As is often the case in this blog, I put forth questions and my own theories as to what or who was the greatest or best in this sport or that in the long history of Bridgeport High School. Perhaps I’ll dally on the greatest coaches or teams in BHS history.

 

The questions are for purposes of fun and tactful debate and for the most part that proves to be the case. Sure, there are those that can’t fathom that a blog is an opinion piece and are unable to take advantage of the comment section below where they have free access to list their own greatest athletes, coaches or sporting moments.

 

They see something in print and believe that it’s fact. They believe it’s not debatable or it’s the gospel.

 

For once, this isn’t for debate. This IS my gospel.

 

What Bridgeport High School junior McKenna Smith did last weekend at the state track and field meet is the single most dominating performance by a Bridgeport High School athlete during my time following prep sports. That takes you back to the mid-1980s and if you have seen something prior to that time frame that’s better than what Smith did, by all means share with the masses. If you believe you have seen something in that time period, feel free to share.

 

This is an open forum for thoughts and opinions. Only this time, I believe everyone is entitled to my opinion. I just can’t imagine something has happened by anyone wearing the red and white more dominant than what took place at Charleston’s Laidley Field.

 

Understand, this isn’t putting down any other athlete’s efforts in sports. I’m still awed at what Dylan Tonkery did against Frankfort and C.R. Rohrbough produced against Wyoming East in football, what Michael Walker and probably the entire Sickles family did in the pool, the smooth Abe Merinar blistering distance events and even Miki Glenn’s absolute total domination of the state tournament that led to a state title just a few years ago.

 

Prior to what Smith did, it was Glenn at the top of my personal mountain. In fact, I once referred to her as “the truth.” Well McKenna Smith is “the truth part II.”

 

There have been others in other sports beyond those listed, but today and this past week is McKenna’s Smith time. It’s her time because of her times she posted on her way to winning state titles at last weekend’s Class AA meet in the 100, 200 and 400 meter dashes and the 300 meter hurdles.

 

It’s her time because despite the dominance of those listed above, Smith was a notch above those of alumni past. She was so pure in her domination that I needed to check with outsiders – those with no recent ties to Bridgeport, Harrison County or the Big 10 Conference – to see if I was seeing and reading things incorrectly and that if I made this bold proclamation I would be overstating things.

 

I turned to a couple of the state’s top dogs when it comes to prep sports writing. Former Charleston Gazette-Mail (Daily Mail) prep editor and current Gazette-Mail assistant sports editor Derek Taylor is arguably the Alpha Dog statewide on prep sports and the legendary Doug Huff out of Wheeling, who is Alpha Dog Emeritus.

 

Taylor was there. He saw it all. And, yeah, he had an interesting take on her domination.

 

“I was reminded of an old Pantera album’s title, ‘A Vulgar Display of Power.’ That was what it was like. Honestly, it was almost ridiculous how she dominated. The whole press box was talking about it,” said Taylor. “It looked like she won the 100 by 10 yards, the 200 by 20 and the 400 by 40. Again, just ridiculous.”

 

Although I’m no longer a spectator at track meets, my past history tells me that the best times are often those that are the result of being pushed by someone nipping at your heels. By the time most of her events were halfway over, the finish line was generally closer than her nearest competitor.

 

“To win by that margin with no one pushing you takes self-motivation and discipline. It takes a special athlete to perform at the highest level regardless of what the rest of the pack is doing,” said Taylor.

 

Taylor was aware of the three state records and the four meet records – a feat by the way that has NEVER been accomplished. He said, quite candidly, that no one thought the last record – in the 200 meters – would fall and that thought process had nothing to do with ability. Rather, the track was soaked from a strong rain and Smith had nothing really left to prove and the Indians had already sewed up the ‘AA’ state title.

 

Instead of cruising, she obliterated the state mark.

 

“She broke that 200 record in the driving rain. You had the entire lineup of some of the most well-known writers in the state down there at about that time … and everyone, and I mean everyone, just stopped to watch the show. By that time, she was the talk of everyone who wasn’t just there to pay attention to their local athletes,” said Taylor. “I even think those that were there only to see specific kids were watching her by that time.”

 

Taylor, who used to write for the Exponent-Telegram, but has since carved a niche as one of the best – if not the best – prep writers in West Virginia said it would likely be hard pressed to find anyone at Bridgeport High School to have put on a more powerful showing. He added that it would be hard for anyone from the past at any school to have had a more dominant day.

 

So I asked him what I was thinking. How does Smith’s effort stack up in the history of track and field and in a head-to-head battle with other athletes in differing sports?

 

“For the state track and field meet, boys or girls, it is in the discussion easily as the greatest showing ever. We were all looking in the press box at the history of the meet, and the damn thing with the boys goes back a long time and the girls to I believe 1976, and she did something no one has ever done,” said Taylor. “Thinks about that? No one has ever done what she did.

 

“It’s really hard to match up with other sports, but, yeah, it’s got to be in that discussion,” he continued. “I say that because what you saw at the state track meet was historic for the state.”

 

While Taylor has been in the business two decades, Huff goes back a bit further. He said he traces his actual official involvement back to his time with the West Virginia Sports Writers Association in 1965 and is perhaps most well-known for his time with the Wheeling Intelligencer where he started on the path to become the unofficial Godfather of West Virginia high school sports.

 

“I didn’t see what she accomplished in person, but I know all about it. I used to go to the state track meet all the time, maybe 25 years in a row or more, so I know this was a really impressive showing. Definitely, when it comes to track, it may be the greatest, or definitely one of the greatest showings I can ever recall,” said Huff. “What’s pretty amazing is that she’s just a junior too.”

 

How did he feel it stacked up in the pantheon of other great sports performances?

 

“It’s so much a case of apples and oranges. It’s hard to compare that showing against, say a Christy Cooper from Circleville (1988) who averaged 60 points a game. That’s why I have a hard time comparing,” said Huff.

 

And since he’s Doug Huff, you let it go at that. Besides, he’s the Godfather and you don’t want to get whacked.

 

Here’s what we can say for sure no matter how you think. What McKenna Smith did recently was unprecedented in Bridgeport High School track and field history. It was unprecedented in West Virginia track and field history. It was, well, prep sports history.

 

Better yet, it was exactly what my friend Derek Taylor said so eloquently. It was a vulgar display of power.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows the view that most had of McKenna Smith this year at the state track meet that competed against her. Other photos are from regular season and state track meet action.