When Cashion Superintendent Sammy Jackson says “all we do is win,” he isn’t just talking about athletics.

Cashion High School’s academic team made history last Saturday when it finished as state runner-up in the OSSAA’s Class 3A state academic bowl at Rose State in Oklahoma City.

“We were thrilled just to make it to the state tournament,” said Teresa Karnes, who coaches the team along with Kim Simmons.

“So our kids were absolutely thrilled to win silver.”

Team members include seniors Harrison Buck and Molly Jolliff; juniors Kaitlin Jolliff, Abe Ross, Jimmy Miller, Jayden Collier and Connor McCabe; and freshman Alyssa Davis.

The group lost to Crossings Christian School in the championship round, which proved to be the only thorn in Cashion’s side all season.

Cashion had a 23-4 record this year with all four losses coming to Crossings Christian.

Those defeats came in the district and area tournaments and then again in the third round of the state tournament.

Cashion entered state as the sixth seed.

It opened with a win over Caney Valley and then defeated Silo to set up its first matchup with Crossings.

After the loss to Crossings, Cashion received a fourth-round bye and then knocked off Coalgate to reach the state finals.

To win state, Cashion would have needed to beat Crossings twice.

Karnes said it’s believed the 1997 Cashion academic team also finished state runner-up.

She and Simmons began coaching the academic team in 2016. That team reached state and placed fifth.

This year’s squad won its regional tournament and also went undefeated in the Oklahoma Central Academic Conference, which included Kingfisher, Chisholm, Watonga, Okarche, Lomega and Calumet.

“We have a great team; we’ve always enjoyed the students who have been on our team,” Karnes said. “They bring their own unique set of skills and always seem to come together during a game.”

Karnes saidJackson and the rest of the Cashion administration have “given us their full support and encouragement and that means a lot to our students as well as to Mrs. Simmons and myself.”

The team practiced twice a week before school throughout the season using previous years’ game questions as a guide.

“They learn what types of questions are asked and what topics they need to study,” Karnes said. “They learn how the games are played and discover some strategies that can make them more successful team members.”

Teams are required to provide a scorekeeper or timer for each game. Karnes said some prefer to serve on the team by doing that instead of playing in the game.

The combination Cashion used worked.

“We feel so honored that we are able to coach these students,” Karnes said. “And we enjoy watching them be successful and learn something at the same time.”