FROM JULY 11 EDITION of THE BRIDGEPORT NEWS

by Jeff Toquinto
Editor of The Bridgeport News

In the first season of competition after what could
arguably be described as the best combined effort ever
by the Bridgeport High School track and field teams,
the playing field will be much different.
According to track coaches Jon Griffith and Jim
Dawson, track teams across the Mountain State will
have postseason competition against squads in their
own classification. Last year, the postseason
consisted of Class AAA teams in one competition and
Class AA-A teams in the others. This coming campaign
will feature Class AAA, Class AA and Class A track and
field championships.
"I think it's a good move by the WVSSAC," said
Griffith, the boys coach, on the move made by the
state's governing body of prep athletics. "In track,
we now have more than enough teams in 'AA' and 'A' to
warrant the three class system."
Griffith, whose team posted one of its highest
finishes ever in state competition - - last year,
said several teams going to the small school level are
state powers. Squads such as Doddridge County, St.
Marys, Wheeling Central and Williamstown, many of
which bounce between Class AA and Class A, are
perennial track power houses.
"If those teams move to a separate class, it certainly
can't hurt us any," said Griffith.
What it may hurt is the quality of meets, said Dawson.
Dawson, whose club made its best run ever with a
runner-up finish last year at the state meet, said
various scheduling issues may arise. The current
two-day state track meet will become an even longer
event unless scheduling changes are made, said Dawson.

"It will make the state meet longer adding a third
division," said Dawson. "The other problem will be
getting officials to regional meets now that there are
twelve instead of eight."
Dawson said some changes have been made to speed up
track meets. He pointed to changes in the sprint
hurdle races and shuttle hurdle events as key changes
aimed at speeding up meets.
Griffith said he's heard that there will be other
changes to speed up the state meet. Although not
certain, he said that some events will no longer be
preceded by time trials and instead go straight to
final competition.
Another issue Griffith pointed out to go along with
the possibility of a lack of quality officials may be
a lack of quality sites. That, he said, could be
remedied by several improved, or new tracks, coming on
line in West Virginia.
One thing that shouldn't change, said Griffith, is the
type of teams BHS will schedule for future meets and
what type of meets BHS will compete in.
"It's better to compete against a good Class A team
versus a weak Class AAA team," said Griffith. "As for
our meets, this past season we invited all classes of
teams and had some competitive meets. We are hoping to
improve the level of competition this season, no
matter what class the opponents are from."