September 2023

Calumet High School’s fast-pitch softball team was able to break its recent run of scoreless games and turn hits into runs last week, splitting a two-game road set at Burns-Flat.

The Chieftains, now 4-16 on the season, defeated Olustee/El Dorado 16-6, followed by a 19-7 loss to Burns Flat/Dill City.

Going into the triangular, 11 of the previous 12 games for Calumet had been shutout affairs, with CHS going 1-10 in those games. Included in that string was a recent 15-0 setback to Fort Cobb-Broxton.

After watching a 14-game win streak snapped by another one-run affair against cross-county rival Okarche, Calumet High School’s baseball team rebounded with a 15-1 victory over Lomega.

The Chieftains, now 15-1 on the season, remain second in the latest Class B poll behind Fort Cobb/Broxton.

Calumet defeated Class A’s 18th-ranked Arapaho-Butler (5-0) and Granite (9-1) before dropping a 7-6 game to Okarche, ranked 10th in Class A. The Chieftains left the tying run at second in the seventh inning of the loss after a single and stolen base from sophomore Kaleb Thiessen.

Still seeking out its first win of the 2023 campaign, Redlands Community College women’s soccer team dropped a 5-0 match to Rose State College.

The shutout loss was the second of the season for the Cougars, who slipped to 0-4 overall and 0-3 in the NJCAA Region 2 standings.

Redlands had 15 shots in the Raiders loss, eight of those by Amya Lindsay. Miya Ingram followed with three shots, while Carlie Golden and Jaidyn Gonzalez added two shots apiece.

A new roundabout is coming to Canadian County.

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) plans to install a roundabout on U.S. Highway 81 at the State Highway 66 intersection in El Reno. A roundabout is among engineering innovations being implemented by ODOT.

Drivers slow down as they approach an intersection with a roundabout, but don’t come to a complete stop. A roundabout creates less “stop-and-go” traffic because vehicles do not stop, according to ODOT spokesman Bryce Boyer.

One family sold a business to another family, but as it turns out, it stayed in the family.

A bit more distant, but still there’s a connection.

For decades the Rother family operated the Culligan water franchise in El Reno. Recently, David, Mark and Bob Rother announced they were selling the business to another family with a long tradition in the water business.

As it turns out, the families are related.

For the first time in Oklahoma history, Nuhu’ Hinono’eitiit heetniixoohoo3ihei3i’ Howoh’oowu' co’ouutou3eino’oowuu’ which translates: The Arapaho language will be taught at El Reno High School.

El Reno Public Schools Superintendent Matt Goucher and the El Reno School Board approved the curriculum for Arapaho language classes at the board’s July meeting.

With the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes headquarters located just north of El Reno at Concho, El Reno schools has a high percentage of Native American students.

Redlands Community College is experiencing substantial growth in the student population with a 10.8 percent increase in total enrollment this fall, including a historic boost in concurrent enrollment with a 21.2 percent increase.

“It is an exciting time to be at Redlands with the growth in programs and partnerships, and the campus is busy with housing at capacity,” said President Jena Marr.

Three passing plays, all working against El Reno High School’s football team, proved to be the turning point in the Indians Canadian County rivalry game with Piedmont.

The Wildcats converted two of those passes into two touchdowns as Piedmont defeated El Reno for a third straight season 14-6. The non-district loss dropped the Indians to 1-1 on the season.

“A loss like this is hard to take but we are going to take it and learn from it and fix our mistakes. Hopefully our kids will grow from this,” said El Reno head coach Russell Cook.

Three goals allowed in the first 26 minutes came back to haunt Redlands Community College women’s soccer team in a 3-1 home loss to the University of Arkansas Rich Mountain.

The loss dropped the Cougars to 0-3 on the season and 0-2 in the NJCAA Region 2 standings.

Redlands allowed goals in the seventh, 23rd and 26th minutes of the first half. The Cougars made it a 3-1 match just 51 seconds later (26:47) on an unassisted goal by Amya Lindsay.

While the outcome of El Reno’s first three games on the 2023 schedule means nothing when it comes to making the playoffs, the Indians are not devaluing the importance of their non-district slate.

In fact, it’s just the opposite.

El Reno went 0-3 during the non-district slate in Russell Cook’s first season, losing close games to Chickasha and Weatherford and being blown out by Piedmont.

The Indians did rebound to make the Class 5A playoffs with a third-place district finish, but the sting of those losses lingered.