Rare has been the times that Bridgeport’s boys cross country team has not walked away with a win in meets during the last three years. This past Saturday, at the Second Annual Charles Pointe-Indian Run Invitational was one of those times.

 

And it was literally by the slimmest of margins.

 

Bridgeport finished with 72 points, which was one point behind University. The Hawks finished at 71 to win the boys portion of the meet that consisted of 21 full teams competing, while several others squads had runners compete. A total of 223 boys competed in the event.

 

“The boys ran really well on Saturday.  To lose by one point is tough, but still it was against the second-ranked team in Class AAA in the state.  That’s not too bad,” said BHS Coach Jon Griffith. “It’s hard to be disappointed by that.  This was an extremely competitive meet and had some of the finest runners in the state participating.  To finish where we did is a tremendous accomplishment.  We still have room to improve and we will continue work toward our ultimate goals.”

 

Bridgeport was led by Tim Kinney who came in fourth overall with a time of 17 minutes, 52.18 seconds. Jimmy Lacaria was sixth with a time of 17 minutes, 54.44 seconds.

 

Incredibly, the Tribe had seven runners finish in the top 37 runners Saturday. The runners that placed in those positions included Drake Bolle (18^th, 18:59.63), Ian Frailey (23^rd, 19:13.41), Mark Duez (24^th, 19:14.63), Coleton Marsh (26^th, 19:18.28), and Jonathan Hartman (37^th, 19:39.88).

 

“I was really impressed with the performance of Drake Bolle, Coleton Marsh and Mark Duez this weekend.  I expect great things from Timmy, Jimmy and Ian, and all three ran very well, but those other three really moved up and beat some guys ranked well ahead of them,” said Griffith. “Johnny Hartman, Hunter Hudson and Jacob Bice also enhanced their standings with the way they ran. Jack Funk is still recovering from a slight ankle issue and was spiked pretty seriously during the race on top of that, so his performance wasn’t up to his usual standards, but was very gutsy nonetheless.”

 

The girls didn’t finish at the top of the leaderboard, but they also didn’t finish near the bottom. The Tribe girls took home a seventh place finish. 

 

Savannah Blythe cracked the top 40 with a 39^th place finish. She posted a time of 24 minutes, 19.19 seconds.

 

Caroline Ferrell was next coming in 41^st overall with a time of 24 minutes, 29.45 seconds. One other runner was also in the top 50 of a field of 183 runners as Jenna Soltesz finished with a time of 24 minutes, 37.52 seconds for 45^th place.

 

“The girls did very well.  We are still managing some injury issues, but they all seem to be improving and we had the majority of them on the course Saturday competing,” said Griffith. “Their seventh place finish on the surface doesn’t seem too impressive, but they finished third out of the Class A-AA schools behind top-ranked Philip Barbour and fourth-ranked East Fairmont.  They actually finished just ahead of second-ranked Doddridge County.  So, I would say they did a very good job on Saturday.”

 

Griffith was pleased with Blythe’s showing, as well as that of Ferrell. Griffith also had positive words for others that didn’t finish near the top of the individual runners, but still had good showings. 

 

“Maddison Beverlin has been battling some calf issues, but ran with great heart to finish fourth for us.  Jenna Soltesz, who finished 3rd on the team, is becoming a very dependable and successful runner, while  Wojo (Ashley Wojciechowicz) had a much better meet this week finishing fifth on the team,” Griffith said.

 

Bridgeport will be back in action Saturday in the  St. Mary’s Medical Center XC Festival at Cabell Midland High School It is a rare evening cross country event with the junior varsity girls beginning at 7:20 p.m., the junior varsity boys starting at 8 p.m., the Class AA-A girls kicking off at 8:35 p.m. and the Class AA-A boys beginning at 9:15 p.m.

 

Check back to Connect-Bridgeport later to see how pleased individuals were with the logistics of Saturday’s meet. Along with the high school race, there was a middle school event and an adult 5K that resulted in more than 1,000 participants and roughly 60 schools involved.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows the boys getting ready for their portion of the meet, while Coleton Marsh had a strong showing in his first season of varsity cross country. Bottom photo shows Caroline Ferrell running on Saturday. Photos by Ben Queen of www.benqueenphotography.com. Click HERE to see hundreds of photos taken by Ben Queen of the high school, middle school and Adult 5K portions of Saturday's meet.