Blake Colston
sports@piedmontnewsonline.com
Piedmont’s Blake Cope was likely robbed of his first career state title at the 5A track and field meet in Yukon on Friday afternoon.
Guymon freshman Dereje Himbago made intentional contact with Cope on the final stretch of the race, causing Cope to stumble as he was gaining ground on the leaders.
Cope rebounded to finish second, less than two-tenths of a second behind state champion Joshua Dick of Tahlequah (10.18.82-10:18.98). Himbago, the favorite entering the race, was disqualified.
“I came around the last curve and was catching the guys in front of me and I had a moment where I realized that I had a shot,” Cope said. “I definitely felt like I was going by them and would’ve beat them by half a step.”
Seconds after that thought ran through Cope’s head, Himbago reached out to shove him entering the final 20 yards of the race, costing him a chance to pass the leaders.
“Afterwards I was pretty upset,” he said. “I’m OK with it now. It is what it is. It’s not the end of the world.”
Head coach Kelly Beck said he’d never seen anything like what happened.
“I was a little upset, but the only way to fix it would’ve been to run the race over again,” he said. “You never know how that would turn out, so you just take it for what it’s worth and realize that he was probably 1-A and not second.”
A few days later, Cope was able to provide some levity to the unfortunate ending.
“I finally broke my curse of getting fourth over and over again,” he said. “It’s still bittersweet.”
Cope, a junior, took fourth in the 3200 as a freshman and sophomore. Now, he has some added motivation headed into the summer of his senior season.
“I’m definitely a lot hungrier for next season because of this,” he said.
