Four Waurika Band students competed in the OSSAA State Solo and Ensemble contest last week. The contest was held on the campus of Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. The flute trio, consisting of junior Nicole Burton and freshmen Kaytlyn Williams and Mallory Adkins, received the top rating of Superior from the judge. Chloe Adkins, also a freshman, received a 2 rating, also an outstanding accomplishment. Starr Herron was accompanist for Chloe.
Band Director Everett Hodges said, “I am so proud of these girls. They work extra and spend the time necessary to be good. They are a big core of our group and I look forward to many future successes.”
The list of improvements to the Waurika Schools is lengthy and impressive.
Visitors to the waurikaschools.org website will notice quite a change. There is a professionally produced video with drone shots and scenes of a refurbished school complete with new computers and technology.
Other improvements include: Completely renovated bathrooms at the High School and the Elementary Schools.
Renovated basketball concession stand. Power washed and repainted football stadium.
There is a new fence going in at the softball field.
Waurika is enjoying an increase in enrollment. As of right now there are 466 students attending school this year.
There is a STEM lag in the middle school.
There are upgrades in the Agriculture shop. There are new welders, welding booths, tools and a rod oven.
Fans will be glad to learn there are new cameras installed to view all football and basketball games online.
Members of Waurika FCCLA recently attended the South 4 District Leadership Meeting in Duncan. Approximately 500 students from southwest Oklahoma attended the meeting held at the Simmons Center. This year’s meeting, called “The Great Leadership Adventure”, centered on an outdoor camping theme. Members wore their new chapter tshirts, which followed the theme. FCCLA chapters collected 400 pounds of aluminum pull tabs to donate to their service project, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Oklahoma. The highlight of the meeting was the Oklahoma City dance troupe, Generation Why, which entertained the students, as well as delivered messages about anti-bullying, suicide prevention and overcoming adversity. Family, Career and Community Leaders of America is the student leadership organization that accompanies the Family and Consumer Sciences program at Waurika High School.
He can solve a Rubik’s Cube in about a minute, hit a pop-fly to center field, and this coming fall he will be playing on the field at Oklahoma State University as a member of the Cowboy marching band.
Although he was born in Houston, Texas, Michael Bryant, Jr. has attended school here in Waurika his whole life.
He has participated in band, football, baseball, the academic team, FFA, the Beta Club, and is a member of the National Honor Society.
So why did he try out for the OSU marching band? It’s not because one of his favorite colors is orange.
The simple answer is that he has a deep love for music. Two of his favorite genres is country and classic rock from the vinyl era.
Although he can play the tuba, he favors the trumpet because of its versatility.
Bryant tried out for a place in the marching band back in February and was informed the day of the try out that he had been accepted.
He will attend band camp a week before the official move-in date in order to prepare for the marching season.
He says his most memorable moments while attending Waurika High School are the times he competed with the band at state competitions.
Even though he has many accolades and achievements under his belt, some of the qualities he possesses that makes him memorable among members of the community is his genuineness, maturity, and ability to communicate with people from all levels of society.
His plans are to major in Agriculture and possibly go on to become a Veterinarian.
1. How do you feel about your last year? I am super excited to get to move on to bigger things in my life. Although, I am sad that I won’t get to stay a kid with little responsibilities anymore, I am excited.
2. Sum up your school experiences? I enjoyed school, it taught me more than what I thought it could have, and prepared me for a great future.
3. Activities/organizations you have participated in? I have cheered all four years, ran track my fresh. and soph. year, cross country my fresh. and soph. year, powerlifting my freshman year, FFA my fresh., soph and junior year, showed a goat my freshman year, yearbook and FCCLA and basketball my senior year.
4. Plans for the future? I plan on attending a college, cheerleading while I’m there and majoring in English.
5. Favorite memory at WHS? After the Empire football game, Colton and Gatlin dumped the water cooler on me while it was freezing cold outside.
6. What teacher class prepared you? Over the years I have enjoyed all of my English classes and all of the teachers that have helped me love English even more than I already did. I can’t wait to become an English teacher myself.
7. Give advice to an underclassman? Remember to have fun while you can, because high school ends in the blink of an eye.
8. Anyone you want to thank? I want to think my mom and dad for pushing me to be the best I could be. I would also like to think the rest of my family and friends.
9. Do you have a fear about leaving? I do not want to grow up and be an adult. I love high school and I’m afraid to move on past it, although I feel it is not as bad as I make it out to be.
10. Are you going to miss being at WHS? Yes, even though I moved here my senior year everyone has been so great to me and I gained so many friends and I am sad that I did not get to know them longer.
Waurika first grade students are participating in the Oklahoma City Thunder Reading Challenge. We are proud to announce Landon Brackett and Juan Garcia are the winners for the month of January!
STATE BOUND: Waurika’s girls cross country squad finished seventh in the team competition at last Saturday’s Class 2A Regional meet held in Waurika and that qualified them for the state cross country meet. Pictured from left to right are: Jasmine Henry, Niecsa Camarillo, Jaden Adams, Coach Joe Masoner, Liberti Simmons and Jaci Gholson. Not pictured is Harleigh Loftis and Aubree Showalter, who did not compete in the regional because of an illness. (Photo provided)
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.
