By Trey Hunter
Sports Editor
MOORE – The Wildcats capped off the finest year in running history at Piedmont with a fine finish.
Delanie Crawford won the 1600-meter run and helped the 4×800-meter relay team, along with Regan Crawford, Maddy Lee and Sydnei Storts, win as well in the 2019 Class 5A state championship meet last weekend at Moore High School.
Crawford won the state title in the 1600 with a time of 5:23.44 while the 4×800 relay team captured the championship with a time of 9:54.93.
“I thought the 1600 was pretty much how we thought it would go,” Piedmont track and cross country coach Kelly Beck said. “Delanie likes to get out and run and she did, which wasn’t surprising. We expected her to win.
“We had the fastest time in the 4×800 in the regional, but we were watching out for Bishop Kelley. They weren’t even close to us, so we blew it out of the water and knocked 10 seconds off that regional time. All four girls were fantastic.”
The Cats medaled in two other events as Delanie Crawford finished second in the 800-meter run and the 4×400 relay team finished sixth. Regan Crawford finished seventh in the 800, Karelle Morgan finished seventh in the pole vault, Naia Shepherd finished 13th in the 3200 and Storts finished 14th in the 800.
The Piedmont boys featured six medals, including Blake Cope in both the 1600 and the 3200 as well as Paul welch in the 1600, Fares Maarouf in the 3200, Baylor Hendren in the high jump and the 4×800 relay team.
Cope finished third in the 1600 with a time of 4:26.27 and fourth in the 3200 with a time of 10:04.04. Maarouf finished fifth in the 3200 with a time of 10:11.08, Welch finished sixth in the 1600 with a time of 4:36.95 and Hendren finished third in the high jump with a mark of 6-feet-6-inches. The 4×800 relay team finished with a time of 8:28.71.
“Blake had his sights on winning a couple of state championships, but he still had a great season,” Beck said. “Paul had his best time of his career to finish sixth in a really talented field. Fares took 18 seconds off his regional time and is going to be key for us in cross country next year.
“Baylor showed up after soccer was over, practiced for a couple of weeks and went 6-6 at state. That’s kind of freakish athletic-wise and was really cool to see.”
Beck sees the 2018-19 school year as the best year for Piedmont running since he has beem the head coach.
“It was easily the best track and cross country season. The boys scored the most points ever at state and the girls had their best finish since winning in 2009 and 2010. It’s just going to keep getting better, too. It was definitely a great season for Piedmont running.”
Piedmont’s girls finished seventh overall in the state championship meet while the boys finished eighth. Del City’s girls and boys swept the Class 5A team state championships.
