TOP AREA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETES OF THE LAST 30 YEARS: KARISSA JONES

By Mike Tupa

Aug. 27, 2025

BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS REPORT

During his nearly 30 years of covering area high school sports for either the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise or the Bartlesville Area Sports Report, Mike Tupa has enjoyed the opportunity to observe some incredible athletes.

This is an ongoing series highlighting each few days one of those athletes from the 1996-97 school year through the present. The list is not in chronological order. The athletes are presented in random sequence.

TODAY'S SPOTLIGHT

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Karissa Jones (Dewey)

Multiple sports (mid-to-latter 2010s)

Jones remains Dewey’s Golden Girl.

For three years no one in the state could keep up with this blazing bolt of burst.

Jones was like a comet bursting past weaving meteors, streaking through her own glide path, leaving most other hurdlers choking on her space dust.

For three-straight seasons she whooshed to two gold medals per year in the Class 3A state meet — the 100m and 300m hurdles in 2018, the 100m hurdles and long jump in 2017 and the 100m hurdles and long jump in 2016.

Her three consecutive 100m hurdles state titles remain among the most dominating performances in state girls track history.

In addition to track, Jones also excelled on the basketball court. She utilized her fiery speed, coalescing coordination and competitive blaze to help elevate Dewey better than it would have been on the hardwood.

One of her Dewey basketball coaches praised her as an ultimate difference maker on the court — with her shooting, her defense, her ball handling, her passing and her overall intelligence.

Take the 40-26 win against Woodland in 2016 in the first round of the Dewey tourney. This game was much closer than the final score indicated. Jones forced a five-second call — while Dewey was clinging to a 29-26 advantage, triggering an 11-0 run to end the game. She also buried two free throws to extend the lead to 36-26.

But track brought her the biggest spotlight. In 2017, she was invited to represent Oklahoma on the Central Conference Track and Field team slated to compete in Australia.

Jones went on to compete in college track.

Jones remains one of the most gifted, graceful and all-out determined scrappers in the shining legacy of Bartlesville-area prep history.

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Karissa Jones (Dewey)