It wasn’t that Bridgeport High School Coach Emilee Stout wasn’t proud of her girls track team’s effort this past weekend in Charleston. It wasn’t even that the heavily favored Indians finished second. What was hard to take was just how close the Tribe came to winning back to back Class AA state championships.

After overcoming injuries, some key miscues and so much more, Bridgeport still was up with one event to go. And although not competing, all they needed was for Berkeley Springs to finish in third place or lower and the state championship was heading back to Harrison County

 

As it turned out, BSHS came on strong in the 4x400 relay – the final event of the meet – and managed to finish second. The result: Berkeley Springs 69.33 points, Bridgeport 69 points.

 

“This was an extremely difficult loss. We struggled in several ways and Berkeley Springs performed very well; that combination makes it awfully hard to win at the state level,” said Stout.

 

Still, the effort was there. Most notable was that of senior Kayla Haywood who made the most of her final day competing at the high school level. Haywood won the 100 meters (12.43 seconds), the 200 meters (25.65 seconds) and was second in the long jump (17 feet).

 

“Kayla was simply excellent. She had a big target on her back all weekend and she stood up to the plate. We counted on her to score big and she did,” said Stout. “I am so proud of her for always having a positive attitude, working hard, and pushing through to the very end. Her high point award for two years in a row is well deserved. She earned it and I couldn't be happier for her.”

 

Haywood was also involved in the winning 4x200 meter relay team. Maleehah Saab, Lexie Scerba, Jenna Alonge and Haywood finished with a time of 1 minute, 46.58 seconds to get the win.

 

BHS also got points in several other relay events. The 4x100 team finished fourth and the 4x102.5 meter shuttle team finished third.

 

“We had to make a lot of changes to our sprint relays within the last day of practice.  Even still, both relays performed extremely well, with nearly perfect handoffs in (the) events,” said Stout. “There's not much else we can ask for from those girls. I'm very proud of their performance.”

 

Haywood wasn’t the only one stepping up big on the state stage. For the second time, junior Hannah McCall won a state championship. McCall, who won the discus title as a freshman, earned the crown again with a thrown of 113 feet, 8 inches.

 

“Hannah steps up when it counts. She gets in another mindset during competition and it shows. I knew she was going to do well just by the way she warmed up,” said Stout. “I told her to imagine her best throw and believe in herself, and she followed through.  It was so exciting to watch her throw her best on the last attempt.”

 

Even with those showings, it wouldn’t be enough. In the end a “rough weekend,” as described by Stout, is what it produced.

 

“When you don't have points scored in events you usually can count on, and have counted on all year, that makes it pretty tough,” said Stout. “At states, you have to perform above and beyond what's expected, because too many other athletes will. If not, it will catch up to you, and that's what happened.” 

 

Editor's Note: Kayla Haywood is shown in the top photo blowing by the competition, while the winning 4x200 team is shown in the second photo. State champion discus thrower Hannah McCall is pictured below.