By Blake Colston
Sports Editor
The foursome of Johnnie Jones, Kanyon Cobbs, Reese Fricke and Colby Ferbrache entered the season as one of the best 4-X-800 relay teams in the state. That much was already known.
But in their most recent meet at Yukon High School April 14, they were really fast. So fast, in fact, that their first-place time of 8:00.61 shattered Piedmont’s school record by 17 seconds.
The time is the best in Oklahoma in 2022 and the 44th fastest high school finish in the United States. It paced Piedmont to a second place finish as a team in Yukon.
“Their goal going into the race was to break the school record,” head coach Kelly Beck said. “It ended up being a perfect day to run and everything came together. It was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever been a part of.”
The school record was bound to fall this season, but this level of dominance wasn’t necessarily expected. Sapulpa, which has the Oklahoma’s second-best time, is 14 seconds slower than PHS.
“They’ve been working hard and they’ve all had that potential there,” Beck said.
Cobbs runs the first leg with Fricke second, Ferbrache third and Jones supplying the finishing stretch. Beck said he runs the fastest of the four last, second-fastest goes second while the middle legs rotate between Fricke and Ferbrache.
The final goal, beyond a state championship, is to break Deer Creek’s 2014 state record time of 7:55. Piedmont needs to shave six seconds between now and mid-May to eclipse the Antlers’ time.
“It’s doable, but it’ll have to be another perfect day,” Beck said.
