The Bridgeport High School track and field teams placed in a total of four events at the Class AAA state championship meet at Laidley Field in Charleston.

 

Both Top 6 finishes for the boys came in relay events, while for the girls both Top 6 finishes came in individual events.

 

The boys shuttles relay team of Ty Martin, Andy Miller, Lucas Anderson and Cam Hess ran a sixth-place time of 1:01.06.

 

In the 4x100, Martin, Anderson and Miller were joined by Kyle McCarthy in running a fifth-place time of 44.33.

 

For the girls, Sallyanna Hamrick was fifth in the pole vault, clearing 9-00. It’s an event the sophomore standout has shown steady improvement in all season long and she captured the Region I championship after clearing 9-06 last week.

 

“I would have liked to have cleared that again,” Hamrick said. “But you know what, I still finished fifth. I came down here in my first-ever state meet and got a ribbon so I’m happy with that and now it’s time to work even harder and get back down here again next year hopefully.”

 

Senior speedster Anaiya Jackson came in sixth in the 100 with a time of 12.57.  She qualified for the finals in both the 100 and 200 after preliminary times of 12.72 and 26.47 respectively. Both times were better than her regional times (12.96 in 100, 26.96 in the 200). She then bested her time in the 100 finals. In the 200 finals, she ran a 27.24 which was good for eighth place.

 

McCarthy’s state meet got started a day earlier as he competed in the 400, which along with the 3,200 took place Friday evening.

 

McCarthy ran in the first of two heats and crossed the finish line with a 51.43 which was good for eighth place overall and more than a second faster than his regional time (52.63). On Saturday, McCarthy competed in the 200 preliminaries and ran a 23.30.

 

Anderson ran a personal record of 11.09 in the 100 prelims to advance to finals where he ran an 11.37 which was tied for seventh. He also finished with a time of 22.92 in the 200 prelims.

 

The BHS boys had two other relay teams pick up Top 10 finishes with the 4x200 and the 4x800.

 

McCarthy, Martin, Miller and Hess made up the 4x200 unit that was ninth with a time of 1:34.05.

 

The 4x800 team consisted of Cole Bracken, Sam Dodson, Bailey DeMoss and Landon Burns. They crossed the finish line at 8:47.13 which was good for ninth place.

 

Martin also competed in the high jump but did not clear a height.

 

The girls had four relay teams place in the Top 13, including a pair that were in the Top 10.

 

Hamrick and Jackson were joined on the 4x200 team by Grace Backus and Sierra Moses in running a 10^th place time of 1:52.63.

 

The 4x800 team of Caroline Deniker, Mira Blount, Kaitlyn Pappas and Madison Looker was also 10^th, finishing with a time of 11:04.18.

Deniker and Backus teamed with Alyssa Mazhar and Jenna Wood to run a 12^th place time of 1:15.42 in the shuttles.

 

In the 4x100, Jackson, Hamrick, Backus and Bailey Tomes came in 13^th with a time of 53.91.

 

Parkersburg won the Class AAA boys team title, while Wheeling Park was the runner-up. Wheeling Park did however have the boys high-point performer in Torrence Walker who won the 100, 200 and 400. He established a new record in the 100 prelims with a time of 10.5.

 

Jefferson captured the girls team title and Morgantown finished second. The Mohigans’ Irene Riggs took high-point honors with wins in the 800, 1,600, 3,200 and was part of a third-place 4x400 relay team.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo features Anderson (third from left), second photo shows Hamrick discussing strategy with coach Grant Burton. Third photo shows Jackson (second from left) and bottom photo is of Martin.