Intrepid reporter Meredith McCown was on Tulsa television’s News 6 Thursday, sharing a story with her loyal viewers. The Ping Pings of Sapulpa High School won not one, but two, national titles at a Florida dance competition over the weekend.
After sharing the big news with anchors back in the studio, the Lake Highlands High School 2014 graduate interviewed captain Maddie Craig, who puffed with pride at the achievements of her squad. Then McCown, recalling her days as a high-kicking Highlandette, jumped in and danced along with the national champs.
You may watch McCown and the Ping Pings here.
After a few years of following McCown, I’ve picked up a few tips on reporting, so I set out to discover the origins of the Ping Ping name.
“I don’t know that anyone officially knows the real story,” says Stacey Berry, president of the Ping Ping booster club and mother of two team alums. “Our school in Sapulpa, Oklahoma is in an area rich with Native American heritage, and there’s one story out there that “ping ping” means dancer. I heard another story when we recently celebrated our 50th anniversary that had to do with the game of ping pong.”
Original member Denise Davis Jordan told the Sapulpa Times that “the name came about after a long, chilly outdoor practice when one of the girls commented that they were bouncing around like ping pong balls.” The inside joke evolved into the team’s name, which has hung on for 50 years, Jordan says.
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