SAND SPRINGS — Sand Springs heads toward its Oct. 24 cross country regional with two boys running near the 16-minute mark, an improving girls front group and a deep collection of runners who have earned top-20 finishes this season.
Qualifiers will advance to the Oct. 31 state meet.
Cole Higgins has led the boys in the available results, beginning with second place in Sapulpa’s two-mile race Sept. 5 in 10:28.75. He followed that with two more runner-up finishes over 5K, running 17:03.03 at Holland Hall on Sept. 19 and 16:12.30 at Booker T. Washington five days later.
His Booker T. Washington performance was nearly 51 seconds faster than his Holland Hall mark. Higgins then ran 16:18.10 for 30th place in his El Caliente heat at the Oct. 3 Chile Pepper Festival, staying within six seconds of his fastest collected 5K.
Caden Ketcher has moved closer to Higgins while posting faster times at each of those three 5K meets. Ketcher placed ninth at Holland Hall in 17:44.83 and fifth at Booker T. Washington in 17:13.70 before finishing 37th in his Chile Pepper heat in 16:25.30.
His October time was nearly 1:20 faster than his Holland Hall performance. At Chile Pepper, Ketcher finished just 7.2 seconds behind Higgins, giving the Sandites a closely matched front pair.
Jessen Cox has also combined top-20 finishes with faster recorded times. He placed sixth in Sapulpa’s two-mile race in 11:30.34, then finished 17th at Holland Hall in 18:26.25 and 13th at Booker T. Washington in 17:45.00.
Cox continued that progression at Chile Pepper, running 17:34.40 for 188th in his heat. His time was about 52 seconds faster than his Holland Hall mark.
Maddox Ketcher opened with second place in Sapulpa’s JV two-mile race in 11:52.25. He later ran 19:01.88 for 34th in Holland Hall’s varsity 5K before placing 16th at Booker T. Washington in 17:47.70. His Chile Pepper time of 17:33.60 lowered that mark again.
Daniel Stuckey has supplied another strong lateseason performance. After placing 11th in Holland Hall’s JV 5K in 20:10.42, he won Booker T. Washington’s JV race in 17:42.80. He followed that with 17:27.70 for 169th in his El Caliente heat at Chile Pepper.
For the girls, Josie Grona began the collected results with second place in Sapulpa’s two-mile race in 13:03.75. She later placed seventh in Booker T. Washington’s varsity 5K in 20:43.41, then ran 20:18.90 for 65th in her Chile Pepper heat — about 25 seconds faster.
Brooklynn Bozone has earned three top-10 finishes. She placed fourth at Sapulpa in 13:41.09, 10th in Holland Hall’s varsity 5K in 21:52.03 and eighth at Booker T. Washington in 20:52.50.
Bozone continued lowering her 5K time at Chile Pepper, finishing 82nd in her heat in 20:35.50. That was about 1:17 faster than her Holland Hall performance.
Raegin Sanders placed 14th at Sapulpa in 14:26.54, then finished 22nd at Holland Hall in 23:36.66. She moved into the top 20 at Booker T. Washington, placing 12th in 21:30.10 — about 2:07 faster than her previous 5K.
Her Chile Pepper time of 21:33.70 was within four seconds of that mark, giving her two closely matched lateseason performances.
Paisley Sanders earned 12th place at Sapulpa in 14:21.68. Her later 5K results showed a steady decline in time: 25th at Holland Hall in 23:56.52, 23rd at Booker T. Washington in 23:20.90 and 276th in her Chile Pepper heat in 22:20.30. Her October mark was about 1:36 faster than her Holland Hall time.
Sand Springs’ top-20 finishes also extend into its JV groups.
Averie Skaggs placed second in Booker T. Washington’s girls JV 5K in 24:39.50, then lowered her time to 22:35.50 for 70th in Chile Pepper’s open race. Stella Stane finished seventh in the Booker T. Washington JV race in 25:21.60 and improved to 24:50.20 for 180th in the Chile Pepper open race.
Kinley Snow placed 11th in the Booker T. Washington JV race in 26:21.00. Her later Chile Pepper open finish was 241st in 26:38.50, leaving her September performance as the faster of those two marks.
For the boys, Noah Watkins won Sapulpa’s JV two-mile race in 11:49.32. He later placed third in Booker T. Washington’s JV 5K in 18:21.60, then lowered his time to 18:03.00 at Chile Pepper.
Presley Quinelly placed fourth in Sapulpa’s JV race in 12:12.34 and third in Holland Hall’s JV 5K in 19:28.03. He ran 19:04.91 in Booker T. Washington’s varsity race before improving to 18:24.80 in Chile Pepper’s open race.
Kade Sargent earned 18th place in Sapulpa’s twomile race in 11:55.42, fifth in Holland Hall’s JV 5K in 19:37.18 and sixth in Booker T. Washington’s JV race in 18:44.91.
Kordel Hartman placed fifth in Sapulpa’s JV race in 12:24.20, 10th in Holland Hall’s JV race in 20:08.17 and eighth in Booker T. Washington’s JV race in 19:06.60. His two September 5K performances were about a minute apart.
Rhys Foster placed fourth in Holland Hall’s JV race in 19:29.04 before running 19:20.20 in Booker T. Washington’s varsity race. Gavin Corbin finished 13th in Holland Hall’s JV race in 20:29.02 and 12th in Booker T. Washington’s JV race in 19:38.50.
Isaiah Butler placed 18th in Holland Hall’s JV race in 20:51.32, then finished 11th in Booker T. Washington’s JV race in 19:38.41, about 1:13 faster.
Jonathan Reeve and Corbin Wasson earned ninth and 12th place in Sapulpa’s two-mile race in 11:40.02 and 11:46.58. Wasson later lowered his 5K time from 18:49.63 at Holland Hall to 18:21.80 at Booker T. Washington, placing 25th at both meets.
Other top-20 JV finishers at Sapulpa included Brier Hartman, seventh in 12:43.25; Russell Coleman, 13th in 13:35.66; Mark Page, 15th in 13:55.30; and Cain McCalip, 20th in 14:28.04.
All four later posted top-20 finishes or faster marks worth watching. Brier Hartman placed 14th in Booker T. Washington’s JV 5K in 19:47.10. Coleman finished 20:35.20 there, improving on his 21:47.11 at Holland Hall. Page lowered his time from 22:59.41 at Holland Hall to 21:25.20 at Booker T. Washington, while McCalip progressed from 23:56.98 to 22:30.10 and then 22:20.70 at Chile Pepper.
The top finishes came across varsity, JV and separate festival races, and course differences affect time comparisons. Still, the Sandites approach regionals with repeated strong performances from their leaders and faster recorded marks throughout much of the supporting group.