This Week in Eagles’ Varsity Sports: Looking Back at the Previous Decade

With lots of uncertainty regarding the future of the sports world at all levels due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I decided to once again dig into the Watonga Republican archives and take a look back at the previous decade in Watonga High School Eagles’ varsity sports.

April 22 & 24, 2010: Eagles’ Baseball Sharp vs. OBA, Washington & Carnegie

Eagles’ varsity baseball had a very productive week to close out the 2010 regular season as Watonga picked up four crucial victories.

Following 7-2 and 3-0 wins over Oklahoma Bible Academy in a road doubleheader, the Eagles picked up a 3-2 victory over Washington High School and a 12-2 blowout over Carnegie High School while taking part in games at Redlands Community College in El Reno.

The Eagles were led that season by the likes of Jesse Brewer, Zak Goerke, Andrew Park, Tyler Bernhardt, and Corbin Nelson.

April 23, 2011: Watonga Boys’ Track Wins 16th Straight 89er Conference Meet

Watonga boys’ varsity track looked superb this weekend and won the 89er Conference track and field meet for a whopping 16th consecutive year as the Eagles’ 196 points were able to beat out Kingfisher High School’s team score of 161 points.

Eagles’ standout Chad Mathis placed first in the boys’ 100-meter and 200-meter dash, while Watonga teammate Nigel Hampton won the boys’ 800-meter and 1600- meter run.

The Lady Eagles’ squad finished in second place at the 2011 89er Conference meet, snapping an 11-year streak that began back in 2001.

Catherine Sawyer placed first in the girls’ 800-meter run, while the Lady Eagles placed first as a team in the girls’ 4x200-meter, 4x400- meter and 4x800-meter relay races.

April 23, 2012: Flynn’s Walk-Off Homer Gives Eagles Win in 14 Innings vs. Alva

Despite facing a 3-0 deficit early in the game, the Watonga varsity baseball squad would eventually go on to win a marathon 14-inning thriller at home against Alva High School as Jaylen Flynn smacked a two-run walk-off home run over the left-field fence to give the Eagles the victory.

April 27, 2013: Lady Eagles’ Track Impresses at 2A Regional in Watonga

This was a very good weekend for Watonga girls’ varsity track and field as the Lady Eagles placed second at the 2013 Class 2A regional track meet held at Watonga High School.

Catherine Sawyer won the girls’ 800-meter and 1600-meter races, while Lady Eagles’ teammate McKenzie Brown was victorious in the girls’ pole vault event.

April 24, 2014: Watonga Baseball Crushes Canton 18-0 in District Tournament

In the opening round of their district tournament, the Eagles’ varsity baseball squad came out looking dominant as Watonga throttled Canton High School 18-0 behind an eye-opening 16 hits on offense and five shutout innings pitched by Caleb Smith.

Smith was nearly flawless as the junior pitched struck out 10 Tigers batters while only giving up two base hits and one walk.

Matthew Plummer had a team-high three runs batted in with a double and a triple, while four Eagles scored two runs each: Kaleil Pendleton, Seth Johnson, Favian Castanon, and Nate Coffey.

April 25, 2015: Gorman, Jones & Schenk Receive All-Conference Hoops Honors

Multiple Watonga High School boys’ and girls’ varsity basketball players were selected to the 2014-15 Three Rivers All-Conference Team.

On the boys’ side, senior forward Austun Gorman was named to the all-conference team, while his Eagles’ teammates in senior forward Brandon Parker and sophomore guard Nate Coffey were recognized as honorable mentions.

For the Lady Eagles, Watonga junior duo Autumn Jones and Riley Schenk were both named to the girls’ Three-Rivers All-Conference squad with sophomore Allie Baker receiving honorable mention.

April 21, 2016: Eagles’ Baseball Rallies for Clutch 3-2 Road Victory at Hinton

A clutch RBI double by Watonga’s Shane Downey in the top of the fourth inning proved to be the game-winner as the Eagles rallied from an early 2-0 deficit on the road to beat Hinton High School 3-2. Eagles’ leadoff batter Nate Coffey had an RBI single, while his teammate Kaleb McSperrit tied the game at 2-2 in the top of the third inning with an RBI single on his birthday.

April 24, 2017: Gauer Signs Letter of Intent to Play Women’s Hoops at OKCU

Watonga High School 2017 graduate Claire Gauer signed a letter of intent to play women’s basketball for the Oklahoma City University Lady Stars for the 2017-18 college basketball season.

During her senior year, Gauer averaged 10.1 points and 9.0 rebounds per game while being named to the Great Plains All-Conference Girls’ Basketball Team.

April 23, 2018: Several Eagles Excel at Conference Meet

The Eagles boys’ track and field team had a good showing at the 2018 89er Conference meet hosted at Watonga High School by placing in second place behind Chisholm High School with 145 points.

Sebastian Whiteshirt placed first in the boys’ 800-meter run with a time of 2:11.33, while Cy Walters came in second place in the boys’ 3200- meter run with a mark of 11:34.96.

April 23, 2019: Lady Eagles’ Track Begins Epic Run

This was the beginning of a beautiful postseason run by the 2019 Watonga Lady Eagles’ varsity track and field team at the 2019 89er Conference meet held at Fairview High School.

Although the Watonga girls (194 points) were edged by eventual OSSA Class 3A state champion Chisholm High School’s 200 points that day, the Lady Eagles would go on to win the Class 2A state championship two weeks later at Western Heights High School.

During the day’s longer races in Fairview, the Lady Eagles dominated as sophomore Riley Coleman and junior Halie Elston won their events in the girls 1600-meter and 3200-meter run, respectively.

More updates regarding Eagles’ and Lady Eagles’ varsity athletics will come in near future issues of the Watonga Republican.

Although it is very frustrating right now not to have sports, I always love to learn new things about the history of Watonga athletics.

Andrew Salmi can be reached at Sports@WatongaRepublican.com