From The June 5 Edition of The Bridgeport News
Boys State Track Meet

by Jeff Toquinto
Editor of The Bridgeport News

Throughout most of the 2003 prep track season,
Bridgeport coach Jon Griffith said Chris Hampton
didn’t always, and couldn't always, go full tilt in all of his events.
The reason - concern with a hamstring and a hip
flexor; the same injuries that caused Hampton to
struggle at the state tournament as a junior and an
injury he reaggravated at this year's Gazette Relays.
This weekend, the rest of the state found out what
Griffith already knew. With injuries not a concern,
Chris Hampton is the state’s best in the long jump and
the 100 meter dash. In fact, Hampton won both events
at Charleston’s Laidley Field to help push the Indians
to tie their highest finish ever at the state track meet.
The seventh place finish was also only a few points
shy of getting fourth. The point total, however, was
the highest ever for the Indians. It surpassed the
1994 team, which also was seventh with 28 points, by
totaling 42 points during the two-day meet.
Not only did Hampton, who was the fifth highest point
scorer in the meet with 21.25 points, push the Indians
up high in the Class AA standings, he also did
something Griffith said no other BHS athlete has done
in the same year. And, that’s win two state titles.
He also was the first individual titlist since 1971.
Thirty-two years ago, Steve Frome won the pole vault
at the state meet with a mark of 12 feet, 2 inches.
While both wins by Hampton were impressive, the win in
the long jump may have been expected. Hampton has
dominated the event throughout his senior season.
“Chris has been consistent in the long jump,” said
Griffith. “He has had jumps of 21 feet, plus in almost
every meets. Plus, the majority of his jumps of have been over 21 feet.”
Nothing changed in Charleston. Hampton cleared 21
feet, 7 inches to take the title.
"I was just blocking everything out and wasn't
worrying about the other guys when I was jumping,"
said Hampton. "I did the same thing in the 100 and it really seemed to work."
In the 100 meters is where Hampton really stepped up.
In the preliminaries, Hampton was second with a time
of 11.33 seconds in his heat. In the finals, he was a
blur. The speedster turned it up a notch and won the
event with a time of 10.95 seconds.
“We thought he had a good chance at winning the 100
because he was ranked in the top three most of the
year,” said Griffith, who noted the rankings are a bit
skewed due to different timing systems across West
Virginia. “Chris hadn’t really pushed himself to his
full potential in the 100 in order to avoid aggravating his hamstring.”
With it being the last meet of the season, Hampton was able to go full tilt.
"It helped me knowing that this was the last meet
because I didn't have to worry about it bothering me
the next time out," said Hampton. "What also helped
was the fact I had been there before. I wasn't nearly
as nervous as the year before."
Oddly enough, the first place finishes came on an
afternoon less than desirable for most thinclads.
Rain, wind and a bit of lukewarm temperatures made
things a bit sloppy. That, however, was just what
Hampton was looking for.
Griffith said his standout likes the bad weather.
“I don’t know why he likes it,” said Griffith. “He
tells me he just prefers warm, wet weather.”
The reason, according to Hampton, is simple.
"This may sound odd, but the rain just calms me down," said Hampton.
The weather was in Hampton’s favor when he helped the
4x100 relay team to a sixth place finish. Hampton,
Alex McElfresh, Josh Goad and Jeff Weimer posted a time of 45.6 seconds.
Hampton also was involved in another relay team that
placed. The shuttles hurdles team of Hampton, Phillip
McElfresh, Grant Burton and Matt Fischer was fourth
with a time of 59.53 seconds.
Another strong showing came from the dynamic high jump
duo of Matt Wilson and Fischer, both of whom have been
among the state leaders all year in that event. In the capital, they didn't disappoint.
Wilson and Fischer both cleared 6 feet, 2 inches.
Wilson's combined totals put him second, while Fischer ended up finishing fourth.
"We expected both of them to finish in the top five,"
said Griffith. "... Anyone of the top five could have
placed first. We were very pleased with their efforts,
considering both will be back next year."
Another field event also saw two BHS athletes placing.
In the pole vault, the Tribe's B.J. King cleared 12
feet, which earned him fourth, and R.J. Powers cleared
11 feet, 6 inches, which was good for sixth.