Top Bartlesville-area high school sports performances for week of Oct. 9-15
Wesleyan Christian School volleyball
OCT. 12: The Lady Mustangs' amazing season came to an end in the regional championship game against Crossings Christian School, 3-1. Crossings Christian is ranked No. 1 in the state. WCS finished at 25-10.
Bartlesville High volleyball
OCT. 10: Regional tournament — Bartlesville defeated Muskogee, 3-1, in the regional semifinal, but lost to Broken Arrow, 3-0, for the regional crown. The Lady Bruins battled without the services of setter Emma Parsley, which put the rhythm off early in the tournament. It was up to the team’s other setter, Hayden Brandon, to handle the full load. Emry Brown and Kelsey Ward blasted 23 and 18 kills, respectively, to spearhead the win against Muskogee. Rya Christenson added six kills, followed by Marissa Demuth with six. Brandon racked up 38 assists and four service aces. Against Broken Arrow, Ward delivered 12 kills in her career finale, followed by Brown with 10 and Demuth and Christenson with three apiece. Bartlesville finished the season at 24-12, the best season record during outgoing head coach Jen Ward’s five-year tenure.
Coach’s comments: “They played much tougher (against Broken Arrow) then the scores showed. … I was not terribly unhappy. … We couldn’t get the ball to middle enough. … This team was so fun to coach. … I’m super proud of them. I had a great time with these kids.” (Jen Ward)
Bartlesville High cross country
OCT. 10: Frontier Conference boys 5K — Will Bolding and Russell Miller galloped into 10th (17:26) and 12th place (17:37), respectively, to lead the Bruin stampede to seventh place on the Muskogee course. Bruin teammate Preston Shoesmith landed in 45th place (19:25), followed by Grayson Tesavis (51st, 19:53), Cade Winter (54th, 20:32); Logan Barnes (55th, 20:33); and Michael Taylor (56th, 20:53). Next up, the Bruins eye the Class 6A regional meet.
OCT 10: Frontier Conference girls 5K — The Lady Bruins swarmed to third place, led by Emily Lechuga (12th, 20:29) and Lauren Shoesmith (13th, 20:29). Rounding out the rest of the squad were: Gentry Turner (17th, 21:07), Katherine Manley (19th, 21:26), Reese Savage (31st, 23:01); Maryann Alvey (35th, 23:18); and Emma Perry (36th, 23:22).
Coach’s comments: Boys — “I felt like Will and Russell ran really well. They’ve gotten themselves set up with every good chance to make state.” Girls — “I was super-impressed with Lauren Shoesmith. Her and Emily continue to get better all the time.” (David Ayres)
This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Top Bartlesville-area HS sports performances for week of Oct. 9-15
