Table of Contents
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Where are they now?................4-6, 8, 10 Just for Kicks: Foreign exchange student loves football and futbol
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Signed.............................................................14 Doing it for their dad: McLoud brothers honor their father during his recovery...........................................16, 18
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Picture pages........................................20,22
16 PUBLISHER: Kent Bush SPORTS EDITOR: Adam Ewing GRAPHIC ARTISTS: Brooke Jones, Cheyenne Meadows, Reita Easley This magazine is published by The Shawnee News-Star. ©Copyright 2019 GateHouse Media, LLC, 215 N. Bell St., P.O. Box 1688, Shawnee, OK 74802-1688, (405) 273-4200. All rights reserved. No portion of this magazine may be reproduced in whole or in part without written consent from the publisher.
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BEST OF PREPS APRIL 2019
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Where are they now? By Kent Bush
The Best of News-Star Preps event honors the best students and athletes in Pottawatomie, Lincoln and Seminole counties. The event May 6 will be the third one so it seemed like a good time to look back at some of the nominees and award winners from past events and check in on how they are doing at the next level.
Christian Patterson 2017 Best of Preps Athlete of the Year from Shawnee. He is now a Pole Vaulter at Oral Roberts University - clearing 15 feet 10 inches at one event last year. Has placed as high as fourth this year in NCAA Division One Track Meets.
AJ Baron Baron is in his sophomore baseball season at Seminole State after winning three state titles at Shawnee. He has played in seven games for the Trojans.
Kade Self Self was also one of Shawnee’s three-time state baseball champions. He is in his freshman year at Grayson College and has played 15 games. He has already ripped his first home run in college.
Wyatt Olds Olds was a McLoud baseball standout and Large School Baseball Player of the Year who is now pitching for Oklahoma University. Olds has struck out 13 hitters in 8 innings of work in his freshman season.
Tanner Sparks and Jake Taylor
Three time state champions at Shawnee who both went to Oklahoma State University. Taylor played as a freshman and Sparks redshirted. Both are competing for playing time this season. Sparks recently got his first action on the mound in a Cowboy win. Taylor played in 26 games as a freshman and has played in two games this year.
Eli Davis Three time state champion at Shawnee who battled through an elbow injury his senior season before having Tommy John surgery and missing his first college season as a redshirt. As a redshirt freshman, he is now a starter for the Kansas Jayhawks squad. At presstime, Davis has 4 carrier starts and a 2-1 record for the 13-3 Jayhawks.
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Drew Reed Drew Reed was the Small School Baseball Player of the Year in 2018 and is playing his freshman season for East Central this year. He is batting .269 and has even pitched one inning for the Tigers.
Dylan Lang ECU baseball. Won three state titles at Dale. Earned his associates degree from NOC in Tonkawa before getting a chance to play in Ada with the Tigers.
Scout Capps This Dale graduate is a freshman at Northern Oklahoma College this season.
Monica Brooks Monica Brooks lost her junior basketball season at Shawnee to a torn ACL. After a great senior year, she got a chance to continue her basketball career at Central Community College in Nebraska. Not only is Monica Brooks looking to get a shot to keep playing basketball at the next level, she is excelling in the classroom. Brooks averaged 14 points and 9 rebounds per game on the court and she was also named to the Dean’s Honor roll in her first semester in college.
Shemmario Stephens and Adam Nance Stephens and Nance are Seminole basketball players who both went to Murray State University in Tishomingo and both were starters on a team that qualified for the NJCAA Region 2 Tournament at OBU. Their season ended in Shawnee with a loss to NEO. Stephens was the Georg Fischer Central Plastics Large School Basketball Player of the Year in the 2018 Best of Preps event.
Mikayla Rutland Rutland was a fast pitch and slow pitch champion at Dale almost every season. She was also a basketball All Stater. She is playing softball at Murray State in Tishomingo. She was the slow-pitch Player of the Year in 2018 and was a female Athlete of the Year nominee. She is leading Murray State in hitting .462 through 21 games. She is second on the team with four home runs.
Jocee Sparks Sparks was the 2018 Female Athlete of the Year from Maud. Her fast pitch, slow pitch and basketball seasons were all outstanding. She is starting for Seminole State - the No. 5 Junior College team in the country - and has hit two home runs early in the season.
Suni Meeley
Destiny Tiger Tiger went from Seminole softball to Murray State in Tishomingo. She is third on the team in hitting with an average of .349 through 21 games. She has also hit two home runs.
Meeley graduated from Tecumseh High School and went to Seminole State. She is batting .314 and has stolen five bases. She has signed to continue her education and softball career at USAO in Chickasha.
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Tarin Dubler Dubler was an Asher standout who initially signed at Connors State College. This year, she move back to powerhouse Seminole State. She is hitting .477 with two home runs and eight stolen bases to help keep Seminole State near the top of the rankings.
Creed Humphrey Humphrey was the original Best of Preps Football Player of the Year. He has gone on to bigger and better things. After a redshirt season, Humphrey became a starter for the University of Oklahoma and played in the National Championship playoffs. Four of Humphrey’s fellow linemen will be drafted to play in the NFL, but none of them got the recognition Humphrey did. His skillset and personality made him a hit with television crews every week. He will be expected to lead a new team of linemen as the Sooners look to continue their winning ways. He will go from snapping the ball to a Heisman Trophy winner to a Heisman Trophy candidate this year.
Claire Chastain Chastain was the Small School Basketball Player of the Year in 2018. She signed with Division One University of Texas-Arlington and has made an immediate impact for the Lady Mavericks. She averaged 10 points per game for the Sunbelt Conference Champions and she continued her season in the NIT Women’s Championship Tournament.
Hannah Ash Ash was the 2018 Basketball Player of the Year and just completed her sophomore season at Seminole State where she averaged about five points per game. She has not announced where she will continue her academic and athletic career.
Dani (Manning) Davis Dani was the first ever Female Athlete of the Year due to her outstanding seasons in fast pitch, slow pitch and basketball at Dale. She had a great freshman season at OBU where she was a first-team all conference selection. Then she got married and became Dani Davis.
Shelby Savage Dale alum playing 2nd base for OBU as a Junior - NCAAera school record 181 at bats. NCAA-era school record 33 runs in a season...NCAA-era school record 56 hits in a season...NCAA-era school record 22 stolen bases in a season.
Franki Hull The Tecumseh softball alum is playing for OBU. She is batting .446 for the season with two home runs and 13 RBI.
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London Calvillo Calvillo was a softball player of the year nominee from Dale and is playing her freshman season at OBU this year.
Bronson Wise, Alec Young and Seth King Bronson Wise, Alec Young and Seth King are all Shawnee soccer players competing for OBU now.
Kallie “KJ� Johnson The Tecumseh softball alum tore her ACL during her senior basketball season. She has made it back from rehab and is playing well for Northwestern OSU in Alva. She was even named the Freshman of the Week once this season. She is batting .315 and has a home run for the Lady Rangers in her freshman season.
Caitlyn Bingham Bingham was the Fast Pitch Player of the year in 2017 and is in her second season at Wichita State University. She is 9-3 on the season for the Shockers.
Herring was a standout at Chandler and now she is playing her sophomore year for Wichita State. She is batting .360 on the season with two home runs and 18 RBI.
Jack Diamond Diamond was an outstanding quarterback at Shawnee and is now competing for the starting job as the NEO quarterback. He played his freshman season at Coffeyville Junior College in Kansas before moving back to NEO looking for a chance to continue his career at a four-year school.
Braxten Frazier Asher standout Braxten Frazier is playing at Connors State College. She is batting .192 this season with one home run.
BEST OF PREPS APRIL 2019
This Bethel alum Played football for the Wildcats as a kicker. She played club soccer and was recruited to OBU. This year she was GAC Offensive Player of the Week, Oct. 2 - Oct. 9.
Jennifer Goethe
Nelleigh Herring
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Ruth King
The Tecumseh High School grad plays for the Lady Bison. In her senior season, she was named GAC Defender of the Week, Sept. 25 - Oct. 2.
Charis Montgomery Montgomery of Shawnee played in one game as a freshman at OBU after being the Female Soccer Player of the Year in 2018.
Braylen Brewer Brewer was a multi-sport athlete at Maud and he is in his sophomore season at Bethel College in Kansas now. He has won several sprint events in college and now holds a couple of records for his college program including the 200m sprint record.
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Gunner Cash
Elizabeth Bond and Dixie Anderson Elizabeth Bond and Dixie Anderson are Shawnee soccer graduates who continue their careers at Seminole State. Anderson scored a goal in her freshman season in 21 games played. Bond took 3 shots in her sophomore season this year.
Baylie Hough This McLoud soccer grad was last year’s Small School Soccer Player of the Year. She is now playing at Murray State in Tishomingo.
Cash is the Tecumseh grad who was the wrestler of the year in the inaugural Best of Preps event. He just completed his second season with Iowa Central wrestling where he became an All-American. Cash had a great high school wrestling career. That success has continued in college. Just like his decision to go to Iowa Central, Cash said his decision on where to continue his education will be based on how good the program is and how much it supports his ability to continue to improve.
DJ Storie and Josh Richardson DJ Storie and Josh Richardson - Both Storie and Richardson were offensive linemen from Shawnee who continued their playing careers this year at East Central.
Braxton Hall The McLoud quarterback is in his sophomore year at Henderson State in the Greater Athletic Conference.
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Daniel Axton The Tecumseh basketball standout played at St. Gregory’s until the university closed. He has since moved to Southwest Christian University.
Abbey Thompson
Cody Parman
Thomson was a Bethel track athlete who now competes at Oklahoma State.
The Shawnee Tennis standout is now playing at Southwest Christian.
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Just for kicks: Foreign exchange student loves football and futbol By Kent Bush
Shawnee isn’t much like Oldenburg, Germany. “Shawnee is much smaller,” foreign exchange student Lars van Freeden said. Oldenburg is in the northwest part of Germany near Bremen. Oldenburg has about five times as many people as Shawnee, but the Bremen metropolitan area is home to about 2.3 million people. But that doesn’t mean van Freeden isn’t enjoying his time in small-town America.
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BEST OF PREPS APRIL 2019
“I love it here,” he said. “I have met so many great people here. Everyone is great.” He is enjoying Shawnee so much he is already trying to find a way to return to the United States to go to college. “I have to go back” he said. “I don’t want to but I have to. But I am already planning to come back for college. I don’t want to leave and not see all these people and my friends anymore.”
Coach Jason Merrell said van Freeden has good skills and is helping the Wolves playing center back this season. “He does a good job,” said Merrell, who lost several senior defenders last year. “He helps us back there and seems to be figuring out the different styles of play.” Van Freeden said American soccer is faster than he is used to playing in Germany youth programs.
“We are more patient,” he said. “We play the ball back more.” Van Freeden said he plays the same position in Shawnee as he did in his hometown, but he touched the ball a lot more there because the offenses in America seem to push the ball forward more. Even though he has fallen in love with Shawnee, America wasn’t his first choice when he signed up for the exchange program. “I wanted to go to Canada,” he said. “But we couldn’t find the right situation there so I came here.” Lars said it had to be an English speaking country because that is the only other language he knows. “We start taking English in third grade,” van Freeden said. “I wasn’t good at it. You can ask the football team. I was talking slow. I had to
think for always to come up with the word. Sometimes still I need help finding a word.”
Yu said van Freeden acclimated to his new home faster than any students she ever hosted.
He said he had to work really hard to get his English grade up to be accepted into the exchange student program. He is much better at English after several months here.
“He is a great kid and just made himself at home,” she said. “He has so many friends.”
“Living here has helped a lot,” van Freeden said. “I am much better now.” Van Freeden lives with Theresa Yu in Shawnee and said he couldn’t have been placed in a better situation. Yu - a foreign exchange student coordinator - has hosted foreign exchange students for about a decade. She has four children of her own and is also a legal guardian. The single mother has a full house, to say the least.
In addition to the soccer team, Lars also played American football for Shawnee. He said he didn’t get much playing time but he liked the game. “I played, but not much,” van Freeden said. “I got some JV kicking and a little bit of receiver.” Lars said he will be in Shawnee through June before he has to return home. “I love this town,” Lars said. “Hopefully, I get to come back quickly.”
“I really got lucky with my host family,” he said.
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SIGNED Richard Bolt (Seminole High School) signed a letter of intent to run track at Oklahoma City University.
Jared Rogers (Dale High School) signed a letter of intent to play baseball at Eastern Oklahoma State College
SCOTT STEVE MARY 618 Kickapoo Spur • SHAWNEE, OK Gabe Gouge (Dale High School) signed a letter of intent to play basketball at Bacone College.
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Doing it for their dad: McLoud brothers honor their father during his recovery By Adam Ewing adam.ewing@news-star.com
Since the very beginning Koalton and Sammy Keller have been inseparable. The brothers now have a chance to play baseball together. “It’s one of the best things I’ve experienced in life so far, Koalton said. “The best part is he plays second base so whenever I throw someone out, it’s to him.”
Brothers often use every waking hour to compete. For Koalton and Sammy, they use every opportunity to build each other up. “I don’t see it as a competition,” Koalton said. “Sammy bats second in the lineup and I bat third. Sometimes I’ll give him some tips and help calm him down. He usually hits the ball pretty well. Sammy appreciates his brother looking out for him. continued on page 18...
For Sammy, it’s been an amazing experience playing with his older brother. “We have been lucky to get along our whole lives,” Sammy said. “It’s the last year I’m ever going to play with him so it’s been great.” The Keller connection is perfect on throwing out the opposition. The elder Keller was impressed with his brother on the tag. Growing up the boys jumped between mom and dad’s house and through it all, the boys were there for each other, they agreed.
“He always tried to build me up so I can’t try and
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...continued from page 16
compete with him,” Sammy said. “Everything I learned is from him.” Earlier this season Sammy was hit by a pitch and Koalton was up to bat next. Koalton let his emotions get the best of him for one pitch, momentarily. “I was going up there at a pitch I probably shouldn’t have swung at,” Koalton said. I was trying to put it 450 feet over dead center. I know it wasn’t intentional but I wanted to let them know I had his back.” Koalton ended up walking on the play and scored a run. As close as the brothers are, their bond was tested on Dec. 20. “It was like 2 in the morning when my mom woke me up,” Koalton said. “The whole ride to the hospital I was so tired, it felt like I was still sleeping. It didn’t hit me until we got to the hospital and could see how serious it was.” On Dec. 20 Koalton and Sammy’s dad, Tony Keller, suffered an inner cranial hemorrhage and was placed in a medically induced coma. “Dad has always been the one to work and support everybody. I told him from the get-go that I understood. It was the Sunday before all this happened, I went to a showcase and Sammy had a basketball game. He ended up making it to both.”
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Before Tony went into the hospital, he started to grow a mustache. The boys asked the nurses to make sure Tony’s mustache was left alone. They even started to grow their own to honor their father. “My grandpa has the sickest mustache I’ve seen in my life,” Koalton said. “He said he hasn’t completely shaved it since the sixth grade. Before dad went into the hospital he started to grow his.” Sammy made a business decision with his facial hair. “Actually, I ended up shaving mine,” Sammy said. At homecoming, he was bragging about my sideburns, so I haven’t shaved them since.” The prognosis with Tony is day-by-day, and he continues to show signs of improvement. “If you tickle his nose with a tissue, he will swat your hand out of the way,” Koalton said. “They have some clever ways to get him up and moving before he wakes up. With that said, he will have a bunch of improvements but then take one step back. It’s a slow process, but he’s defying everything they said he couldn’t do.” The boys use this trying time to buckle down and focus on the task at hand. That task is helping the McLoud Redskins win baseball games. “During games I try not to think about it too much,” Koalton said. “Whenever we’re in the weight room or at practice and I’m not feeling the best, I know he’d be telling me keep going and push through it.”
The Best of News-Star Preps has a new sponsor and two new events! will be a sponsor for the New Powerlifter of the Year category and the Shawnee company will also sponsor a Photo Booth/Selfie Station
Everyone in attendance at the May 6, 2019 event at FireLake Arena will be able to take fun photos with their friends and receive free prints that evening during the event.
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Winter Ends
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We are Proud of Our Company, Our People and Our Community Proud sponsor of the Male & Female Basketball Player of the Year
63 Years of Tradition In Shawnee
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Spring Begins
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VISITING CAMPUS
is one of the most exciting steps in choosing a college. Schedule your visit from the options below, and find your place at OBU.
Spring Preview Day April 6
Be-a-Bison Days April 12
Personalized Week-day Visit
Preview Days are set aside for you and your family to explore our campus, talk to students and faculty, and find out more about the opportunities at OBU.
Want a closer look at college life? Be an OBU student for the day as you attend chapel, visit a class, grab lunch in café on the hill and explore the residence halls.
See OBU on your own schedule. A personalized visit provides a customized look at Bison Hill tailored to fit your needs and your interests.
Schedule your visit online – okbu.edu / visit
405.276.4568 (call or text)
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