When you’ve coached for a quarter of a century, to say that Saturday’s Connect-Bridgeport.com Invitational was “the coldest meet I have ever been to,” then you know the conditions were less than ideal. Despite Mother Nature’s cold touch, the massive meet went off without a hitch Friday and Saturday at Wayne Jamison Field

 

“The athletes, coaches, relatives, officials and volunteers all seemed to be in good spirits and did a tremendous job both days.  I got nothing but positive feedback about the meet format and think this will become one of the most popular meets in the state in years to come,” said Griffith.

 

While it wasn’t the first Connect-Bridgeport.com meet, it was the first that featured both high school and middle school teams competing at the same time, which Griffith believes was the first of its kind in the state. What wasn’t the first of its kind was the strong showing of Bridgeport’s track teams. Although the Indians didn’t win on either the boys or girls side of the ledger, they did finish second in both and were the top Class AA teams performing.

 

For the girls, Class AAA Morgantown easily got the win and what primarily turned into a two-team race in the 10-team field. The Mohigans finished with 190 points, while the Indians were second with 139 points. Doddridge County was third with 80.

 

“We scored where we should have and held their own against a strong Morgantown team,” said BHS coach Emilee Stout.

 

Doing a lot of the scoring was sophomore McKenna Smith. Smith dominated the meet in taking high point honors as she won the 100 meters with a time of 12.22 seconds, the 200 meters in 26.39 seconds and completed the hat trick with a time of 1 minute, 2.69 seconds to win the 400 meters. Her time in the 100 was a new school record.
 

“McKenna is doing fantastic. She has been working really hard in practice and pushes herself to the max nearly every day,” said Stout. “She even requests to do workouts with our boys, so that should tell you how hard she works. For her to show times like she did in the cold weather, it just proves that what she is doing pays off.”

 

Bridgeport got another individual win in the hurdles. Senior Jenna Alonge finished with a time of 53.35 seconds winning the 300 meter hurdles.
 

“Jenna is a natural athlete and it shows every year. She does very well in the hurdles, and has put forth great effort in practice. I am certain she will continue to place high in all her events this year,” said Stout.

 

Bridgeport was also strong in the relays. The Indians won three of the five events to help their overall point total. The Tribe was victorious in the 4x100, 4x200 and the 4x102.5 shuttle hurdle relay.

 

The Indians took the 4x100 with a time of 54.46 seconds. The team of Ashton Miller, Maleehah Saab, Lexie Sczerba and Kayla Haywood put the Indians in the winner’s circle. In the 4x200, it was the group of Miller, Saab, Catie Wilson and Natalie Prater that won with a time of 1 minute, 46.15 seconds. In the shuttles, Mateah Kittle, Miller, Sczerba and Alonge rolled to a near 15 second win thanks to their time of 1 minute, 7.91 seconds.

 

“Of course, they can always improve with handoffs, but for the first meet of the year and with many new girls, they did well,” said Stout.
 

For the boys, junior Dylan Tonkery led the way. After being riddled with injuries as a sophomore, the speedy Tonkery returned to the track with a flourish this weekend.

 

Tonkery won the 100 and 200 meter dashes during the meet. He posted a time of 11.75 seconds in the 100 and 24.2 in the 200 meters.

 

“Losing Dylan to injuries last year was a huge blow.  He had a tremendous freshmen year and we expected big things from him last year.  Rather than push him though, we allowed him the time to recover fully and he came back with a vengeance in football and is carrying that over to the track,” said Griffith.

 

Tonkery isn’t the only one returning. Justin Massie is back after sitting out a season and returned with a flourish. He won the 300 meter hurdle event with a time of 44.71 seconds.

 

Massie then teamed up with Tonkery, Jonathan Murray and J.T. Harris to win with 4x100 meter relay. The foursome finished with a time of 47.17 seconds.

 

The final win on the relay side of things came in the 4x200. The group of Murray, Harris, Luke Southern and Tonkery finished with a winning mark of 1 minute, 39.85 seconds.

 

“The 4x100 and 4x200 relays both had solid performances winning, and the Shuttles and 4x800 relays both picked up second places at the meet.   All four will continue to improve as we gain experience and develop continuity,” said Griffith. “Our 4x400 is going to require a little more work, but I am confident we are a long way from reaching out potential.  We will get there though by the end of the season.”

 

The Indians also managed two solo wins in the field events. And they came off the effort of the same athlete. Junior Jacob Griffith won the shot put (44 feet) and the discus (122 feet, 5 inches) to add to the Bridgeport total.

 

“Jacob is one of the hardest working, most dedicated track and field athletes we have had.  He did a great job in both throws this weekend,” said Griffith. “I can't imagine holding a 12 pound metal ball in the frigid conditions we had for this meet.  In fact, he actually lost a little skin on Saturday morning when his finger stuck to the metal rim of the discus.”

 

Both teams will be looking for a first place finish – and hopefully better conditions – this Friday. The Indians will take part in the Doddridge Host Harrison event Friday at Cline Stansberry Field in West Union. The meet begins at 11 a.m.

 

The weekend meet also featured middle school teams. The Bridgeport Middle School girls team finished second, while the boys were fourth. Complete results below.

 

 

Editor's Note: Top photo of McKenna Smith and middle photo of Jenna Alonge as they are on their way to winning individual events this weekend. Bottom photo shows Justin Massie as he returned successfully after missing last year. Photos by www.benqueenphotography.com.