The regular season for the Bridgeport High School boys and girls cross country teams are in the books. Now, the postseason is officially set to begin.

 

As the Indians have done all year, they ended the regular season in strong fashion. The girls captured the Big 10 Conference championship, while the boys finished runner-up in the meet held on the campus of Davis and Elkins College.

 

Bridgeport finished the girls’ event with a meet best 49 points. That total got the Indians past Class AAA Preston, who finished with 56 points.

 

“The girls had a great day, even though the weather conditions were even tougher than the boys race.  The rain was really pouring and the boys had done a good job of tearing up the course the race before.  By the time the girls got to the creek, it had gone from its normal few inches to mid-thigh depth,” said Griffith. “It was definitely a challenge. With five in the top 16 and 11 in the top 40, I was very pleased with the girls’ performance.  In fact, I was pleased with everyone who ran in both the boys and girls races.  To finish a 5K is a challenge, to do it in those conditions is worthy of admiration.”

 

While Julia Muller didn’t win the race, she still led the way. And she managed to finish in the runner-up spot with a time of 22 minutes, 54.64 seconds.

 

“Julia ran another smart race.  Allie Martin (the winner) of Preston is a very good runner.  She is currently ranked fifth in AAA and her coach (and her father) had her pushing the pace pretty good,” said Griffith. “They were placing a lot more importance on this race than we were. Our focus was to successfully run, without injuries, looking toward the regional and state meets coming up the next two weeks.  Still Julia ran very well and defeated a lot of very talented runners.”

 

Bridgeport had one other runner in the top 10. Emma Campbell finished in fifth with a time of 24 minutes, 22.26 seconds.

 

“Emma Campbell had a great race coming in fifth.  Our next group also ran well; Brooke Wagner 13th, Emerson Grafton 14th and Allison Hess 16^th,” said Griffith. “In fact, the entire team ran well.  Maybe we just like running in the mud and rain.” 

 

The boys finished with 67 points, which was off of Fairmont Senior’s winning total of 52. Eleven teams participated in the event.

 

“The boys ran very well in spite of another meet with less than ideal conditions.  In a meet that featured the No. 8 ‘AAA’ ranked Preston, No. 2 ‘AA’ Fairmont Senior and No. 5 ‘AA’ Philip Barbour and No. 7 ‘AA’ East Fairmont, to finish as runner up by only 15 points is a very good day.”

 

The Indians, however, would like to close the gap in the postseason between themselves and the Polar Bears. Griffith knows closing the gap will be a chore.

 

“I think we can improve some, and I am confident we will give it our all.  If Fairmont Senior falters at all, we hope to be there to capitalize.  Fairmont Senior has a very good team though with two outstanding seniors,” said Griffith. “We didn’t have a senior finish in our top 10 at the meet, while they had three in their top seven.”

 

One of the top finishers was Jackson Jacobs. Jacobs finished as the overall winner in the competition with a time of 19 minutes, 9 seconds.  

 

“That is the second time running the course this year.  We ran the Forest Festival Invitational earlier this season.  The first time Jackson lost to the two young men from Fairmont Senior,” said Griffith. “They all ran good races last time and this time, Jackson just had a little better day this time around.”

 

Bridgeport had one other runner in the top 10. Cade Robinson finished in the No. 9 spot with a time of 19 minutes and 55 seconds. He was one of several that had solid days for Bridgeport.

 

“Trey Martin, Landon Burns and Bailey DeMoss all had much improved runs compared to their last race at Elkins to finish fourth, fifth and sixth for us.  This was Ashton Nardella’s first time running this course and did well finishing seventh for us,” said Griffith, who also saw Logan Carr finish at No. 15. “We had a great team effort.  We had 10 guys finish in the top 50 overall, and with all of them returning, that is a good sign.”

 

Bridgeport will compete in the Class AA-A Region II meet Thursday at the Doddridge County Park on Snowbird Road. The boys will battle at 4:30 p.m. and the girls go at 5:15 p.m.

 

“Both teams should fare well at the regional.  Our main competition will be from Doddridge and Elkins. I feel good about both teams qualifying for the state meet,” said Griffith.

 

Bridgeport’s girls will be looking to win their third straight regional crown. The boys will looking for their sixth in a row.

 

Editor's Note: All photos courtesy of Punda Photography. Click HERE to see hundreds of photos from this event and others on their Facebook page.