By Blake Colston
Sports Editor
It’s been business as usual this week for Piedmont’s cross country teams.
But by early Saturday afternoon, PHS is hoping it will have accomplished something that is anything but ordinary. The Wildcats and Lady Wildcats are both favorites to win Class 5A state championships Saturday at Edmond Santa Fe, as PHS aims to become the first school since 2018 to sweep the girls and boys titles.
The girls will run at 10:15 a.m. followed by the boys at 11.
“That would mean a lot, especially on the girls side because we’ve been so close and just haven’t been able to get over the hump,” head coach Kelly Beck said. “What I’d love to see is for both the boys and girls to win and to have both individual champions as well.”
Beck wasn’t sure how many times one school had accomplished that feat, but it’s certainly a possibility for Piedmont this year.
“We’ll probably be done in 5A after this year and on our way to 6A, so it would be kind of fun to leave our mark,” he said.
Piedmont held light practices Monday through Wednesday then on Thursday finalized some strategy.
“The waiting this week kind of drags on you,” Beck said. “The kids are ready to go.”
Each of Piedmont’s top runners is preparing in their own way.
Sophomore Lily Scheck is the Lady Wildcats’ top threat to win an individual title and she is trying to find the right mindset leading up to Saturday.
She said she’s run the race in her head many times already and is focused on setting the pace early while saving energy for a strong final kick.
“Hopefully I can out stride the rest at the finish line,” she said.
Last week at regionals, Scheck finished runner-up to Elgin’s Audrey McElhaney by a fraction of one second. McElhaney along with defending state champion Gwyneth Myers of Bishop Kelley are Scheck’s top competition this week.
“We’re really close right now,” Scheck said.
Senior Reese Fricke has a game plan headed into his fourth and final state meet, which he hopes will end with his first individual state championship and second team title.
Fricke said he plans to conserve energy early in the race for one, final mad dash toward the finish line, if that is necessary.
“If I can pack run till the very end and kick at the finish, I think I can get the title,” he said.
Junior Dade Humes takes momentum into the season’s final meet after Humes won a regional title last week at Mustang. Like Fricke, Humes has his eyes on an individual state championship and plans to gauge his pace off the lead pack.
He doesn’t need to be in front for a majority of the race, just at the end, he said.
“Reese and I can both finish really strong,” he said. “If it comes down to that, we both will feel really confident.”
Caldwell chooses college destination
Senior Rachel Caldwell always knew she wanted to run cross country in college and now she knows where she will do that.
Caldwell last week committed to Arkansas Tech University in Russellville, Ark.
“I went there on a visit and really enjoyed the coach and the girls. It’s such a good atmosphere there,” Caldwell said. “My religious preferences and growing in my faith are really important to me, so I talked to a lot of the girls there and they all said that it’s a great place to grow.”
