Area high school and middle school track action started this past weekend with the Connect-Bridgeport.com Invitational, held Friday and Saturday in Bridgeport.

 

In a field of eight teams each, Class AA Bridgeport High School claimed the top spot for girls and second place in boys’ action with Class AAA Morgantown High claiming the win. Also competing in the two-day event were Doddridge County, Lewis County, Elkins, Preston, Braxton County and Bridgeport Indians JV, which took fourth place in girls’ competition and sixth place in boys.

 

“The kids did really well,” said BHS Boys’ Track Coach Jon Griffith. “We have had very little preparation time, so to see them perform as well as they did is amazing. I hope that we can continue to build on these performances as we move through the season.”

 

In boys’ competition, the Tribe’s Maverick Eddy took third place in the 100-meter dash and second place in the 200-meter dash. Chase Binegar took third place in the 400-meter dash.

 

“Our sprint group is small, but they placed well in all three open sprints,” Griffith said. “Maverick Eddy led the way for us in the 100m and 200m with some very good early season times for us.”

 

Mark Duez (pictured above, leading the pack) did well in distance events, Griffith said, placing third in the 800-meter run (2:06.89), fourth in the 1600-meter run (4:46.03) and third place in the 3200-meter run (10:26.87). The BHS senior was outrun only by runners from Morgantown and Preston, both Class AAA schools.

 

Braeden Oldaker claimed top spot in the 110-meter hurdles (39 inches) and second place in the 300-meter hurdles (36 inches).

 

“Braeden had a great weekend in the hurdles, going 15.89 in the 110m highs and 43.29 in the 300m IH,” Griffith said.

 

In the 300-meter hurdles, the Tribe's Josh Osborn placed fourth.

 

In boys’ relay action, Bridgeport claimed first in the 4x100, 4x200 and 4x400 meter relays. In the 4X800, the Tribe finished second to Morgantown High. The Tribe picked up another first in the 4x110-meter shuttle hurdle.

 

“All of our relays performed well,” Griffith said. “Even the 4x800m relay was good for us. We didn’t win, but I split our kids up and made two teams that finished second and third. We should run a pretty good time, once the top four are all back together.”

 

The 4x100 relay team consisted of Trenton Shaw, Chase Binegar, Maverick Eddy and Braeden Oldaker. Eddy, Shaw, Binegar and Hayden Hess combined efforts on the 4x200 and Tristan Shaw, Hess, Binegar and Kyle McCarthy made up the 4x400. The 4x110-meter shuttle hurdle team consisted of Tristan Shaw, Trenton Shaw, Josh Osborn (pictured above) and Oldaker.

 

The two 4x800 meter relay teams representing BHS were Marsh, Jackson Jacobs, Hunter Hutson and Benson Bassell (second place) and Duez, Logan Carr, Josh Gervais and Cole Bracken (third place).  

 

In the boys’ shot put and discus throw, Christopher Trent finished first.

 

“Chris Trent’s throws in the discus were very good, considering we have been hampered with not having a place to practice discus really,” Griffith said. “That has been taken care of now and we hope to see some steady improvement there. His shot put of 51’ 3.75” was a great sign of things to come.

 

In pole vault, Osborn finished first. The Indians’ Tristan Shaw and Ashton Davis finished second and third in the high jump. Shaw picked up first place in the long jump.

 

“Tristan Shaw going 19’ 9 ¾” in the long jump and Josh Osborn’s 12’ 0” in the pole vault are also excellent first meet results,” Griffith said.

Overall, BHS showed good balance across the 18 events and some good depth in most of them."

 

All events are constantly in flux, Griffith said, and the coaching staff challenges every athlete on the team to work toward earning a varsity slot.

 

“We also tell them that no ones's spot is ever safe. They must work hard or one of the other athletes can outwork them and earn that spot,” Griffith said.  “With all of them working hard to gain varsity time, they all get better.”

 

In girls’ action, the Tribe’s Isabella Bowen (pictured left) shaved nearly a half second off her preliminary time to claim first place in the girls’ 100-meter dash. The BHS junior also took top honors in the 200- and 400-meter dash events.

 

"Isabella had a solid weekend," said Girls' Track Coach Emilee Stout Yurish. "She was focused and determined to get first in all her events and her results can verify that. I'm looking forward to watching her this season."

 

Bridgeport’s Anaiya Jackson and Juliet Hart took third and fifth places, respectively, in the 100-meter dash. Catie Wilson and Jackson took third and fourth places in the 200-meter dash and Wilson took third place in the 400-meter dash.

 

The Indians’ Julia Muller claimed fourth place in the 800-meter, fifth place in the 1600-meter and second place in the 3200-meter runs. In the latter race, Bridgeport’s Jenna Soltesz claimed fourth place.

 

Bridgeport’s Ashton Miller (pictured right) and Emily Meade took first and second in the 300-meter hurdles (30 inches). Miller, a senior, finished in 49.89 and Meade, a sophomore, in 50.05.

 

Bridgeport took first in the 4x100-meter and 4-200-meter relays, finishing in 52.30 and 1:51.12. The Tribe also finished first in the 4x102.5-meter shuttle hurdle. In the 4x400 and 4-x800 relays, the Lady Indians took second place.

 

In the high jump, junior Kristen Crowder took first, followed by teammates Alyssa Mabrey and Anna Shaver. Claire Lohmann and Jenna Love took second and third place, respectively, in pole vault and Meade came in third in the long jump.

 

Bridgeport’s Jayda Coombs finished first in girls’ shot put and seventh in the discus throw; the highest place for BHS.

 

"I am very pleased with the team's performance this weekend," Yurish said. "Watching the girls do so well in their first meet was rewarding, especially without having as much preparation as I would have liked."

 

As always, the Connect-Bridgeport Invitational featured some outstanding competition and was a good way to kick off the season, Griffith said.

 

"Morgantown in one of the top AAA programs in the state and Doddridge is perennially one of the best A teams in the state," he said. "It gives us a nice opportunity to run all of our kids and do so against good athletes.The two-day format is also good practice for the State Meet, since we run the same schedule as they do. Combined with the Gazette Relays, our kids run that schedule three times a year where some schools only run it at the State Meet.  We feel that is a big advantage in terms of reducing anxiety, practicing energy expenditure and for recovery management."

 

The two-day event also featured middle school competition. BMS took first place for the boys and fifth place in girls’ competition. See complete results from the two-day meet, including preliminaries and finals, HERE.

 

Editor's Note: Above photos are by Ben Queen Photography. See more images in a Connect-Bridgeport photo gallery HERE. Another gallery will be posted Thursday morning.