Hickok twins make Noble contenders for 5A trophy
NOBLE — Most people can' t differentiate between Autumn and Leah Hickok.
The Noble sophomore cross country runners are identical twins, and they have to get creative in order for their teammates and coaches to recognize them.
“We've had to get different- colored shoes,” Leah said .“They can sometimes tell us apart, but it's mainly the shoes.”
The Hickok sisters' similarities extend beyond their looks. Both are quiet and tend to keep to themselves.
They also share the same passion.
The Hickok sisters love to run.
Autumn and Leah have become one of the best tandems in Oklahoma high school cross country and will lead Noble at the Class 5A state meet Wednesday at Edmond Santa Fe. Leah is coming off a victory at regionals and Autumn placed second, leading the Noble girls program to its first-ever regional title.
The state races were moved from Saturday to Wednesday because of the recent ice storm.
The Hickok sisters have never been more ready to hit the trail.
“Our whole town is rooting for us to become state champions ,” Autumn said .“This is really unheard of, especially f or us. We were really bummed when it got moved back, but it's not going to change nothing. We're still going to be there, and we're going to try to win.”
Autumn and Leah have been elite throughout their high school careers. Both placed in the top 15 at the state meet as freshmen, but they've taken it up a notch this year.
Leah broke the 20- minute mark at regionals, completing the 5- kilometer run in 19:52.56. Autumn finished in 20:00.68.
“The last few weeks, you can tell they've just had a shift,” Noble coach Kayli Phillips said. “They could just see the difference and see that they're peaking right now.”
Although Autumn and Leah have shy personalities, they are effective leaders and have established special relationships with their teammates.
They are par ti cularlyc lose to seniors Ciera and Jade Wright, another pair of identical twins who run for Noble.
Ciera placed 1 8th at regionals, and Jade was 23rd.
“We' re really best friends ,” Leah said. “We act alike. They're really into running. So are we. Our other teammates, we're really good friends with them, too. We all push each other to run.”
Phillips is in her third year as Noble's coach and had only one girl in the program when she began her tenure.
With the Hickok sisters paving the way, the Noble girls had a breakthrough last season, advancing to the state meet for the first time in 17 years.
“It's just kind of cool to see what they have done in just a couple of years,” Phillips said. “We went from a couple of years ago, we had only one athlete — one girl — and then right now, being ranked No. 1 in the state. It's a real special group.”