Bridle Hits For The MVC Track Cycle

If there was any doubt as to whether or not track superstar would go down in history as one of the top performers ever to lace up a pair of cleats in the Merrimack Valley Conference, the question was answered once and for all

Already considered to be one of the most successful runners in MVC track history with eight league championships to her name, Bridle captured her ninth and 10th career MVC gold medals at the 2012 MVC Championship meet, and is so doing accomplished something no other MVC track athlete has ever done, according to Bridle breezed to a runaway victory in the 200 meter dash championship, adding the 200 meter title to a collection of league championships that already included the 100 meter dash, the 300 meter dash and the 400 meter dash, borrowing from baseball lore and hitting for the proverbial cycle in high school track.

"As far as we know, no one has ever done that before, in the history of the league," said an emotional Byrnes afterward. "She's either won or been part of 10 league championships, which puts her among the most successful athletes in league history, too. But to win the 100, 200, 300 and 400, that's unheard of."

Bridle actually won the league's 400 meter championship three times, as a freshman, a sophomore and a junior. Last May she accomplished the totally improbable by winning both the 100 meter dash and the 400 at the league meet. This past winter she captured the league's 300-meter title for the first time in her career, leaving the 200 as the only sprint title Bridle didn't own.

And even though Bridle had run the 200 competitively only a handful of times before Thursday, that didn't stop the Bucknell University bound speedster from blowing way the competition at the league meet. Bridle posted an astounding 25.64 time in the 200, crushing the field and finishing a full 1.3 seconds ahead of second place finisher Sydney Gillis of Andover.

Predictably, the unassuming Bridle deflected the credit for her accomplishments onto her teammates.

"It wasn't really about that," Bridle said when asked if she had switched to the 200 in order to go down in MVC history as the only female athlete ever to win league championships in all four sprint events. "We have (sophomore) Sara Semenza now and she's unbelievable in the 400, so that meant I could move to the 200. We thought about (winning all four titles) but it wasn't really like a driving force or anything. It was just something cool to do."

Bridle, who is the Tewksbury High record holder in the girls 300, had also been part of three MVC championship relay teams prior to last night. Moments after wining the 200, she capped off her MVC career in fitting fashion by running the anchor leg on Tewksbury's first-place 4x400-meter relay team, which crushed the rest of the field by almost three seconds, winning the league championship in 4:08.57. Semenza, Sarah Hogan and Kelly Quigley teamed up with Bridle to win that title.

"It's pretty amazing, when you think about it," Byrnes said of Bridle's "Grand Slam" in high school track. "She's got six individual titles to her name and I'm not sure anybody's done that. And she's been part of 10 different league championships when you count the relays. I know nobody's done that.

"She's probably one of the most accomplished kids in MVC track history," Byrnes added.

With only the state meets and graduation left before she moves on to run track at Bucknell, Bridle says she would have walked away happy even without adding the 200 meter title as the final piece of the puzzle.

"It's been complete, I think," she said. "It's not really about the records. As long as I run well, that's all I care about.

"I'm really excited, though," she added with a smile. "I've worked hard for it and I'm glad it paid off."