May 23 - Kodie Miller
by Jeff Toquinto
Editor of The Bridgeport News

When the West Virginia State Track and Field
Championships gets underway tomorrow at Laidley Field
in Charleston, Bridgeport will have a large number of
participants on both the boys and girls side of the
ledger. Among those looking to help BHS win a state
championship on the girls side will be Kodie Miller.
Miller will be doing her best to help the 4x400-meter
and the 4x800-meter relay teams win, or at worst,
place during the two-day championship. Thanks to
Miller and her teammates’ showing at last week’s
Region II championship, she deserves the shot.
Sadly, Miller won’t be getting a shot to participate
in one other event. The event is the 800-meter run.
Why? The state track and field meet only accepts the
top four finishers from each region and Miller
finished fifth in the competition at Robert C. Byrd
High School.
So why do we say sadly? It’s simple.
Miller’s time of 2 minutes and 26.35 seconds should
have proven to be more than just the second time this
year she’s broken the school record. It should have
been enough to put her on the track at Laidley.
While the senior’s time wasn’t good enough for the top
four at the regional, it was the fifth best in the
state, according to track coach Jim Dawson. In fact,
Dawson said her time would have easily won the Region
III meet.
“It’s a shame she doesn’t get to perform in the
800-meter run in Charleston,” said Dawson.
It seems a shame to yours truly as well. It should
also seem a shame to those at the West Virginia
Secondary Schools Activities Commission.
It almost goes without saying the same situation has
happened before. It’s also possible it’s not just
happening to Miller this year.
How do you fix it?
It might surprise you to know that I don’t think you
simply send those with the best times or greatest
distances from the regional meets to Charleston.
Although I understand you want the best athletes in
Charleston for the meet, I also would agree that you
have to have some representation from every corner of
the state at events such as this.
If you simply went with the top times, what’s the use
of the regional? If you did opt for that method, you
can better believe a top finisher from Region II would
likely get burnt as well, which leads me to how the
WVSSAC might remedy the situation.
Why not opt for one, or even a few, “wild card” spots
in certain events. That way if you have a region that
has the six best pole vaulters in the state, number
five or number six isn’t penalized if they have an off
day.
While the WVSSAC probably has a whole lot of other
problems to worry about, perhaps it’s time to take a
look at how youngsters make it to Charleston. After
all, if you can’t get all of the best to the capital
city this weekend, efforts should be made to get as
many of them as possible there.