\n \n \n “. concat(self. i18n. t(‘search. voice. recognition_retry’), “\n
See: Which program at Oklahoma Wesleyan University has won more national championships than all the others, combined?
Answer: Croquet, baby.
The sledgehammer team recently won their fifth Haverford, Penn. national title, in a locker that included some of the most prestigious schools in the country, such as the U. S. Naval Academy, Penn State and others.
OKWU began its national supremacy in croquet in 2011, followed by titles in 2013, 2015 and 2016.
In 2018, the Eagles qualified five groups of two for the Sweet 16. The OKWU then qualified one or two teams for the Final Four, but narrowly failed to win the national pennant.
The game was overlooked in 2020 and 2021 due to the closure of virus-related spring games across the country and its consequences for the following months.
But, led by veteran head coach Wendell Thompson, former OKWU librarian and nationally famous croquet player, the festival has restarted in 2021.
This year, he returns to the top of the mountain in last April’s tournament in Pennsylvania, at the legendary Merion Cricket Club, the one of other national triumphs of the OKWU.
The teams were placed in blocks of seven, with the team playing six 50-minute qualifying games to advance to the next round on the playoff scale.
Thompson scored 3 women’s duets and two men’s duets. The OKWU may have brought in as many as 12 two-person teams, but budget was a consideration, Thompson said.
In the end, the small OKWU organization boasted of having a hard blow: the five OKWU organizations landed in Elite Eight.
The OKWU duos, ranked through their most sensible seed in Elite Eight, were: No. 1 Raelyn Gabrel and Leina Casimer, No. 2 Samuel McGlathery and Stanley Fisher, No. 3 Alex Worley and Vanessa Fernandez, No. 4 Cade McGlathery and Andrew Williamson and No. five Morgan Lane/Victoria Sparks.
In the Elite Eight competition, they won 4 of the OKWU, which guaranteed the school a national title.
The winners of OKWU Elite Eight were: Gabrel/Casimer defeating Penn State, 7-1; S. McGlathery/Fisher defeated the Navy, 7–3; Worley/Fernandez defeating Penn State, 7-6; and C. McGlathery/Williamson defeated teammates Lane/Sparks, 7-3.
The 4 winners of Elite Eight advanced to the Final Four.
Gabrel/Casimer results defeating C. McGlathery/Williams, 7-5; and Worley/Fernandez defeating S. McGlathery/Fisher, 5-4.
This prepared a final of the OKWU championship.
Gabrel/Casimer won the crown by defeating Worley/Fernandez, 4-3.
OKWU won the coveted trophy as champion of the National Collegiate Golf Croquet.
“The weather is nice,” Thompson said of the weekend.
There were some clouds and splashes on Saturday, the temperature rose to 70 degrees on Sunday as the sun shone and the wind remained calm.
“The (teams) gained mild sunburn on their faces,” Thompson said.
One of the highlights included a double shot to the wicket through Williamson and a six-foot shot through Cade McGlathery, Thompson said, adding that all of his players were successful with the shots.
“The suspended shots were the secret weapon, absolutely baffling the opposition,” he said. “They didn’t know what a suspended shot is or how to execute (one). “
Casimer and Gabrel have become the first women’s team to win the national title, she said, noting that they have won nine games in a row.
Thompson had retired in 2018, returning to lead the team.
This article was originally published in Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: OKWU Croquet Team Dominates National Championship Competition