May 12 Edition
The Bridgeport News

by Jeff Toquinto
News Editor

Just how good Bridgeport’s boys and girls track teams
are compared to the rest of the state remains to be
seen. Just how the good the teams are against foes
from Harrison County and the Big 10 Conference is no longer a question.
Last week, the BHS boys and girls teams rolled to wins
in the county and conference track meets. Both meets
were held at the Track to the Future Complex at Wayne Jamison Field.
Last Friday, with both teams going at near full
stength, they wiped out the field in the Big 10 meet.
Earlier last week, the Indians also hammered their
county foes in the Harrison County met.
In the Big 10 meet, the boys totaled 189 points, well
ahead of runner-up Liberty with 84. The girls
collected 188 points, which easily was in front of
second place Nicholas County with 81.
The teams were led to the winner's circle by a pair of
juniors. Matt Wilson and Lauren Gilbert collected high
point honors with 40 and 30.5, respectively. Their
efforts helped boys coach Jon Griffith and girls coach
Jim Dawson win coach of the year honors.
For the boys, Matt Wilson was head and shoulders above
the field. He won all four events to singlehandedly
outscore three of the eight teams in the field. Wilson
won the 110 high hurdles (15.07 seconds), the 300
hurdles (39.71 seconds), high jump (6 feet, 4 inches)
and long jump (19 feet, 8.25 inches).
"Matt's getting better, but he still has a ways to go.
Still, I couldn't have asked for much more from him," said Griffith.
The Indians got three more wins in the meet. Two of
those wins came in the relay events, while the Tribe
managed another individual win.
Philip McElfresh won the 100 dash in 11.36 seconds.
The win came in the first meet McElfresh competed in
as he battles back from injuries.
The Tribe won the 4x100 and 4x200 events as well. The
4x100 team of Alex McElfresh, Steven Lewis, Wesley
Eades and Jeff Weimer won in 45.51 seconds; while the
same group won the 4x200 in a time of 1 minute, 35.52 seconds.
"I was pleased to have Phillip McElfresh back for at
least one event," said Griffith. "Alex McElfresh did
well in the open sprints for his first-time running
four events this year. Everyone put forth a lot more
effort that we saw Tuesday for the county meet."
Gilbert won two individual events on the girls side of
the Big 10, and also was a member of a winning relay
team. Gilbert rounded out her total with a runner-up finish.
The jumior speedster won the 200 (28.09 seconds) and
the 400 (1 minute, .48 seconds). She took second in the 100.
The Tribe had three other individual wins. Allie
Alonso took the 800 (2 minutes, 35.96 seconds), Sarah
Abbate won the 100 hurdles (16.57 seconds) and Kendall
McCaugherty won the high jump (5 feet, 4 inches).
BHS also won the 4x200 and 4x800. The 4x200 team of
Abbate, Kayla Lynch, Jenna Fogg and Gilbert won with a
time of 1 minute, 52.89 seconds; while the 4x800 team
of Jennifer Alastanos, Stephanie Posey, Fogg and
Alonso had a winning time of 10 minutes, 51.12 seconds.
On May 3, the Tribe took out the field in the county
meet. The boys finished with 128 points to outdistance
Robert C. Byrd and Liberty, both of whom finished with
71 points. The girls won by an even larger margin as
they finished with 133.5 points. RCB was second at 72.
The boys win had the same theme - Wilson was dominant.
The junior won all four of his events to take the high
point medal. He won the high jump (6 feet), the long
jump (19 feet, 3.25 inches), the 110 hurdles (15.45
seconds) and the 300 hurdles (40.2 seconds).
The only other individual win came from Weimer. Weimer
took the 100 with a time of 11.49 seconds.
The usually strong relay teams managed just one win,
and it came in the 4x200 relays. The team of
McElfresh, Lewis, Eades and Weimer posted a time of 1
minute, 35.17 seconds.
The girls took the win in the same manner as the boys.
The group took five wins - three individual one two
relays - and placed high throughout all of the events
to accumulate their total.
The 4x800 and 4x200 teams took the wins. The 4x800
team of Alastanos, Posey, Claprood and Alonso had a
time of 11 minutes, 20.75 seconds; while the 4x200
team of Abbate, Lynch, Fogg and Gilbert posted a
winning time of 1 minute, 54.75 seconds.
Individually, the wins game from McCaugherty, Abbate
and Gilbert. McCaugherty won the high jump (5 feet, 4
inches), Abbate claimed the 100 hurdles (16.93
seconds) and Gilbert took the 200 (27.97 seconds).
The Indians will see how they stack up against their
regional foes today. The Class AAA, Region ..
competition will be held at Lewis County High School.
"Jefferson and Martinsburg will be very tough," said
Griffith. "They have large schools and a lot of
athletes to choose from. We will just go and do our
best and hope everything works out in our favor."
Girls coach Jim Dawson could not be reached for comment.