By Trey Hunter
Sports Editor
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Wildcats took a break from the Oklahoma high school schedule to attend one of the premier cross country events in the country.
Piedmont traveled to Arkansas last weekend and raced in the ‘El Caliente’ 5k at the 2019 Chile Pepper Festival, each team finishing inside the top-40 against teams from across the region.
Piedmont’s boys finished 28th overall and third among teams from Oklahoma.
Juniors Beckam Hartis and Fares Maarouf led the Cats, each finishing inside the top-130. Hartis finished 114th with a time of 16:57.5 while Maarouf finished 127th with a time of 17:01.2. Sophomore Tanner Bailey and senior Garrett Bickley finished side-by-side. Bailey finished 228th with a time of 17:32.14 while Bickley finished 232nd with a time of 17:33.1. Piedmont’s final three racers all finished inside the top-300. Senior Jacob Brightwell finished 277th with a time of 17:46.3, freshman Reese Fricke finished 287th with a time of 17:50.9 and sophomore Gibson Barlow finished 299th with a time of 17:53.4.
The Wildcats finished with 910 points overall. Southlake Carroll (Tex.) finished first, Fayetteville (Ark.) finished second and Lovejoy (Tex.) finished third. Class 6A Deer Creek led all Oklahoma teams in 10th place while 6A Westmoore finished 25th.
Piedmont’s girls finished 32nd overall and ninth among Oklahoma squads.
Freshman Jillian Crawford led the way, cracking the top-200 in 177th place with a time of 21:24.7. Sophomores Macie Brannum and Aubrey Bray finished inside the top-250. Brannum finished 216th with a time of 21:46.3 while Bray finished 238th with a time of 21:56.4. Freshman Rachel Caldwell and sophomore Lexi Meier finished inside the top-300. Caldwell finished 268th with a time of 22:13.1 and Meier finished 282nd with a time of 22:19.9. Sophomores Naia Shepherd and Kamryn Holland rounded out the Wildcat racers. Shepherd finished 337th with a time of 22:44.8 and Holland finished 419th with a time of 23:47.2.
Piedmont’s girls finished with 1,023 points. Southlake Carroll finished first, Grapevine (Tex.) finished second and Mill Valley (Kan.) finished third. Bishop Kelley led all Oklahoma teams in 14th place while 6A Jenks finished 15th.
Piedmont returns home this weekend for the 2019 conference meet, the last event before the Class 5A OSSAA postseason begins.
