I’m excited for my last year, but nervous at the same time.
What Activities/Organizations have you participated in?
I’m involved with cheer, softball, band, cross country, student council, and FCCLA.
What are your plans for the future?
My plans for the future are to go to college and become a 2nd grade teacher, get married and start a family.
Favorite memory at WHS?
My favorite memory at WHS is cheering at the football games with my best friend Hope.
What teacher or class has best prepared you?
Mrs.Hodges was the teacher who best prepared me. She’s always pushed me to try my best. She also let me color a few times.
Give advice to an underclassman?:
My advice to underclassmen is to not care what people think. Follow God’s plan, be humble and kind, Always smile.
Who would you like to thank?
I would like to thank my family, especially my mom for always trying. I want to thank Hope and her mom. I also want to thank everyone who’s believed in me. I would like to thank all my classmates for the laughs and the great memories
What fears do you have about leaving?
My fears for leaving high school are failing and leaving my classmates.
What are you going to miss most about being at WHS?
I’m going to miss everything. The people, the school itself. I’ll miss everybody knowing everybody.
What lessons have you learned from previous classes (class of 2020, etc)?
Class of 2019 taught me friendship.
What event did/do you most look forward to this year?
I’m looking forward to our senior trip. It will live up to my expectations as long as I get to spend time and more memories with my classmates.
Do you have any regrets?
My regrets are not getting out more to spend time with family or friends.
Joe Allen was selected recently as the 38th head football coach in school history at Waurika High School.
Allen will not only be the grid mentor, but will also serve as the head baseball coach for the Eagles next spring.
“I am really excited about coming to Waurika not just because of the job opportunities, but because my wife teaches at Waurika, we live here and my kids go to school here,” said Allen in a recent interview.
Allen, a 2009 graduate of Cameron University and a 2004 Ryan High School graduate, is looking forward to the challenge of continuing to build on the success Waurika has had in football the past couple of years.
For the past four seasons Allen has been the head baseball coach and assistant football coach at Walters High School. He guided the Blue Devils to one district title in baseball in the four seasons.
“The big selling point for the job was of course my family, but also the kind of athletes they had coming up at Waurika,” said Allen. “I was happy at Walters, so it had to be the right job for me to leave there.”
Allen began his coaching career as a lay coach for the Duncan High School baseball team for two years.
He became the head baseball coach at Rush Springs for two seasons before moving to Temple in 2013 to become the head football coach and head baseball coach for the Tigers.
It was his only season as a head football coach and he guided the Tigers to a 4-5 mark before the opportunity came to move over to Walters.
“Football and baseball were always neck and neck for me even when I was a little kid,” noted Allen when asked which sport was his favorite.
Allen has not yet had an opportunity to meet with the football team, but is looking forward to getting together with them in the near future.
“Being in the area and living here in Waurika I have known the kind of athletes they have,” said Allen in reflecting on his new challenge.
“They have been really competitive in junior high and what I have been impressed with is they have a number of athletes that I have heard are willing to work hard to improve,” said Allen.
While the timing of his hiring did not allow him to get involved with Waurika’s summer league baseball team, he did see the squad in action in their final summer league game at Comanche.
Allen will take over for former Waurika football and baseball coach Glenn Howard, who moves over to Wilson to become an assistant for the Eagles.
“I was glad they had a team because it is hard to get a team together in many of the smaller communities around,” Allen said
Allen was an outstanding athlete during his high school career at Ryan. He excelled in football, baseball and track.
In the 2003 season football season Allen was the starting quarterback on the Cowboys’ semifinal squad that finished 9-4. He threw for 1,113 yards and connected for 11 touchdowns. He also contributed 553 yards rushing.
During his junior season for the Cowboy football squad Allen snared seven interceptions, which was the third most in the state among eight-man schools. He was also named to The Duncan Banner’s all-area football team.
Allen was a ringleader on the 2003 baseball squad that earned a district title – one of only three district titles for the Cowboys since 2000.
In track, Allen was a state track meet qualifier in the high jump in both 2003 and 2004 and was the Southern Eight Conference high jump champion in 2004.
Allen is married to the former Magen Wright of Ryan and she is currently a teacher in the Waurika Public Schools. They have three children with the oldest entering first grade at Waurika this fall.
The Waurika girls cross country team has overcome a number of obstacles during the 2022 season.
For most of the season, the Lady Eagles did not have enough participants to qualify for the team race in the majority of meets they participated in.
But, in the last few weeks, the Lady Eagles have had additional participants that have enabled them to be part of the team standings.
While still battling some illness, the Lady Eagles managed to finish seventh in last Saturday’s Class 2A Regional Cross Country Meet and that put the Lady Eagles into Saturday’s state championship meet.
The Class 2A State Cross Country Meet will be Saturday at Edmond Santa Fe High School. All classes will be held at the same location.
The Class 2A races will begin with the girls at 11:45 a.m., while the Class 2A boys will race at 12:15 p.m. An awards ceremony for Class 2A will follow at 1 p.m.
The top three teams will be awarded medals and 15 medals will be awarded to the top individual finishers.
Lucas Boyd, who has had an outstanding freshman season for the Eagles, qualified for the state meet as an individual and will be competing Saturday as well as the Lady Eagle team.
The Lady Eagles finished with 181 points – which trailed sixth-place Hobart that finished with 172 points. Riverside won the team title with 55 points.
Aubree Showalter, who has competed for the Lady Eagles in recent weeks, missed the meet due to illness and that meant other runners had to step up to enable Waurika to qualify for the state meet.
Waurika’s Jaci Gholson led the way for the Lady Eagles as she finished sixth in the meet with a time of 13:42.04 – which is her top time of the 2022 season.
The Waurika junior has had an outstanding season and she received a silver medal for her performance in the regional meet on the Lady Eagles’ home course – Harmon Park.
Also playing a key role in the Lady Eagles qualifying for the state meet were Harleigh Loftis, Liberti Simmons, Jaden Adams, Niecsa Camarillo and Jasmine Henry.
Loftis finished 67th in the race with a time of 16;24.74, while Simmons was 71st with a clocking of 16:34.71. Adams was 87th with a time of 17:32.15 and Camarillo finished 109th with a time of 20:16.18. Henry was 118th recorded a time of 23:05.23.
The top five finishers from each school figure into the team standings.
A total of 126 runners competed in the Class 2A girls’ race.
Boyd finished 11th in the boys’ competition and he was the fourth best individual that was not part of the team competition and the top seven individuals not on a team qualify for the state meet.
Boyd earned a bronze medal with his time of 19:28.45.
Alex Gomez and Trent Arellano also ran in the regional for the Eagles.
Gomez finished 17th with a time of 19:39.67 – just two seconds behind the last individual qualifier for the state meet.
Arellano turned in a time of 23:25.29 and that was good for 80th place among the 112 runners in the Class 2A race.
Class 2A had considerably more participants than the Class 3A and Class 4A races.
Class 2A Girls Regional Results
TEAM STANDINGS: Riverside 55, Goodwell-Texhoma 58, Velma-Alma 59, Hollis 92, Walters 146, Hobart 172, Waurika 181, Konawa 197, Mountain View-Gotebo 245, Santa Fe South 273.
TOP FIVE INDIVIDUALS: 1. Karliey Parker (Riverside), 12:03.89; 2. Reese Coleman (Watonga, 13:07.14; 3. Jessie Foster-Anderson (Velma-Alma), 13:09.21; 4. Kayla Meason (Walters), 13:24.24; 5. Isabel Bush (Carnegie), 13:30.99.
Class 2A Boys Regional Results
TEAM STANDINGS: Riverside 71, Sweetwater 95, Earlsboro 118, Christian Heritage 125, Santa Fe South 134, Merritt 134, Goodwell-Texhoma 162, Apache 170, Hollis 192, Wynnewood 237, Hobart 243, Konawa 261, Stonewall 345.
TOP FIVE INDIVIDUALS: 1. Brayden Cowan (Watonga), 17:32.62; 2. Asa Worthington (Carnegie), 17:59.28; 3. Andrew Moore (Earlsboro), 18:09.90; 4. Tice Seewalker (Riverside), 18:29.73; 5. Riley Herndon (Merritt), 18:37.03.
TOP FIVE INDIVIDUALS: 1. Katie Bosley (Okla. City Christian Aca.), 13:00.84; 2. Baylee Tapley (Bethel), 13:14.43; 3. Kylie Nunneley (Bethel), 13:19.90; 4. Canon Russell (Lindsay), 13:48.92; 5. Brilee Combs (Comanche), 13:53.89.
Class 3A Boys Regional Results
TEAM STANDINGS: Heritage Hall 60, Bethel 76, Lindsay 106, Silo 132, Lexington 145, Marietta 148, OC Christian Academy 159, Lone Grove 178, Comanche 180, Kingston 215, Frederick 236.
TOP FIVE INDIVIDUALS: 1. Jackson Fowler (Heritage Hall), 17:19.64; 2. Brycen Ward (Kingston), 17:43.68; 3. Daniel Ponce (Lindsay), 18:19.28; 4. Brycen Lassley (Comanche), 18:26.29; 5. Luis Garcia (Marietta), 18:40.84.
Class 4A Girls Regional Results
TEAM STANDINGS: Cache 40, Pauls Valley 45, Madill 115, Sulphur 131, Marlow 139, Plainview 141, McLoud 144, North Rock Creek 241, Tuttle 243, Tecumseh 265, Harding Charter Prep 289.
TOP FIVE INDIVIDUALS: Kenzie Readnour (Pauls Valley), 12:54.47; 2. Cora Lane (Cache), 13:14.07; 3. Amidat Olokunola (Cache), 13:15.43; 4 Kara Daniels (Cache), 13:21.12; 5. Isabella Gutierrez (Pauls Valley), 13:32.65.
Class 4A Boys Regional Results
TEAM STANDINGS: Cache 42, Plainview 64, Tecumseh 78, Sulphur 117, Marlow 121, Madill 168, Harrah 206, McLoud 228, Tuttle 230, Harding Charter prep 236, North Rock Creek 269, Pauls Valley 288.
TOP FIVE INDIVIDUALS: 1. Jordan Coody (North Rock Creek), 17:26.18; 2. Anthony Radke (Cache), 17:54.48; 3. Logan Haworth (Tecumseh), 18:00.17; 4. Cooper Phillips (Plainview), 18:02.01; 5. Cade Parks (Plainview), 18:16.64.
Waurika’s Landry Forsyth has been given the distinct honor of being one of 74 students across the state to serve on the 2019 Student Advisory Council instituted by State School Superintendent Joy Hofmeister.
The Advisory Council will have their first meeting in 2020 on January 29th at the State Capitol.
At the meeting the council will discuss issues related to the youth in the State of Oklahoma.
Hofmeister chose these students because of their perspective and willingness to serve. “These are among Oklahoma’s best and brightest high school leaders, and we look forward to learning more about the student perspective on matters of school policy,” Hofmeister said in a prepared statement. “Working with these outstanding young people is a highlight of every spring and their input on topics as diverse as bullying, career readiness and school funding has been instrumental to our state-level decision-making.
This month the Waurika FFA has been very busy! Members have participated in the Jefferson County Free Fair, Ag in the Classroom Reading Program, and the officer team attended the 2019 C.O.L.T. conference. Several members attended all activities. The Ag in the Classroom activity consisted of Waurika Ag. Education students reading to the classes at Waurika Elementary School. Everyone had a great time and are ready to continue being active.
Berkeley Smith (granddaughter of Nick and Rita Foster and the great granddaughter of Bobby Fitzgerald in Waurika) is on a mission. It’s called the Love.Project.
As a ten year old girl she has become aware of the needs of young women and the challenges they face in public schools when it comes to access to feminine hygiene products during the school day. It can be embarrassing for some girls to have to constantly grab their gym bag or purse before being excused to the rest room during class or perhaps needing to ask a teacher for the needed items if they were not able to bring them from home.
In order to remedy this dilemma, she came up with the idea of installing cabinets in the ladies rest rooms that could be continually stocked with feminine products and available free of charge. The idea was implemented in her school at Zanies. The idea caught on and now Berkeley is branching out to other schools in the area.
The Love.Project is now active in Zanies, Healdton, Wilson, and most recently Waurika—her mother’s hometown. Berkeley is the daughter of Jessica Smith, formerly Jessica Foster. She is a 2003 graduate of Waurika.
The project has also been approved for Tahlequah and Tupelo Oklahoma.
Niecsa Camarillo will be the project coordinator for Waurika. She is a member of the student council as the Seventh Grade Class President. Niecsa had wanted to start something similar in Waurika before she heard of the Love Project. In the mean time, Berkeley had approached Waurika and gained approval while Mrs. Jessica Cornelison was attempting to make contact with Berkely because she had seen the project on Facebook. Mrs. Cornelison says it was quite a coincidence that the two came together about the same time.
Berkely would like to see the project reach all the schools in Oklahoma and someday reach schools across the nation.
In order to raise money the project is selling t-shirts and bracelets. All the proceeds are used to purchase feminine hygiene products to be distributed throughout the schools. There will also be an Amazon wish list to allow local support of the Waurika schools project. Other fund raising efforts will be announced in the near future.
Stephanie Reynolds has been teaching at Waurika Schools for 15years.
She is currently one of the Pre-K teachers at Waurika Elementary. She has been teaching Pre-K students for 14 years.
Before that she taught 4th Grade.
Her degree is in Psychology from Southeastern University in Durant.
Before becoming a school teacher, she worked with a domestic violence shelter.
While there she spent time with the children of domestic violence victims. That was what inspired her to become a teacher. She enjoys working with children.
Her hobbies consist of keeping up with her children.
This is an exciting time at WHS, with Blue and Gold orders and Homecoming floats the FFA kids have been extremely busy. October 22nd the W.A.E.B. will be hosting a hamburger feed at Sorosis Park, tickets are $8.00 for 12 and up, $5.00 for 5-11 year olds, 4 and under free. There will be performances from Hunter Wesberry, Bailey Wesberry, Delaini Wesberry, Chloe Adkins, and Mallory Adkins. There will be a Halloween costume contest, ice cream freeze off contest, bounce house, face painting and a roping demonstration. Raffle tickets will be available for a One Man- One Day, Management Buck Hunt donated by Stuart Ranch Outfitters. Tickets will be $10 each or $20 for three. There will also be a Pierce Cooler given away at the Festival. ALL PROCEEDS GO TO THE BENEFIT OF WAURIKA YOUTH AG PROGRAMS, 4-H & FFA.