BE’s Brahim breaks girls cross country 5K record

The Bishop England and Philip Simmons High School cross country teams both showed they are more than capable of being state championship contenders after last Sept. 17’s Waccamaw Warrior Invitational, which was contested on Pawleys Island.

 

Both schools had numerous runners set personal records on a day that was ideal for running. The meet attracted 47 teams and 274 runners in both the boys and girls competition and 45 runners turned in national elite (silver) performances over the 5-kilometer course.

 

The Bishops and Iron Horses were well represented in the national-elite category. Bishop England had six runners turn in national elite performances, led by Justin Hafner and Nora Brahim, who both set school records at the Grand Strand meet.

 

Philip Simmons, meanwhile, had eight runners who met the national elite requirement, including Ryan Rousseau and Laura Perry.

 

Nation Ford, a Class AAAAA school, won the boys meet with 60 points. Bishop England finished second with 88 points and was the top Class AA finisher. Philip Simmons finished third overall with 101 points and was the top Class AAA finisher.

 

In the girls’ race, defending class AAAAA state champ James Island won with 36 points. Philip Simmons was second with 83 points and Wando third with 113 points. The Bishops claimed fourth place with 115 points.

 

Bishop England junior Justin Hafner, who set a school record in the season-opening Eye Opener meet, broke his own record by 24 seconds with a clocking of 15 minutes and 4 seconds. He finished second in the state last fall and helped the Bishops claim the Class AAA state title. 

 

Brahim, who is only a freshman, set the BE girls record with a time of 18:06 to break the record of 18:32, which was set by Jeanne Stroud in 2008. Freshman Grace Buss finished 13th with a time of 19:28 which was a national elite effort.

 

Madison Riley was 29th, Marlee Asmer 33rd and Nini Clarke was 38th. 

 

The varsity boys were led by Hafner, who was the Class AAA individual runner-up last fall.

 

Charlie Tessier, James Romano and Marc Brahim all turned in national elite times for the Bishops with respective finishes of 13th, 14th and 18th places. Eighth-grader Andrew Curl also ran well.

 

The Philip Simmons girls, who finished second in the state last year at the Class AA level, finished second to James Island. The Trojans have the top girls team in the state, regardless of classification and is one of the best teams in the southeast.

 

The Iron Horse girls had five runners earn national elite efforts, led by Perry, who ran a time of 19.01. Phoebe Cogan, Matea Payer, Josie Mays and Emmy Wood also had national elite performances.

 

Rousseau led the Iron Horse boys with a time of 15:51. Also turning in national elite efforts for the Iron Horse boys were Ian Mullaney and Joseph Wright.