By Brian Johnson Sports Editor [email protected]
The Shawnee News star recently ran his Best of Tri-County Area Preps event and here are the winners for each sport where awards were presented:
For more information on this event, see the special feature of Sunday’s Weekender issue.
Here are the winners for each sport, Overall Athlete of the Year and Coach of the Year:
Girls Cross Country Athlete of the Year
Baylee Tapley of Bethel High School. Tapley, just a freshman, placed sixth at the Class 3A State Cross Country Championships with a time of 12:37.16 in the 2-mile event.
Boys’ Cross Country Runner of the Year
Riley Randall of Meeker High School. Randall clinched a Class 3A state championship for the second year in a row last fall. Randall’s winning time was 16:28.41 in the 5K event, which was 11 seconds better than runner-up Braxton Bussell. Randall was also a regional champion.
Girls Volleyball Athlete of the Year
Isabelle Conley of Shawnee High School. Conley, a senior libero, made the Large East All-State Volleyball Team. Conley finished the season with 317 digs, 48 aces, and 31 kills for the Lady Wolves after recording 251 digs, 29 aces, and 13 kills as a junior.
Girls Fast Pitch Athlete of the Year
Serenity Jacoway of Tecumseh High School – Jacoway was selected as District 4A-2 Fast Pitch Softball Player of the Year for runner-up Lady Savages. From the circle, Jacoway compiled a 32-5 pitching record with a 1.15 earned run average. In 207 innings last fall, she recorded 232 strikeouts on just 46 walks. Offensively, Jacoway had an impressive .462 batting average with one home run, 12 doubles, 33 runs batted and 31 runs scored while scoring for Tecumseh up front. Jacoway won two Female Athlete of the Week Awards during the 2021 Fall Fast Pitch Season.
Soccer Player of the Year
Corey Metscher of Bethel High School – Metscher was selected as District 2A-3 Most Valuable Player. On offense, Metscher carried the ball 194 times for 1,457 yards and 18 touchdowns. He also had eight 100-plus-yard rushing plays from 11 attempts. Defensively, he made 96 tackles, three for losses, four quarterback rushes, one interception, two passes defended, one forced fumble and one blocked punt.
Girls Wrestling Athlete of the Year
Shawnee High School’s Selah Citizen – Citizen was a state qualifier at 126 pounds and finished with a 12-8 record. After a first round loss at State, Citizen picked up a win before falling in their next match. She placed third at the Regionals.
Boys Wrestling Athlete of the Year
Shawnee High School’s Spencer Rochelle – Rochelle placed third in the Class 5A state championships at 170 pounds. After a loss in the state’s first game, Rochelle responded with three straight wins, including two in the fall, and avenged the opening loss with an 11-8 decision in the third-place playoff. He placed second at the Regionals.
Girls Basketball Athlete of the Year
Parker Stevenson of Bethel High School – Stevenson, a junior point guard, received All-State honors from The Oklahoman and Tulsa World. Stevenson was also selected as the North Canadian River Valley Conference’s Most Valuable Player and was selected to the conference’s first team. She averaged 20.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.1 steals with 31 blocked shots during the season.
Boys Basketball Athlete of the Year
Dayton Forsythe of Dale High School – A sophomore, Forsythe led the Dale Pirates to a 29-2 record and their first boys’ state championship. Forsythe was named the Class 2A State Tournament Most Valuable Player and also received an MVP honor at the Kingston Tournament last season. He had a 21.1 scoring average, 7.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists. 1.5 steals and 0.6 blocks. Forsythe had 37 points, eight rebounds, four assists and a blocked shot in the state championship win over Cashion. Forsythe won four Athlete of the Week Awards during the 2021-22 basketball season.
Girls Slow Pitch Athlete of the Year
North Rock Creek High School’s Katie Larson – Larson had a whopping .709 batting average with 19 homers, 80 batted runs and a .728 on-base percentage for the 5A State Champion North Rock Creek Lady Cougars. Larson was also an all-district first-team outfielder selection in fast pitch softball last fall.
Boys Baseball Athlete of the Year
Tate Rector of Dale High School – Rector batted .520 with three homers, 16 doubles, 38 runs hit and 37 runs scored for the Pirates in the 2022 season. He also owned .568 slugging and .765 on-base percentages for the year. Rector also set a 5-1 pitching record with a 1.50 earned average as he hit 34 batters and walked just seven.
Girl Athlete of the Year
Piper McNeil from Shawnee High School. McNeil, a junior, set two state records in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:51.13 and 100 backstroke in 55.41 seconds and was part of the winning 200 individual medley relay team as he led the Lady Wolves to a Class 5A state championship led. McNeil, a University of Missouri swimmer, has won multiple All-American Awards in the 100 backstroke and 200 individual medley.
Boys Athlete of the Year
Jaylon Orange of Shawnee High School. Orange, a senior, was selected as a Class 5A Football All-Star by the Oklahoma Coaches Association for excelling on both sides of the ball. As a running back, Orange rushed for 1,177 yards with 162 carries and 17 touchdowns. He also caught six passes for 141 yards and four more points. Orange also lined up as quarterback, completing 10 passes for 124 yards and two touchdowns. Defensively, he totaled 78 tackles, 46 of which were solo, with three tackles for losses, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, three interceptions and four passes defended. On the basketball floor, Orange averaged 14.9 points last season, surpassing the 1,000-point mark in his career for the Wolves. Orange will play football at Langston next season.
Girls Coach of the Year
Chance Griffin, North Rock Creek Slow Pitch/Fast Pitch Softball. Griffin led North Rock Creek to a Class 5A State Slow Pitch Championship with a 30-9 record last spring and to a Class 3A State Fast Pitch runner-up last fall with a 32-8 mark.
Boys Coach of the Year
Jeff Edmonson, Dale Boys Basketball. Edmonson led the Pirates to their first boys’ state championship in school history last season with a 29-2 record. Dale won his last seven games of the season, including a 3-0 run at the Class 2A State Tournament.