EDITOR'S NOTE: Another banner year in Charleston saw the girls track team finish second in Class AA - just like the boys. The girls were chosen as runner-up based on the point differential between first and second and perhaps the single most dominant solo display in state track history by the Indians' McKenna Smith.

 

Bridgeport High School’s girls track team’s hopes of winning a Class AA state championship came up just short today at Laidley Field in Charleston. As forecast, it was Winfield that walked away with championship.

 

The Generals won the girls crown with 148 points to Bridgeport’s total of 137 as the meet completely turned into a two-team battle. The next nearest competitor was North Marion with 33 points.

 

The second place finish is the second in three years for Coach Emilee Stout’s squad as BHS won it all last year in the girls. While the Tribe was unable to duplicate its success of a year ago, senior McKenna Smith not only duplicated her success, but somehow managed to exceed a 2016 season in which she may have had the most dominating track meet of any athlete in state history.

 

The only thing she didn’t do this year was set four state records. This year, she only managed to break three records – all of which were already her own.

 

For Smith, the show of dominance continued that began at last year’s state championship with four wins and high medalist honors. She got things started when she broke her own record – the all-time state record – in the 400 by running a 54.61 seconds.

 

So how did she top that? In the one event that she claimed she needed to work on after last year despite a state title – the 300 meter hurdles – Smith set a new state mark in that event as well. She won the event with a time of 43.03 seconds. That also broke the state meet record she set by a full second from last year.

 

Want more? It would come in the 100 meter dash where Smith did it again, breaking her own state record. She finished with a time of 11.85 seconds, which improved her all-time state mark of 11.89 seconds she set a year ago.

 

Even in the one event she didn’t break her own record during the actual event, she won a state title. She won the 200 meter dash with a time of 24.49 seconds. The capper? She actually set the record in the preliminaries with a time of 24.36 seconds.

 

As dominant as Smith was in her senior finale, sophomore Isabella Bowen made an announcement she could be the next strong BHS sprinter in the mold of Smith and Kayla Haywood. Bowen was second in the 100 with a time of 12.53 seconds.  In the 200, she was also second with a time of 25.92 seconds.

 

Bowen was also part of a point smorgasbord for the Indians in the 400 that Smith won. Bowen’s hat trick of second place finishes came with a time of 57.34 seconds, while Catie Wilson came in fifth with a time of 1 minute, .9 seconds. Bowen would also be involved in a second-place relay team for BHS.

 

Smith, however, wasn’t the only person with red and white on their uniform to win a state title on the individual front. Sophomore Julia Muller earned her first-ever state title.

 

Muller, who was strong in day one for the Tribe in the 3200, was even stronger in the 1600 meter run. She won the championship in the 1600 with a time of 5 minutes, 22.35 seconds.

 

It wouldn’t be the last event Muller would score in on the solo front. She came in fifth in the 800 meter run thanks to a time of 2 minutes, 25.11 seconds.

 

Although Winfield had wrapped up the title before the final event, Bridgeport didn’t go out with a whimper. Instead, the Tribe went out with a bang as the girls won a state title in the 4x400 meter relay event. Crowder, Wilson, Kirstin George and McKenna Eddy – all underclassmen – posted a winning time of 4 minutes, 7.65 seconds.

 

Jenna Love picked up points in the pole vault for Bridgeport. She came in fifth in pole vault and cleared nine feet.

 

The Indians had two athletes place in the 100 meter hurdles. Ashton Miller was fourth with a time of 16.7 seconds and Emily Meade came in sixth with a time of 16.99 seconds.

 

In the first relay event of the day, Bridgeport came in second place in a tight matchup against Winfield, who would win. BHS’s group of Miller, Wilson, Juliet Hart and Kristen Crowder earned eight second place points with a time of 1 minute, 46.34 seconds.

 

The second relay was similar as the first as the Generals edged Bridgeport in the 4x100. Although the Tribe foursome nearly broke the state record, WHS did. Still, the group of Hart, Crowder, Sophia DelGreco and Bowen were solid in the second place slot with an impressive time of 50.23 seconds.