The method may have been different, but for the Bridgeport High School boys cross country team the result was the same. For the second straight year, the Indians captured the Class AA state championship at Cabell Midland High School.

 

“I couldn’t be more pleased,” said a happy BHS Coach Jon Griffith. “The boys just ran their guts out. We had a least two of the kids throwing up at the end as the crossed the finish line to give you an idea of how hard they ran.”

 

For the Tribe, it marks the second straight year they’ve not lost to a Class AA-A opponent. The only setback this year came to Class AAA power University. Unlike last year, however, where Abe Merinar was the individual winner of every meet in an undefeated season, the Tribe only had one meet where they had the individual winner – Michael Duez in the Harrison County championship.

 

“When you look back, you can easily see that we only had the one win by Michael,” said Griffith. “They work as a team, they practice as a team and they won as a team. Last year, we won with Abe winning everything and having the same pack mentality behind him. This just shows you don’t have to have the superlative individual that is at the top of the list every week to win it all.”

 

The order of finish shows that. Only one runner – Arryn Tennant in 17 minutes, 24.35 seconds – finished in the top 10 of the overall standings and that was at the 10^th spot. He was followed across the finish line by Jimmy Lacaria (11th, 17:32.67), Ian Frailey (12th, 17:35.66), Michael Duez (14th, 17:42.81), Timmy Kinney (16th, 17:57.65), Troy Pallay (21st, 18:08.15) and Jack Funk (23rd, 18:10.74). 

 

Today, they won on a course that was in less than favorable conditions for all the runners. Thanks to nearly 24 hours of rain, runners had to endure the worst conditions their sport offers.

 

“The weather was horrible and the course was a muddy mess,” said Griffith. “We had more than one kid fall down, but they got right back up and kept running, which says all you need to know about our team.”

 

Along with the back-to-back wins, the Indians figure to be in the mix again next year. Of the top 100 runners in Class AA-A throughout the state, the Tribe has 13 of them. Only three of those runners graduate as four of today’s finishers were underclassmen. Duez, Tennant and Pally were the team’s seniors.

 

“It’s kind of a leadership by committee,” said Griffith. “I was really pleased to see Michael step up in a leadership role and kind of become the vocal go-to guy. This is the first year he really took seriously and it’s the reason he came in first in so many races.”

 

Check tomorrow’s sports blog for a very unique story on this year’s cross country team.