BE girls cross-country repeats as state champs!

Bishop England High School cross country coach Tony Colizzi crunched the numbers, and it added up to the greatest performance – and another state championship – in the illustrious history of the girls’ program.

 

“Five runners (finished) in the top 10 and seven in the top 15,” said Colizzi after his team dominated the Class AA State Championships with a 30-53 victory over Greer Middle College on Nov. 11. “This is definitely the best finish we have had at the state meet. We have never had all seven runners make all-state. This team also scored the fewest points in school history. This was the fastest team in school history.”

 

The Bishops, who repeated as state champs and earned their fifth state title overall, were led by Nora Brahim, who certainly didn’t suffer from a sophomore slump this fall.

 

Last year, she had a key role in the championship leading the Bishops with a second-place finish. Saturday, on a less than desirable day of weather, she did it one better. The sophomore covered the 5-kilometer course with a time of 18:22.25 to claim the individual gold medal.

 

The Bishops’ top seven runners all finished with all-state honors. In addition to Brahim, Madison Riley, Grace Buss, Marlee Asmer and Nini Clark all finished in the top 10. Bo Rosato and Kate Thomas also ran well, finishing in the top 15.

 

Brahim’s winning time was a national elite effort as was Riley’s run. The senior clocked in at 18:55.20.

 

BE BOYS FINISH THIRD

 

Meanwhile, the Bishop England boys have discovered winning an elusive seventh state title can be challenging.

 

The Bishops won state titles in 2020 and ’21. But they finished second last fall and were in third place once the final runners crossed the finish line.

 

Greer Middle College won with 29 points while Academic Magnet was second with 54 points. The Bishops claimed third with 66.

 

James Romano led the Bishops with a seventh-place finish of 16:51.42. Senior Charlie Tessier also earned all-state honors with a 10th place finish.

 

Marc Brahim was 14th, Jackson Muller 16th and Emmett Reardon finished in 19th.

 

Freshmen Gabe Hislop and Ben Huntington also ran for BE.