Looking back on Jocelyn Alo's NCAA HR record and an amazing 2022 in Oklahoma sports

Thunder on draft night and golfers in Tulsa.

Joc hitting homers and Spence leading rallies. 

Game-winning baskets taking gold balls.

These are a few of my favorite things.

With apologies to Rodgers and Hammerstein, it’s time to take a look back at the year in sports in Oklahoma. Our state had no shortage of memorable moments in 2022, and while there were a few we’d like to forget, most of them were grand. 

The night of the NBA Draft was a high point because it changed the vibe around the Thunder. Oklahoma City took Chet Holmgren with the No. 2 overall pick, the franchise’s highest draft pick since moving to Oklahoma City, and then it did a trade to land two more lottery picks, Jalen Williams and Ousmane Dieng.

Even though the rebuild is still very much in progress, Thunder fans were re-energized about the future potential of the roster that the franchise is building.

Losing Holmgren before the season to injury was a huge bummer, but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has eased that disappointment. He’s averaging over 30 points a game. Hitting game winners. Becoming not only an All-Star shoo-in but also a blossoming superstar. 

Watching greatness is fun.

More:How did Shai Gilgeous-Alexander grow into an OKC Thunder superstar? Look to July 11, 2019

Jocelyn Alo set NCAA home run record, wins NCAA title with OU softball

We saw lots of it this year. OU slugger Jocelyn Alo breaking the NCAA career home run record, then smashing five homers and hitting .667 in the Women’s College World Series. Injured OSU quarterback Spencer Sanders coming off the bench, showing supreme toughness and rallying the Cowboys to victory against Iowa State. OU sharpshooter Taylor Robertson continuing her assault on the NCAA career record for 3-pointers. OSU ace Kelly Maxwell striking out 34 and allowing only five earned runs in the WCWS. Golf’s best playing the PGA Championship at Southern Hills.

There were some individual plays that wowed us, too.

Jayda Coleman climbing the wall to rob Texas of a homer in the WCWS. Griffin Doersching hitting baseballs to far away lands. Gilgeous-Alexander splashing a three with a second left to beat Washington. Jason Taylor II making a one-handed snag of an onside kick in the Fiesta Bowl. Marvin Mims catching a ball over and behind a defender at Texas Tech.

Arguably the top play of the year, however, came from the high school ranks. 

With the score tied in the Class 4A state championship game, Wagoner kicker Ethan Muehlenweg booted a 36-yard field goal to win the title and beat undefeated Cushing as time expired. 

A walk-off game-winning field goal for a state title is amazing all on its own, but Muehlenweg’s story made it even more incredible. In Wagoner’s 2021 season opener, he tore five ligaments in his left knee, including his ACL. He rehabbed his plant leg for nearly a year, and when the time came to win a state title, he was ready.

The prep ranks gave us other memorable moments. Toni Papahronis hitting a buzzer-beating layup in overtime to give Edmond North the Class 6A girls basketball title. Chance Davis, a freshman, telling his teammates, “Trust me,” nailing a three-pointer as time expired to propel Millwood to the Class 2A boys basketball title, then becoming a viral sensation when video of the whole thing surfaced. Erik McCarty catching two touchdown passes in the final 90 seconds of regulation to force overtime at Del City, then winning the game with a two-point conversion run. 

Some of the best games of the year were also of the high school variety.

Heritage Hall and Tulsa Metro Christian staged a wild one in the Class 3A state football championship game. Heritage Hall won 72-56 in a game that featured two 200-yard rushing performances and an Oklahoma playoff record 626-yard passing performance by the losing quarterback.

Edmond Memorial won the Class 6A volleyball title by beating defending champ Jenks in five-set thriller.

More:National Signing Day tracker: Oklahoma State football signees, 2023 recruiting rankings

Fiesta Bowl rally vs. Notre Dame gives Oklahoma State season for ages

The game of the year, though, was the Fiesta Bowl. OSU’s rallied from a 21-point first-half deficit to beat Notre Dame 37-35. It was the biggest rally in the history of Cowboy football, and it came on one of the grandest stages the program had ever been on and against one of the most revered opponents it had ever played against.

That 12-win OSU team was spectacular.

It wasn’t the only great team. What about the OU women’s gymnastics team, falling to last place after the first rotation at nationals only to rally and win its fifth national title? Or the OSU equestrian team, winning the first national title by any women’s team in OSU history? Or OU baseball making it to championship series at the College World Series? Or OSU softball making it to the final four at the WCWS? 

There was also the Classen SAS girls basketball team, among the most dominant squads in recent memory. And the Tushka boys basketball team, the first unranked boys team to ever win a state basketball title.

But as far as teams go, it is difficult to find any better than OU softball. This was a squad packed with individual talent. Alo. Coleman. Tiare Jennings. Jordy Bahl. Grace Lyons. But after winning the title and 56 games in 2021, topping that seemed a tall order.

Then the Sooners went and did it, winning 59 games and joining UCLA and Arizona as the only programs to win back-to-back titles more than once.

This past year also saw some folks with ties to our state doing great things. Carl Albert alum JT Realmuto made the World Series with the Phillies. Norman native Zac Taylor took the Bengals to the Super Bowl. Harrah product Brady Manek helped North Carolina get to the Final Four. Stillwater High product Jackson Holliday was the No. 1 overall pick in the Major League Baseball draft.

Oklahoma has a claim to sports’ biggest underdog story of the year, too. Rich Strike wasn’t added to the Kentucky Derby until the day before the race, and then at 80-to-1 odds, the horse owned by Edmond resident Rick Dawson went out and won the Derby.

That wasn’t the only heartwarming story in 2022.

More:The Oklahoman's updated class of 2023 Super 30 college football recruiting rankings

OSU golfer Maddison Hinson-Tolchard hadn’t seen her mom in 16 months because of the COVID pandemic, but her mom made the 16-hour flight from Australia to see her play in the NCAA regional. Then as her mom watched, Hinson-Tolchard won the whole darn thing.

And what about Zay Jarvis? The 12-year-old from Poteau got beaned in the head during the Little League World Series, but after getting back on his feet, he went to the pitcher’s mound and comforted the player who’d just hit him. 

It was a moment of sportsmanship and human compassion that touched millions.

We had some not-to-savory moments this year, too. OU and OSU fell on their football faces this fall. After the Sooners won at Nebraska, no less than Colin Cowherd himself proclaimed OU the best team this side of Georgia; two weeks later, it had all fallen apart. After the Cowboys beat Texas in October, Mike Gundy called it a culture win and everyone agreed; two weeks later, it had all fallen apart. Add that to OU men's basketball failing to make the NCAA Tournament, OSU men's basketball not being eligible for it and the Thunder losing way more games than it wins nowadays, and this year in sports wasn't perfect.

But (and again, I apologize to Mr. Rodgers and Mr. Hammerstein) when a loss bites, when a game stings, when I’m feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things and then I don’t feel so bad.

Jenni Carlson: Jenni can be reached at 405-475-4125 or jcarlson@oklahoman.com. Like her at facebook.com/JenniCarlsonOK, follow her at twitter.com/jennicarlson_ok, and support her work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.