With more than 1,000 spectators and student-athletes on hand Saturday for the annual Charles Pointe Indian Run Invitational, the Bridgeport girls and boys cross country teams didn’t disappoint. Both the boys and the girls finished second in the event that also featured a middle school race.

 

The girls finished with 49 points, which was behind the winning pace of Winfield at 32. The boys also were second behind the Generals with 63 points to a total of 34 for WHS.

 

The event was held at the Bridgeport Recreation Complex.

 

Bridgeport nearly was able to win the girls race for several reasons. Chief among them was another strong showing by Julia Muller.

 

Muller was the top runner in a field of 98 runners. She posted a winning time of 2 minutes, 24 seconds.

 

“Julia is having a very good season.  She is very talented, motivated and determined, but above all she works very hard.  Hopefully she can continue to run well with no issues through the end of the season,” said Coach Jon Griffith. “Fortunately for most races, she hasn’t had to push too hard.  We want to save her best effort for the final race of the year.”

 

Despite the second place showing, the Indians had their top five runners all finish in the top 20. Emma Campbell (7^th, 23:56), Emerson Grafton (9^th, 23:58), Brooke Wagner (13^th, 24:18) and Allison Hess (19^th, 26:09) led the way.

 

“The girls did great.  The top four (Muller, Campbell, Grafton, and Wagner) finished less than two minutes apart. We need to get our fifth runner up there closer as well.  Normally, Allison Hess is right there with those top four, but she didn’t have a good race on Saturday,” said Griffith. “She, along with Samantha Gibson, Mira Blount and Hannah Bartlett will be battling to get that fifth spot next race.” 

 

Griffith is hoping for stronger showings as the season wears on. He said several athletes were not up to par in the event.

 

“The girls’ team has a lot of banged up runners right now.  Mostly minor issues, but even a minor issue can really affect your running over a three mile, hilly course,” he said. “Cross Country is a tough sport and it requires a lot of preparation and training to be successful.  We have a lot of girls on the team, and most of them are working to the best of their ability and that’s all we can ask of them.”

 

Griffith is hopeful the girls can close the gap on Winfield, one of the favorites to win the state championship this year. However, he knows that’s going to be a daunting – but not impossible – scenario. And he added that things still look good for the future.

 

“Winfield has several girls in their top seven playing soccer and running cross country simultaneously.  That may or may not be a factor as we wind down both seasons. For the future, Winfield has four seniors in their top seven.  We only have one, Julia.  She is outstanding and we hate to see her graduate, but next year also looks to be very promising for the girls, if they keep working hard,” said Griffith. “As for this season, just like the boys, we will work as hard as we can, get as healthy as we can, and give our best effort.  There is nothing more we can do.”

 

Eleven complete teams competed in the girls’ event. Seven other schools sent participants to compete, but not enough to field a complete squad.

 

For the boys, Winfield again proved to a thorn in the side of getting to victory lane. However, the Indians again showed they are among the elite programs thanks to the second place showing and placing five runners in the top 22 of the field (or top 20 of those competing as full teams).

 

“The boys have been working very hard and it is paying off.  We are continuing to improve.  The time difference from our first to fifth runner was pretty good, only 1 minute and 33 seconds,” said Griffith. “Our lead guys have to keep picking up the pace and the chase group has to keep working to close the gap.  We managed to place ahead of Fairmont Senior for the first time this season.  Only one point ahead, but that is a significant improvement from the start of the season.”

 

Jackson Jacobs was fourth to lead the way with a time of 18 minutes, 30 seconds. He was followed by Cade Robinson (10^th, 19:05), Logan Carr (12^th, 19:20), Landon Burns (10^th, 19:55), and Trey Martin (5^th, 20:03).

 

“We had a few who didn’t have their best meet, but overall I was pleased with the performances on Saturday,” said Griffith. “Most of the boys ran good races.  Our course isn’t easy with a long uphill in the first half mile.  That favors certain runners who are more powerful on the hills.  With the courses we have to run for the Big 10 (Davis & Elkins) and Region II AA/A Championships (Doddridge County), we need to be good running hills.”

 

The Indians also need to be at their best to get in contention with Winfield. Like the girls, the Generals have set themselves up as a premier team. 

 

“Winfield is a talented and deep team with good coaching.  Aaron Withrow is one of the best in the state, in any class.  Right now the gap is sizable, but we are working to close it,” said Griffith. “Any time we face them, we need to be at our best.  Sometimes funny things happen in a race and you have to be ready to take advantage of them when they do.  We will keep working hard and be as prepared as we can be.” 

 

Griffith was 100 percent pleased with how flawlessly the event went off at the Rec Complex.

 

“This was one of the smoothest meets we have run at the Bridgeport Rec Complex.  That is directly attributable to the community of Bridgeport: The Bridgeport T&F/XC Parents Association, Bridgeport Police, Bridgeport Fire and EMS, Bridgeport Parks and Rec, Bridgeport VIPS, City of Bridgeport, CEC, Genesis Partners, Bridgeport CVB, Bridgeport Express Care,  etc.  All of these groups contributed considerably to the success of the meet,” said Griffith.

 

Griffith said there was approximately 50 volunteers on hand Saturday. He said that’s also critical to making things work.

 

“They were also invaluable in getting this temporary course ready.  With the construction of the new Indoor Rec Center having started at the Complex and it eliminating our old course, we had to start from scratch,” said Griffith. “In a matter of a couple of months, we went from no course to having a very nice (and challenging) course.  I can’t thank the organizations and individuals who contributed to all aspects of this event from preparation to execution.  I am very grateful to live and coach in a community that supports our program so well.” 

 

For the first time this year, Bridgeport will not be competing this weekend. The next meet is Thursday, Sept. 27. BHS will once again host a meet – this time the Harrison County Championship set for 4 p.m.

 

Editor's Note: Photos by www.benqueenphotography.com.