T. Washington, with the girls playing at 6:00 p.m. and the boys at 8:00 p.m.

Between games, the teams honored 13 seniors: Shyanne Cooke, Day, Gelsthorpe, Alyssa Perry, Smith, Bratcher, Hayden Brooks, Isaiah Edwards, David Fancher, Heinen, Quiroga, Saldana, and Summerton. 

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.