By Blake Colston
Sports Editor
Jenks, Tulsa Union and Broken Arrow could soon be cruising their buses down Piedmont Rd.
Piedmont, which in recent years has flirted with making the jump to Class 6A, appears to be making the move in at least two sports this season.
The Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association on Thursday released its tentative Average Daily Membership numbers with Piedmont listed at No. 32 with an enrollment of 1258.23, making PHS the smallest school in Class 6A.
If that holds, Piedmont’s basketball and cross country programs will compete in Class 6A this season.
As recently as Tuesday, cross country coach Kelly Beck told The Piedmont-Surrey Gazette that PHS would stay in 5A another year, but ADM rankings are fluid. Midwest City submitted a revised ADM figure and dropped below Piedmont, sending PHS up from No. 33 to No. 32.
Nothing is official until the OSSAA finalizes the numbers at its regularly scheduled board meeting Aug. 10.
Case in point: Piedmont’s volleyball program, which reached the 5A state semifinals last season, is also slated to be a member of 6A this season, but could stay in 5A if Tulsa Bishop Kelley joins 6A. Kelley has made the state tournament in two of the previous three seasons and is scheduled to bump to Class 6A as part of an OSSAA provision, which would keep the Lady Wildcats in 5A.
Piedmont’s wrestling and swimming programs already compete as members of Class 6A. The football, baseball, soccer and softball programs will likely join 6A in 2023 when districts are redrawn.
Piedmont has passed multiple bond issues in recent years to build state-of-the-art athletic facilities in preparation for joining Class 6A. PHS opened new baseball, softball and tennis facilities in the last year and a new basketball arena is scheduled to open this fall.
Thanks to a 2016 bond issue that passed overwhelmingly, F&M Bank Stadium, home of the Wildcats football team, received upgrades that included new field turf, a new digital scoreboard and a new end zone facility complete with locker rooms and coaches offices, a weight room and an indoor practice area.
PHS does not currently have the capacity to host cross country meets. There is also a desire to further renovate its football facility in the coming years, but no plans have been officially announced.
