September 2021

Spikers split bids

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Just a day after earning its first Suburban Conference win of the season, El Reno High School’s volleyball team went on the road to drop a 3-0 match to Class 5A’s top-ranked Lawton MacArthur.

The 25-17/25-15-25-13 loss, coupled with a 3-1 come-from-behind win over Shawnee (23-25/25-14/25-21/25-22), leaves El Reno with a 12-8 record on the year.

The Indians slipped a spot to 11th in the latest Class 5A poll and are 1-1 in the Suburban Conference standings.

Bailey Denwalt and Jewell Graham attempt a double block

Indians trap Bears

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El Reno High School’s softball team dropped its third doubleheader series in District 5A-2 play last week as the Guthrie Bluejays completed a sweep of the Indians with a narrow 5-3 win.

The loss to the Bluejays comes on the heels of an 11-10 win over third-place Noble as El Reno moved to 2-6 in the 5A-2 standings and 6-13 on the season. The Indians are currently at sixth place in the district.

In the loss to Guthrie, El Reno logged seven hits, with Chenoa White going 3-for-3. Kira Taber, Bailey Brothers, Maddie Moss and Julie Holdcraft added singles.

Bailey Brothers grabs the ball out of her glove after blocking a throw to home

Union City rebounds, CHS sliding

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Bouncing back from a three-run home loss to Class A’s 20th-ranked Ninnekah, Union City High School’s softball team ripped off two lopsided wins over Calumet and Geary.

The Tigers lost 10-7 to the Owls before sweeping the season series with Calumet by a 19-1 score. Union City then defeated Geary 19-0 to improve to 13-9 on the season.

Cody Schmidt’s team went 25-of-56 (.446) from the plate for the three-game set, getting two doubles each from Makinzie and Makenna DeLong. Alexis Archer and Oceanna Schranz added one double each.

Makinzie DeLong just misses a sweep tag on a base runner

UC Tigers win at home; Olive seals CHS victory

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After giving up two runs in the top of the first inning, Union City High School’s baseball team went on a 7-1 run to rally past Geronimo for a 7-3 victory.

The Tigers were slated to play Ninnekah, but the Owls were in quarantine for COVID-19 issues. The win over Geronimo lifted Union City to 10-6 on the season heading into its own wooden bat tournament this weekend.

Union City went 7-of-26 from the plate (.269) in the win with Corbin McKinney going 3-for-3 with a pair of runs scored. J.D. Riley was 2-for-3 with a pair of runs batted in.

J.D. Riley keeps a close eye on the plate as he follows through on a pitch

Redlands men sixth in Aggie Duals; women run four harriers

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Redlands Community College’s cross country team traveled to Lawton recently to compete in the 2021 Cameron University Aggie Duals, with the men’s team placing sixth overall.

The Cougars posted an overall time of 2 hours, 33 minutes and 58 seconds over the 8,000-meter course, for an average time of 30:47.56.

Braden Swearingen had the fastest time for Redlands at 29:35 to place 35th overall.

He was followed by teammates Kyle Zielinski (29:40) in 36th place and Liam Johnson (29:46) in 37th place.

Drake Holland

McVay: No mask mandate for now

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While officials are keeping a close eye on any COVID-19 spikes from the Labor Day holiday, El Reno Public Schools will not be changing its current mask policy.

“We will continue to follow our continuous learning plan as passed by the board in July. There is no mask mandate but they are strongly encouraged,” said El Reno Superintendent Craig McVay.

McVay points to the district’s current infection rate, which is 0.069 percent, as reason to hold off on asking the school board to adopt a mask mandate – such as the one used during the 2020-21 school term.

County likes stop signs at Banner

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Canadian County commissioners are recommending to state transportation officials that the State Highway 66/Banner Road intersection become a permanent four-way stop.

Last week, commissioners took no action on a proposed maintenance agreement for a federal-aid project between Canadian County and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) to install traffic signals at the intersection, site of some serious traffic collisions over the past three decades.

The intersection is part of the state highway system in Canadian County District 1.

Banner Road and SH 66 recommended to become a permanent four-way stop

Dousing the flames

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Firefighting units from El Reno, Okarche, El Reno Federal Correctional Institution and Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes teamed to battle this grass fire located west of Highway 81 near 150th Street last week.

El Reno Fire Department sent a brush pumper, command unit and a tanker to the scene. Okarche had two brush pumpers and a tanker, while FCI El Reno had a pumper and tanker on scene and C&A provided a tanker.

A firefighter sprays water on a patch of smoking grass

Illegal marijuana operations increase across Oklahoma

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Editor’s Note: This is the first story in a two-part series about illegal marijuana grow operations occurring across rural Oklahoma. The series explores operation details, legislation to address the issue and more.

The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics has been fielding 30 to 50 tips per day about people trying to purchase land unsolicited, spokesperson Mark Woodward said. The calls from law enforcement officials have been increasing within the last eight to 10 months since September 2020.

Environmental damage caused by illegal operations

EHS bats hot, runs not

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El Reno High School’s softball team had another strong outing at the plate in the 2021 Bixby Invitational over the weekend, but struggled against several Class 6A schools to put runs on the scoreboard.

The Indians slipped to 5-12 on the season after posting a 2-3 record in the event. El Reno defeated Muldrow, the District 4A-8 leader, 10-3.

Kylee Webb’s team defeated Tulsa Union 14-13. The Redskins are the fourth-ranked team in Class 6A-4.

Iliana Ashford had a triple in the win over Tulsa Union