Thousands of miles of training has Bishops’ cross-country teams on track

Bishop England High School cross-country coach Tony Colizzi said the goals for his teams are simple for the 2025 season: win the Region 6-AAAA championship and improve on last year’s state finish.

 

The Bishop girls finished second at the state championships last fall, while the boys’ team finished sixth.

 

The BE girls return their top seven runners, while the boys have their top five runners returning.

 

The teams did not rest on last fall’s accomplishments in preparing for the upcoming season.

 

“For the summer, the boys’ team is approaching 1,700 miles as a group,” Colizzi said. 

 

“The girls’ team broke 1,000 miles this week. This is the first time in a long time that the boys’ team is putting in more miles than the girls.

 

“Summer running has gone pretty well,” Colizzi added. “The boys’ team has several new kids who have been coming most every day. Last week, many of our runners attended PR running camp in North Carolina. It was a great experience for them.”

 

The Bishops girls finished No. 2 in the state, and region competition made the Bishops a better program. Region rival Bluffton edged the Bishops 69-83 to win the state crown.

 

“The first year at (Class) AAAA was a battle, but both teams competed very well,” Colizzi said. “Both teams finished second in the region, which was a huge accomplishment since we were in the toughest region in the state. Our region placed four teams in the top 6 at the state meet for both the boys’ and the girls’ teams.”

 

The Brahim sisters – Grace and Nora – have plenty of experience. This will be Grace’s fourth year on the team and Nora’s sixth. Both have competed at the state level every year.

 

“It will definitely be hard to fill their shoes after this year,” Colizzi said. “They have both meant a lot to the program. The girls’ team, which was seeking its third straight state title, was led at the state meet by Grace Brahim, who finished third with a time of 19 minutes and 09.55 seconds over the 5-kilometer course at The Farm in

Newberry. Grace Buss finished ninth to earn all-state. Caroline Wilson was 18th, Katie Cheverie 27th, and Sienna D’Agostino was 28th. 

 

The Brahims’ brother, Marc, graduated in May. He ran cross country for five years and qualified for state four times.

 

Joining the Brahim sisters on the girls’ team includes Siena D’Agostino, Katie Cheverie, Caroline Wilson, and Addy Wood. 

 

Jackson Muller will lead the boys’ team. Other returners include Ben Huntington, Andrew Curl, Gabe Hislop, and Jude Asmer.

 

The Bishop girls began the season with five state championships, claiming their first state title in 2000. They won back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007 and again in 2022 and 2023.

 

The boys have won six titles with their first title coming in 2008 and their most recent in 2022.