April 21 Edition
The Bridgeport News

by Jeff Toquinto
News Editor

Bridgeport High School Matt Wilson went into
Saturday's Harry Green Invitational Track Meet at
Wayne Jamison Field a bit under the weather. The
junior was suffering some chest congestion and other
cold-like symptoms that made him feel a bit sick.
By the end of the fourth annual event Saturday, Wilson
had managed to make the rest of the crowd sick by
winning four events to take home high-point honors
with 40. That total was a big reason the BHS boys
outdistanced a field of 16 teams from across West
Virginia to take home the title with 121 points. That
mark was well ahead of Preston’s runner-up mark of 81 points.
“Matt has been high point athlete at every
invitational we have attended,” said BHS boys coach
Jon Griffith. “He's done that at the Doddridge Host
Harrison, the Erickson (Camden Clark) meet (in
Parkersburg) and even though we don't check for high
points for weekday meets, he probably had the most points there as well."
Wilson took home wins in both of the individual hurdle
events. He posted a time of 15.31 seconds to win the
110 meter hurdles by nearly a second and came back
with a time of 40.99 seconds to take the 300 meter hurdles.
After that, Wilson took his act to the field events.
And the results were the same.
Wilson managed a mark of 6 feet, 4 inches to win the
high jump. He then came back to win the long jump with
a leap of 19 feet, 6.75 inches. Wilson's high jump was
a half a foot more than the runner-up.
"I thought I did all right considering how much I was
coughing during the meet," said Wilson, who said the
illness was related to allergies he's experienced
throughput the year. "I could have done better, but at
the same time I'm happy with the results."
The scary part of Wilson's early-season showings? He's
been battling allergy related symptoms throughout.
"I finally starting to feel better," said Wilson.
While Wilson was doing damage individually, the relay
teams were busy wrapping up the title. BHS won three
of the five relay events on the day, including the
4x100, 4x200 and shuttles relay.
The 4x100 team of Alex McElfresh, Steven Lewis, Philip
McElfresh and Jeff Weimer posted a winning time of
44.49 seconds. The 4x200 team of A. McElfresh, Lewis,
Wesley Eades and Weimer were also impressive with a
time of 1 minute, 34.59 seconds. The shuttles team of
Grant Burton, P. McElfresh, D'Andre Parker and Justin
Findley took home the final win in 1 minute, 1.23 seconds.
"Our sprint and hurdle relays have been doing a great
job," said Griffith. "It's commonplace for the to
break meet record and school records this year."
On the girls side, the Indians managed to take a
fourth place finish. The Tribe's total of 58.5 points
was off the winning mark of Preston (113), Morgantown
(96) and Berkeley Springs (62) in the 16-team field.
A big reason for the Tribe's finish was the effort of
freshman Kendall McCaugherty. McCaugherty won two
events - the high jump and the long jump - to lead the way.
McCaugherty, who started the year a bit slow, jumped 5
feet, 6 inches to win the high jump, which was higher
than any mark in the state in 2004. She then came back
to win the long jump with a mark of 5 feet, 3.75 inches.
"This is her home field and she is comfortable here,"
said girls coach Jim Dawson. "We had great weather and
I think that helped her performance. As the weather
improves and jumping conditions improve, I think she can improve."
The 4x102 shuttles team also won. Marie Conley, Lora
Gallagher, Kara Miller and Sarah Abbate won with a
time of 1 minute, 11.28 seconds.
"They ran their best splits this year," said Dawson.
"It took that to win and they did it."
The girls team had several standouts nursing injuries
or out with injuries. Junior standout Lauren Gilbert,
who had led BHS in several meets this year, did not
participate, but is expected back in the fold soon.
"I was pleased, overall, with the team's performance,"
said Dawson. "We need to work on our sprint relays and
keep getting better. If we do that then we'll be be
strong and the end, which is when it really counts."
As for the meet itself, Griffith said the feedback was
positive. Griffith said all of the visiting coaches
indicated they would like to return in 2006.
"All the coaches, athletes and officials I spoke with
had the highest praises for the meet," said Griffith.
"If you take into account everything that we do for
this meet ... I would rank it as one of the few meets in the state."
Griffith had kind words for his sponsors. Including
the meet's title sponsor, they included KCI Aviation,
Wilson Martino, Bridgeport Physical Therapy,
Huntington Banks, Waste Management and Damons.