I forgot an important anniversary. Before you think I am in trouble with Heidi, it wasn’t our wedding anniversary. Our 30th anniversary is still a year and a few months away. Now that I am thinking about it, I had better write that down somewhere so I don’t forget. Otherwise, I might end up in the doghouse.

 

The anniversary I forgot came on November 2, 2023. That date marked the 10th anniversary of a monumental event for Bridgeport and Harrison County. It was a crisp fall afternoon in Ona, West Virginia, on November 2, 2013, for the West VirginiaState Cross Country Championships. Seven young men from the Bridgeport High School Boys Cross Country team made history that day.

 

These seven represented a much larger team. In cross country, the team's top seven run in championship races. Many teams, especially the ones in our program, tended to be much larger. We often had 50 or more boys and girls on our team. This particular year, our boy’s team was deep. Out of about 20 young men, we had at least 10, if not a few more, that could have been state qualifiers.

 

A crowd of parents, current and former team members, and community members had traveled from Bridgeport to support and cheer for our runners. That day, the BHS Girls XC team had one state qualifier in the competition, Rachel Fulks. Rachel is now Rachel Dearth. She is married to BHS alumni Matt Dearth. The girl's teams ran first. Rachel did not have her best day, but it was still a very respectable race. She finished 38th out of nearly 100 runners.

 

The boy's race came next. One hundred and thirteen boys stepped up to the start line. As team boxes were assigned alphabetically, we were camped in the furthest box to the left. The rest of the field stretched out to our right. The seven young men lined up for BHS that day were seniors Abe Merinar, Matt Dearth, and Zach Abbot; juniors Arryn Tennant, Troy Pallay, and Michael Duez; and sophomore Ian Frailey.

 

Their feet positioned against the start line, standing motionless, poised, ready to explode across the grass, hearts pounding, a fierce gaze in their eyes. The tension-filled final seconds before the start of a cross country race is almost indescribable. The apprehension and excitement mix with the knowledge of the pain you are about to endure for the next 5000 meters.

 

At that moment, the runners know the preparation they have done will be put to the test. They know their mind, body, and determination will be tested.

 

The starter raises their flag into the air. Every muscle in the runner's body tightens. There is a deafening silence for the last few fractions of a second before the gun fires.

 

Suddenly, with the sound of the gun, silence turns to an uproar of screams and chants from the crowd lining the course. The runners are off. Gone is the apprehension, replaced by tenacity and grit. After fifteen or sixteen minutes of nearly sprinting over undulating terrain, including some significant hills, you are asked to reach deep within yourself and sprint the remaining three hundred meters to the finish line.

 

These seven young men did just that. All seven finished in the top 31 runners. Abe Merinar 1st, Matt Dearth 4th, Arryn Tennant 14th, Zach Abbott 15th, Troy Pally 22nd, Ian Frailey 27th, and Michael Duez 31st. Adding up the scores gave BHS 45 points, well ahead of runner-up Philip Barbour’s 104 points.

 

How significant was their accomplishment? Their victory was the first team Cross Country State Championship in BHS history. It marked the first State Championship for a BHS girl's or boys’ team in XC or T&F. It was the first State Championship for any school running team from Harrison County in the 55 years of XC and almost 100 years of T&F in West Virginia.

 

Their achievement, combined with the BHS girls T&F team’s State Runner-Up from a few months earlier, helped mark the beginning of a run of success for the young women and men of Bridgeport XC and T&F. The BHS teams claimed eight State Championships and seven State Championship Runners-Up in only six years.

 

Seven months after that first championship, the BHS T&F boys and girls teams traveled to Laidley Field in Charleston for the 2014 West Virginia State T&F Championships. On the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the West Virginia State T&F Championships, the BHS program claimed both team titles. A single school winning the West Virginia Girl's and Boy's State T&C Championships in the same year was a feat that had never previously been accomplished.

 

Here is a summary from the spring of 2013 through the spring of 2019. BHS finished State Runner-Up in Girls XC in 2018, Girls T&F in 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019, Boys XC in 2015, and Boys T&F in 2017. State Championships for the program came in Girls T&F in 2014, 2016, and 2018, Boys T&F in 2014 and 2018, and Boys XC in 2013, 2014, and 2016.

 

Those accomplishments resulted from a plan created, nourished, and cultivated since the early 1990s. Starting with a small number of athletes, no track, no cross country course, and almost no equipment, we grew. With the participation, support, contributions, and encouragement of the athletes, their families, the coaching staff, the school administration, and the community, we were determined to build our program.

 

The realization of this plan is symbolized by the achievements of those seven young men on November 2, 2013. It represents the struggle, hard work, and climb of so many athletes and teams who came before them and blazed a trail for the success that was and is to come.

 

Why Bridgeport? I know that the story is still unfinished. The 2024 BHS T&F season kicked off this past Monday, and the 2024 BHS XC season is set to begin in just five months. At this point, what they can achieve is only speculation.

 

I know, however, that the program is blessed with the leadership of coaches whom I respect and trust, the backing of the school administration, and the support and encouragement of the parents and our community. They are a family of athletes possessing intense dedication, a strong work ethic, and boundless determination.

 

Combined, they create a team poised to continue building upon the strong foundation constructed so many years ago. I see many great things ahead for these athletes and the entire program. I know they will make us proud.

 

Abe, Matt, Arryn, Zach, Troy, Ian, and Michael, I want to thank you on behalf of myself, our coaching staff, your teammates, your families, and our community. Indeed, your success on that bright, crisp autumn afternoon in Ona made history and led the BHS T&F and XC program into the future.

 

Yes, November 2, 2013, is a date whose anniversary always needs to be remembered.

 

Editor's Note: Top three photos are from Nov. 2, 2013, while the bottom photo shows where the labor of a season leading up to that day holds the final reward.