Three Piedmont Middle School teams had overall first place finishes at the Deer Creek Field Run Festival Friday night.
The eighth grade girls and boys and the seventh grade girls teams won their meets, the eighth girls beating host Deer Creek and the eighth grade boys holding off Newcastle. The seventh grade boys finished fourth
Coach Kelly Beck heads all teams from sixth grade up in Piedmont and is in his seventh season as varsity coach.
Friday night, the middle school teams showed the program appears to have plenty in the tank for years to come.
Parents Jake Kimery, Susan Kimery, with Nelin Kimery, eighth grade, Amber Hite, with eighth grader Landon Hite, parents Kari Jones, Lyndall Jones, with eighth grader Landon Jones, parents Brandon Lam and Laura Lam, with sons, Ethan and Jacob Lam, cheered on the middle school cross country teams Friday night at Deer Creek. They gathered near the Wildcat cross country tent with blue and yellow brightening the grounds.
“I’m proud of them. I think we’ve got one of the better middle school programs out there. And I think we will see today some really good competition, Edmond, Deer Creek, these are the best kind of running schools out there in this Oklahoma City area,” Beck said.
“I’m just excited to watch them run. This is kind the pure joy of the sport here. Just going out and running and having fun, there is not a lot of pressure to win and all that other stuff. So, these are enjoyable to come out and watch kids grow and love the sport of running.”
Piedmont varsity boys will face the state’s top 6A runner, AJ Antonelli of Deer Creek in a 5K race Saturday at Deer Creek High School. Piedmont has Tanner Bailey and senior Colby Ferbrache back along with other emerging runners expected to contribute this season. The boys run at 9 a.m. and the varsity girls at 8:30 a.m. Saturday.
“We’re ready for it,” Beck said. “The first meet doesn’t mean anything other than to just getting your legs under you and getting some racing under you,” Beck said.
Check piedmontnewsonline.com for updates and results and read The Piedmont-Surrey Gazette for local news and sports coverage.
