By Blake Colston
Sports Editor
EDMOND – Rachel Caldwell could hardly contain her excitement.
Saturday in Edmond, the Piedmont Lady Wildcats checked off a four-year-long goal of winning a state championship, the first in school history. PHS placed five runners in the Top 15 as the Lady ‘Cats beat second-place Tulsa Bishop Kelley by 31 points.
“We all wanted it so much,” Caldwell, a senior, said after finishing 10th overall. “I’m so proud of the girls.”
Piedmont had been close before – they were runner-up last season and finished third in 2020 and 2019 – but hadn’t quite been able to make the final push at state. They didn’t leave any doubt this time, though.
Sophomore star Lily Scheck was third followed by a wave of Lady Wildcats to round out the Top 10. Freshman Claire Collins was eighth, Emily Caldwell was ninth and Abigail Weatherby finished 16th.
“It’s been a long road for them,” head coach Kelly Beck said. “We kind of thought we might win last year, but the girls were fantastic today.”
Beck said Scheck and the Caldwell sisters have both continued to get faster and Collins and Weatherby added a big boost to the lineup as freshmen.
“The girls as a whole improved,” Beck said. “That just set us over the top.”
Scheck had hoped to win an individual title, but Gwenyth Myers of Bishop Kelley won for the second time in a row. The day still belonged to Piedmont, though.
“As a team, we pushed it as far as we could,” Caldwell said.
The cherry on top for PHS was getting to celebrate with the boys team, which won its third state championship in four years. It was the first time since 2018 that one school had won both titles.
“It’s insane. Being able to say our boys and girls both won…it’s so awesome,” Caldwell said.
