Depth Paves Way for BHS Track and Field Teams to Sweep Harry Green Invitational
By Chris Johnson on April 13, 2025
Both the girls and boys track and field teams for Bridgeport High School were missing a handful of key competitors for Saturday’s annual Harry Green Invitational.
One could hardly tell though by looking at the final scores as the Indians swept the team titles in dominant fashion.
The girls finished with 211 points to take first place over South Harrison (88), Fairmont Senior (80), Buckhannon-Upshur (51), Magnolia (43), Northern Garrett, Md. (36) and Preston (19).
The boys won with 201 points. Fairmont Senior was the runner-up with 73 points and followed by South Harrison (71.5), Buckhannon-Upshur (55.5), Magnolia (52), Preston (41) and Northern Garrett (20).
Familiar faces for BHS like LeeAnn Gaskins (out of town at a wedding), Bria Smell (out sick) and Timmy Jeffress (out with a minor injury), to name a few, were certainly missed, however Bridgeport’s depth allowed for other athletes to step up and fill the void when it comes to collecting team points.
Senior sprinter Giana Cox competed in her first full meet of the season and took high-point honors for the BHS girls. Cox won the 100 (12.80), the 200 (27.03), the 400 (1:00.81) and ran the anchor leg for the first-place 4x100 team that posted a blazing time of 52.69. Joining Cox were Savannah Courtney, Eliza Perine and Emma Kniceley-See.
Myleigh Smell had a personal record time of 16.07 to take first place in the 100 hurdles. Carley Lattea added a third place time of 17.44 and Katie Backus was fourth at 17.71. Smell was the runner-up in the 300 hurdles with a time of 49.04, which was also a PR. Lattea was fourth in the 300 hurdles at 53.13 and Scarlett Edgell was sixth at 53.90.
Smell, Lattea, Backus and Edgell joined forces to win the shuttles with a time of 1:12.10.
The girls distance medley relay team of Mikaela DeMoss, Emma Ahmed, Ashley McBrayer and Sara Rexroad took first place with a time of 14:12.37.
In the final track event of the meet, the BHS girls’ team of Abigale Stewart, Violet Vash, Lyla Kelley and Ellie Bongiorno captured first place at 4:39.63.
The BHS girls went 1-2 in the high jump with Stewart winning after clearing 4-10 and Backus cleared 4-08 to take second place.
In the shot put, the Indians went 1-2-3 with Lyza Halterman winning with a throw of 35-09, Becky Pepper-Jackson second at 32-10 and Isabella McCullough third at 31-00.
That same trio went 1-2-4 in the discus. Halterman picked up her second win after a throw of 103-11. Pepper-Jackson was the runner-up at 103-11 and McCullough was fourth at 82-01.
“It’s nice because we have some depth and we have some girls that can do, maybe not the exact same (as the ones out), but something close,” BHS girls coach Ali Burton said. “We are able to kind of plug and play and see each week, try something different for in the long run what will be best. It’s like a big puzzle, what will be the best way to fit it together in the end.”
Also for the BHS girls, Edgell was third in the long jump (14-11.25), DeMoss was the runner-up in the mile (5:48.92), Bethsayed Dankiewicz was fifth in the 1,600 (6:00.59), Haydn Henderson was fourth in the 100 (13.63) and fifth in the 200 (28.09), Courtney was sixth in the 100 (13.93) and Kniceley-See was second in the 200 (27.73)
The BHS girls’ sprint medley relay team of Kniceley-See, Courtney, Eliza Perine and Vash posted a runner-up time of 2:02.11.
In the 800, Rexroad came in fourth at 2:39.42 and Ahmed was sixth with a time of 2:45.15.
Other first-place finishes for the girls on Saturday were Northern Garrett’s Kaylee Bowser in the 3,200 (12:22.22), South Harrison’s Savannah Holden in the pole vault (7-06), Buckhannon-Upshur’s Rylen Carlyle in the long jump (15-11.50), Preston’s Zoey Borgman in the 1,600 (5:42.19), Fairmont Senior’s Sophie Starn in the 300 hurdles (49.01), Fairmont Senior’s team Sydney Longwell, Tillie Cinalli, Starn and Charleee Beersford in the sprint medley relay (1:59.74) and Fairmont Senior’s Sadie Kirkland in the 800 (2:34.13),
Bridgeport’s Gabe Martin won the boys 110 high hurdles with a time of 15.93. Sawyer Culicerto added a fifth-place time of 23.31.
Kieran Moore gave the BHS boys a win in the 400, finishing with a time of 54.86.
In the boys distance medley relay, the Indians’ team of Quentin Collier, Moore, Ethan Smell and Troy Zorick took first place with a time of 11:16.93.
Martin teamed with Aiden Gorby, Alex Moses and Antonio Robinson to win the spring medley relay with a time of 1:43.40.
The Indians picked up another sprint relay win as Moses, Antonio Robinson, Donte Pierre and Noah Kintz joining forces to run a 45.45.
In the shuttles, Martin, Culicerto, Gorby and Braeden Matthis took first place with a time of 1:02.55.
Jackson Holtz won the boys high jump, clearing 5-06. Also for the BHS boys, Smell finished third at 5-02.
In the boys pole vault, Noah Kintz gave the Indians another first-place finish, clearing 12-06. BHS picked up six more points in the event thanks to Parker Muncy clearing 9-00 to finish third.
Wes Brown Jr. won the boys shot put at 45-10, Carter Zuliani was third at 43-04 and Jaylen Brown was fifth at 41-04.
Zuliani took first in the discus with a throw of 146-02. Bear Metheney placed fifth with a throw of 115-09.
“Some of those younger kids that we thought would be making some moves later in the season seem to be making them a little bit earlier which is really good to see,” BHS boys coach Grant Burton said. “Kieran had an awesome 400 win today.
“If you just look at Gorby. He looks physically different. Obviously, he’s put in the work for football but his foot speed is quicker, his hurdle form is better. He’s doing a really good job.
“I also thought Gabe had a really good meet. He ran great in the highs. The shuttle team did great again and I thought Gabe did well in the SMR. He volunteered himself for that 400 spot.”
Also for the BHS boys, Gorby was the runner-up in the long jump at 19-05.50.
Daniel Yearego was third in the 3,200 (11:16.96) and Cole Phillips finished sixth in the 3,200 (12:31.51).
Gorby was third in the 300 hurdles (45.35) and Culicerto was fifth in the 300 hurdles (46.42).
Pierre came in third in the 100 (11.91) and Dominick Robinson was fourth in the 100 (11.93).
Smell was the runner-up in the 1,600 (4:45. 99) and Parker Muncy placed fifth at 4:58.53.
In the 800, Zorick ran a third-place time of 2:09.08 and Collier was fourth at 2:10.96.
Pierre (23.65), Moses (23.74) and Dominik Robinson (24.49) went 2-3-4 in the 200.
The Indians’ 4x400 team of Oren Sutphin, Dominik Robinson, Connor Hensley and Carson Bastin posted a runner-up time of 3:56.36.
Other first-place finishes for the boys were Fairmont Senior’s Cannon Dinger in the long jump (20-02), B-U’s Jack Waggy in the 3,200 (9:45.31), South Harrison’s Nehemiah Sears in the 300 hurdles (43.86), South Harrison’s Jaden Hatfield in the 100 (11.16) and 200 (22.97), Fairmont Senior’s Josiah Brannen in the 800 (2:01.18) and South Harrison’s team of Hatfield, Owen Baker, Shepard Paugh and Sears in the 4x400 (3:54.33).
Editor’s Note:Top photo shows Myleigh Smell clearing a hurdle on the way to posting the best qualifying time in an event she would later take first place in. Second photo is of Cox (right) pulling ahead of Fairmont Senior’s Charlee Beresford to win the 400. Third photo features Martin (left) preparing to take the baton from Gorby and in bottom photo Moore (left) takes the baton from Collier.
Photos featuring the senior recognition for the BHS track and field teams during the break at Saturday's Harry Green Invitational will be available on Connect-Bridgeport in the upcoming days.
