May 27, 2004
by Jeff Toquinto
Editor of The Bridgeport News

The 2004 Bridgeport boys track season didn’t end with a state title, but last week’s state track meet held at Charleston’s Laidley Field saw the Indians score their most points and place higher than ever before in the season’s final competition.
The Tribe scored 50 points, which was good enough for fourth place in the Class AA competition. BHS scored 42 points in finishing seventh last year. Before that, the highest total was 28 points in 1994.
"The best thing was to see the kids give their all in what were difficult conditions to compete," said BHS boys coach Jon Griffith. "The temperature was well over 100 degrees on the track on both days."
Unlike last year, where the Tribe’s total was boosted by two state titles from Chris Hampton, who scored 21.25 points, this year’s 50 points was a collective effort. There were no individual titles, but had several strong individual efforts and another solid showing in the relays to amass the total.
Although there were no wins, the Indians did have two individuals earn runner-up at the state meet. Raymond Powers, in pole vault, and Matt Fischer, in high jump, earned those distinctions.
Powers cleared 13 feet in the vault, which matched the mark of the eventual state champion. However, Powers lost on jumps. Bridgeport's David Haws, who came in third, also cleared 13 feet, but was a victim of jumps. The marks tied the school record.
Fischer was just off the winning mark of 6 feet, 6 inches in the high jump. He finished the day by clearing 6 feet, 4 inches. The individual that topped him, Tony Belt of Berkeley Springs, is the same individual Fischer beat in the regional.
"We both jumped the same at the regional meet, but I beat him because of the scratch jumps," said Fischer. "I wasn't disappointed that I got second, but more because I didn't get my personal best (6 feet, 6 inches). Considering that I wasn't feeling it and my steps were off a bit, I was glad to get second."
Individually, it was Wilson that had the big day with a team-high 13 points. He finished third in the 110 meter high hurdles (15.47 seconds), fourth in the high jump (6 feet, 2 inches) and sixth in the long jump (19 feet, 10.75 inches).
"He didn't have his best day on Saturday," said Griffith. "Still, he had a pretty good showing."
Wilson concurred with his coach.
"I thought I did pretty good," said Wilson. "Our shuttles team did the best we have done all year."
The big points came from the relay teams, one of which Wilson was part of. The Indians sent four groups to Charleston and all four placed in the top six.
The top finish was in the shuttle hurdle relays. The team of Grant Burton, Phillip McElfresh, Fischer and Wilson came in second with a time of 58.42 seconds. That mark set a new school record. The old mark of 59.48 seconds was set in 1996.
In the 4x100, the team of Shawn Adkins, Steven Lewis, McElfresh and Josh Goad came in third. They posted a time of 45.09 seconds. The same group was sixth in the 4x200 with a time of 1 minute, 34.43 seconds.
The other relay as finished sixth. The team of Patsy Sabatelli, Kyle Sappington, Ben Booth and Haws posted a time of 8 minutes, 36.51 seconds in the 800 meter relay.
Goad rounded out those that placed for BHS. He came in sixth in the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.75 seconds.
Griffith believes the team could have fared better had standouts Jeff Weimer and Alex McElfresh not been injured and able to participate. The coach said they may have added up to 20 more points.
"It would have made the meet a lot more interesting for us at the end," said Griffith.