BHS Boys Shuttle Relay Team Wins Class AAA Championship at State Track and Field Meet
By Chris Johnson on May 19, 2023 via Connect-Bridgeport.com
The shuttle hurdles relay is an event where a lot can go wrong in a hurry.
False starts, exchanges that are too quick or too slow, and of course there are the hurdles themselves as four athletes from each team have to clear cleanly if they want to win.
Much like it has been all season long, the performance by the Bridgeport High School team of Cam Hess, Lucas Anderson, Cale Culicerto and Ty Martin on Friday during the state meet at Laidley Field at the University of Charleston Stadium was both flawless and historic.
The four combined to run a personal-record time of 56.61 that not only broke their own school record, it gave them the Class AAA state championship.
It’s the first ever state title in the shuttles for the BHS boys and it’s the first win at the Class AAA level in any event at the state meet since Matt Cummings won the pole vault in 2010 (the Indians has several state champs at Class AA between stints in AAA).
“It was amazing,” Hess said. “It was a group effort. We all trained our tails off for this and it paid off.”
Hess and Martin, both seniors, have been mainstays on the shuttles team throughout their track career. Anderson, who is also a senior and one of the state’s premier sprinters, became a regular on the shuttles late in his sophomore season. Culicerto, the lone junior on the shuttles team, ran occasionally last year but became a fixture this season.
“I started off with hurdles in middle school,” Anderson said. “I was at the top in hurdles in middle school but then I got hurt and was done with them. High school comes around and they knew I could run hurdles. I had the speed and the form. I’m just happy to be with them.”
A few weeks ago, the shuttles team broke the school record in the event with a time of 57.24 and that came during the Tudor Biscuit World Charleston Relays on the same track at Laidley for the state meet.
Reaching that goal seemed to take them to the next level as they came back with a dominant win at the Big 10 Conference meet and a dominant win at the Class AAA Region I meet before capturing the state championship on Friday.
“We wanted the school record but it wasn’t our main goal,” Hess said. “Our main goal was what we did today with winning the state title. But that absolutely gave us the confidence running on this track, we knew we could do it and it gave us the confidence we needed.”
Culicerto said he couldn’t think of a better finish for his last shuttle relay with his three senior teammates.
“It was a great last race,” Culicerto said. “A great way to end it.”
Culicerto actually clipped a hurdle during warm-ups but he didn’t let it get to him when it was time for the race to begin.
“You watch the other (hurdle) races and you see someone fall in almost every one,” Hess said. “When Cale hit that hurdle I made sure I looked at him and I said, ‘Breath in, take a breath.’ I didn’t want him freaking out because it happens. I fell at states last year. You have to get that out of your mind because you have to attack. If you have fear that’s when something bad happens.”
Martin who wasn’t available for comment after the win because he had to get back to the high jump, where he ended up clearing 6-02 to take eighth place.
Also on Friday, Hess qualified for finals in the 110 hurdles with a preliminary time of 15.85. Anderson had the second-fastest qualifying time in the 100 and 200.
The best result for the BHS girls on Day 1 came in the final event of the day as Kaitlin Pappas came in fourth with a time of 11:06.70.
Gabby Reep qualified for the Class AAA girls 100 finals with a PR time of 12.49 and placed eighth in the long jump at 15-10.25.
The BHS girls picked up another eighth-place finish in a field event as Olivia Goldizen finished with a throw of 101-06 in the discus.
Gianna Cox reached the 200 finals after running a 25.95 in the preliminaries. Cox was called for a false start in the 100 preliminaries.
The BHS girls 4x800 team of Brea Holt, Presley Veltri, Alea Matthis and Pappas finished 11th with a time of 10:30.18.
The BHS boys 4x800 team of Troy Zorick, Quentin Collier, William Northey and Sam Dodson were disqualified for an alley violation.
Zorick rebounded with an eight-place time of 9:43.49 in the 3,200.
Charlie Brazier just missed placing in the high jump, he cleared 6-00 which was good for 10th place.
Editor's Note: Top photo shows from left to right: Culicerto, Hess, Martin and Anderson after winning the shuttles state title. Second photo is of Hess in a qualifying heat for the 110 hurdles. Bottom photo features Reep (left) qualfifying for the 100 finals.
