Photos from Toni Young’s record-tying high jump
Del City high jumper Toni Young cleared six feet, four inches to shatter her own state record and tie the national record at the Edmond North track meet on Friday. The Oklahoma State basketball signee (and Oklahoman Big All-City basketball player of the year) tied the national record set by Amy Acuff of Corpus Christi (Texas) in 1993.
Here are a some photos from Toni’s record-setting jump that were provided to us.
All-City and All-State week: Tough covers
OK, guys, we’re almost done with All-City and All-State week. Big All-City girls basketball will be in Saturday’s paper, and the Super Five and All-State girls basketball will be in Sunday’s Oklahoman. So what does everyone think of the covers so far? Anyone have a favorite?
Here’s the full set:
Boys Basketball Super Five: Meet the Beatles
Boys Super Five Basketball Player of the Year Xavier Henry: Public Enemy’s He Got Game
Little All-City Boys Basketball Player of the Year Josh Davis: Bruce Springsteen’s Workin’ On A Dream
Big All-City Player of the Year Xavier Henry: Michael Jackson’s Thriller
Wrestler of the Year Bobby Williams: Elvis Costello’s This Year’s Model
Little All-City Girls Basketball Player of the Year Katie Beebe: Reba McEntire’s Greatest Hits Volume III — I’m a Survivor
Big All-City Girls Basketball Player of the Year Toni Young: Diana Ross’ Ultimate Collection
Swimmers of the Year Parris Schoppa and Dakota Wheeler: The White Stripes’ The White Stripes
Girls Basketball Super Five Player of the Year Kevi Luper: Sheena Easton’s Fabulous
Girls Basketball Super Five Team: The Go-Go’s Greatest Hits
Swimming conundrums…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Even when you’re confident about your selections, picking All-City teams is never an easy thing to do.
And this year’s version of swimming became that much tougher when the classes were split up.
Here is the list for the boys and for the girls.
Someone who placed second in 5A might have well come in seventh or eighth in 6A. So in the end, I tried to gauge it by time more than say ranking. Swimming is swimming. There’s no real, tangible advantage to swimming for an Edmond or Jenks team compared to say Altus or Bixby or Heritage Hall.
If you know how to swim, you know how to do it. Maybe the bigger schools have better resources, but if a swimmer really wants to, there are ways to not get left behind.
That solved that issue for me.
The second was the “sad” saga of Norman North sophomore Wilson Wei and Edmond North senior Nikki Colton.
Individually, they may be two of the best 10 boys/girls swimmers in the state. But at state itself, they were in events where they came up just short and couldn’t make the first team.
Wei competed in the 200 IM and the 500 free. Well, you can’t take anything away from Edmond Memorial’s Daniel Enge, who placed higher than Wei in the IM and Deer Creek’s Typ Whinnery had the fastest 500 free time of anybody in any class in the prelims.
And then there’s Colton. This was a tough one. Either Colton or EM’s Jill Enge wasn’t going to make the first team. That’s just the way the draw worked out.
Colton placed second in the 200 IM while Enge placed third. Kaylee Steffen of Putnam West won the event. However, Lizzy Whitbeck of McGuinness had the top time, so Whitbeck gets the edge. Steffen finds a spot in the 100 backstroke.
And then in the breaststroke, Enge tops Colton by .07, so it has to go to Enge based on that.
Both Wei and Colton made the second team in less than a second when I was putting it together.
No doubts on Westmoore’s Dakota Wheeler being Swimmer of the Year. What he did this last year was impressive.
Girls Swimmer of the Year came down to Whitbeck and Putnam North’s Parris Schoppa.
Did a little more research, and Schoppa’s times in the 50 and 100 free weren’t just good in Oklahoma. They’re impressive in the nation. Whitbeck didn’t lose the award, but I felt Schoppa earned the honor.
***
The album cover we re-created was The White Stripes. After initially bringing up the idea to Dakota and Parris, the toughest thing became where to shoot it.
We shot it on-location at one of the Switzer’s Locker Room storage facilities on S. Walker. Asking the place for permission was one of the more strange things I’ve done.
But with the help of genius photographer Chris Landsberger, thought it came out rather well.
So with that said, I close the pool for now and head back out to the tennis courts in what is shaping up to be a most intriguing year on the hardcourts.
All-City and All-State teams: The lineup
The Oklahoman will be publishing our All-City and All-State teams this week. Here’s the tentative lineup for the week. If you miss a day, check NewsOK to get caught up.
- Sunday, April 12: Boys Super Five and All-State teams — Player of the Year: Xavier Henry, Super Five capsules, and All-State rosters
- Monday, April 13: Big All-City boys basketball teams
- Tuesday, April 14: Little All-City girls basketball teams
- Wednesday, April 15: All-City swimming teams
- Thursday, April 16: All-City wrestling team
- Friday, April 17: Little All-City girls basketball teams
- Saturday, April 18: Big All-City girls basketball teams
- Sunday, April 19: Girls basketball Super Five and All-State teams
-Hayley
Heritage Hall Tournament of Champions – Boys
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Looked at the girls side yesterday, let’s do the same with the boys portion of the Heritage Hall Tournament of Champions.
Thoughts and observations:
- There was a lot of tension between Tulsa Union’s Trevor Horstmann and Putnam North’s Chris Haworth in the No. 1 singles championship.
Both disagreed about the others’ line calls and some real tension in the air. I thought it made the atmosphere that much better, but maybe that’s just me.
One time Horstmann was a little out of hand when it appeared he was trying to hit Haworth with a shot in the tie-breaker in the second set.
Almost a second after, he realized he was in the wrong. Tournament director Dick Villaflor (Heritage Hall coach) and Tulsa Union coach Kevin Gannon were quick to restore order.
To me, it’s not a big deal. Tennis is such a mental game because you’re out there by yourself. Tempers will flare up.
Both were calm and sportsmanlike in the third set and after the match. A grueling physical and mental test for the sophomore from Putnam North as Haworth won.
Haworth started cramping midway through the second set but persevered. Thought Horstmann accounted for himself very well, especially since regular No. 1 singles player Logan Collins wasn’t at the tournament because of ACT testing.
Haworth was so small last year. He’s built like a machine this year, growing as much as he did. Extremely tough to think anyone will be able to take him out at the state tournament.
- ACT testing nearly gutted the boys draw but still a huge win for the Putnam North boys, holding off Tulsa Union for first. Edmond North placed third.
- First time truly got to see Norman North’s Sam Geurkink and Kevin Boyd. Pretty good combination right there. Easy to see why they’re undefeated. Don’t think Norman North has the depth to make a real run in 6A, but Geurkink and Boyd might throw a wrench into other teams’ championship plans.
- Despite all the ACT testing, the No. 1 singles was loaded with Haworth, Horstmann, Edmond Memorial’s Duncan Fugitt and Edmond North’s Casey Distaso. Fugitt placed third with Distaso fourth.
- Is it wrong to want a match between Fugitt and Haworth just to hear the two yell at themselves? I did it a lot back when I used to play. Some priceless commentary by both when they make “simple” errors. Simple to them, but pretty difficult for most normal people.
- Appreciate the effort McGuinness’ Ryan Randolph and Jake Brown. The two played in their basketball jerseys but accounted for themselves well in placing fifth at No. 2 doubles. Their second match went nearly three hours, but they pulled it out.
- Edmond North got a big No. 2 doubles win from Baylor Spring and Eric Olson. Admit to not knowing much about these boys coming in, so Huskies have some depth, too.
- Leave with the impression it’s Tulsa Union’s championship to lose. Redskins are solid, have the depth and will be at full strength. PCN has experience, so it should be a good fight, especially when you throw in Jenks and Edmond Memorial.
- Special thanks to Heritage Hall for all the accommodations. Can’t say I’ve eaten like that two days straight in a long time.
- Got my first sunburn of the spring, must mean we’re getting closer to the spring state championships.
Heritage Hall Tournament of Champions – Girls
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Spent most of Friday and Saturday camped out at Heritage Hall for what I feel is the biggest tennis tournament of the year.
It really doesn’t get much bigger than the Heritage Hall Tournament of Champions. In some ways, it’s better than state because there is no class separation.
Friday was the girls portion, and here are some thoughts, observations:
- McGuinness junior Whitney Ritchie is something special. The way she handled the wind and double bageled Andrea Lewis of Bishop Kelley was impressive.
This was the first singles match I’ve seen Ritchie in after all those doubles matches last year with Mia Lancaster.
Lewis edged Heritage Hall’s Julie Labarthe in three sets in the semifinals. That combined with wanting to go to Prom made the final a little anti-climactic.
But boy is Ritchie one to watch for nationally in the years to come.
- Introduced to a new face at Heritage Hall, freshman Sarah Bowen. Liked her poise, and she’s not built like your typical freshman.
I imagined her as some scrawny kid who would need to time to develop her fitness. Not so, she looks like she belongs out there.
Bowen lost to Bishop Kelley’s Meredith Burns in the No. 2 singles championship.
- Would like to see Labarthe and Duncan’s Melanie Barnes fully healthy for state. Labarthe is battling shin splints while Barnes is dealing with a wrist injury. Felt cheated to not see both of them at 100 percent.
- McGuinness swept this event last year but not this year. Of course, part of that was because Lancaster was playing in a tournament in California but big win by the Duncan No. 2 doubles team.
McGuinness placed first, followed by Bishop Kelley and Duncan. All three are 5A schools.
The McGuinness No. 1 doubles team of Katelyn Connelly and Emily Conrad smoked the field. But really that wasn’t much of a surprise as the two could probably be the No. 1 singles player at most schools in the state.
Conrad must be pretty popular as this is the third straight year she’s been paired up with someone and her third new partner. She’s already got two titles and appears on her way to a third.
- Wasn’t a fair assessment of Edmond Memorial. The Bulldogs tied for fifth but did so without singles players Lindsay Choi and Safaa Aly.
- That was actually the common link of this last weekend. While it was a good tournament and showcased some of the top teams, we were missing some key players because of various reasons.
- Bishop Kelley is one player short, I think, from making a real run at McGuinness. Going to compete hard but think Comets are going to fall just a tad short.
- Weather was nice Friday. A little bit of wind, but nothing like the wind Thursday and the wind Saturday.
