The annual senior night for girls and boys soccer was held for soon-to-be-graduates to be honored by friends, family, peers and teammates.
Girls played first, where Santa Fe Lady Wolves beat the Choctaw Yellow Jackets 8-0. Goals were scored by freshman Mya Warfield, juniors Claire Varanasupkal, Grace Whitfield and Payton Jones and seniors Madison McMillin and Bella Brennan. Jones and Brennan both scored two goals each.
However, the boys faced a loss, with the Yellow Jackets securing the win at 0-2.
Towards the end of the girls’ game, families of seniors were called down to the field to prepare for Senior Night.
Girls honored five seniors and one junior: Madison McMillin, Bailey McMillin, Brennan, Allisa Dumas, Camryn Paul and Whitfield, who is graduating early due to early college acceptance.
“I chose this path to start college earlier in the Spring of 2027 to focus on my personal development as a student-athlete and to adjust to the transition from high school to college as a D1 athlete before the season in the Fall,” Whitfield said.
This is her last season playing for the wolves and will graduate in the winter of 2026, which is a semester earlier than intended. She is going to start attending the University of Houston to study Kinesiology, alongside playing soccer at the D1 college level.
As starting college in the middle of the year may be challenging, Whitfield sees this as a beneficial experience.
“Being able to focus on school more and create a routine early instead of going to college in July, a month before the season, and trying to adapt to college life so quickly as an 18-year-old, which can be hard,” she said. “Since it is off-season, I will be able to get on the same workout as the team to prepare myself, since I could end up playing against girls who are 23-24 [years old] during my freshman year.”
Whitfield has been playing soccer for 14 ½ years. During her freshman year, she suffered injuries to her ACL and meniscus, which made her sit out for the rest of the season. This led to her officially playing for Santa Fe for two years.
“It’s sad because I feel like I just played my first high school game yesterday, and I am already towards the end,” she said. “It doesn’t feel real yet at the moment, but one day it will hit me that I probably will never play another match in Santa Fe’s stadium, which is sad and will mark the closing of this amazing chapter.”
The boys had ten seniors: Asher Punni, Ben Stevenson, Brody Smith, Carmello Myers, Carter Wooding, Evan Varner, Issak Hernandez, Kayden Mullins, Khai Sang and Zane Miranda.
Both the girls and boys ran through a tunnel made out of teammates and friends. Where they stood to get their picture taken with their family.
Defensive midfielder and center attacking midfielder Myers has been playing soccer for over 12 years. After high school, he plans to attend Rose State College to continue his soccer career and study sports and health science.
“My favorite memory was the night when we beat PCN on my birthday,” Myers said. “The feeling of getting a win and celebrating with the people that helped me get that win on a very special day meant so much to me.”
As this is many students’ last time playing high school soccer, players look back on the journey Santa Fe has made for them.
“I am glad to be able to spend my last season playing for Edmond Santa Fe with so many amazing people that have not only helped me build as a person, but also a player,” Myers said.
This season has come to an end, but the Santa Fe Wolves still have playoffs in the future.
