BE and PSHS cross-country teams tune-up at Bob Jenkins Coaches Classic

The Bishop England High School cross-country teams offered quite a 1-2 punch at last year’s Class AA state championships with the girls’ team winning the state championship while the boys captured second place.

 

This year could yield similar results if the Oct. 14 Bob Jenkins Coaches Classic is any indication. A week after both teams excelled at The Wendy’s Invitational in Charlotte, the Bishops fared well at the Coaches Classic with the boys capturing third place in the International Division while the girls held down seventh place.

 

Seventy-eight teams competed in the International Division of the race, which was contested in Newberry and will be the same course that will host the state championships the weekend of Nov. 3-4.

 

The Philip Simmons boys and girls also competed at the Coaches Classic. The Iron Horse girls, the defending state champ in Class AAA, finished six overall in the International Division which featured 37 teams. The Iron Horse boys finished seventh out of 41 teams.

 

Bishop England coach Tony Colizzi was pleased with his teams’ efforts.

 

“Both teams competed very well on Saturday,” Colizzi said. “The boys’ team had a great day. It was the first time all season they have had their top seven runners compete on the same day. They have been working hard in practice and their goal was to run well at the meet. They definitely achieved that goal with the third-place

overall finish against 41 of the top teams in the state. The two teams that finished ahead of them are ranked No. 1 and No. 3 in the state for all classifications. Our Nos. 1-7 runners all had very good days: Charlie Tessier, JJ Romano, Jackson Muller, Marc Brahim, Gabe Hislop and Andrew Curl.”

 

The Bishop girls had two runners finish in the top 10 and record national elite performances: Nora Brahim and Madison Riley. They were followed by Marlee Asmer, Grace Buss, Niamh Clarke, Kate Tomas and Bo Rosato. The girls finished as the top AA school in their race.

 

Colizzi said finishing 1-2 in the state will be a challenge – a challenge his teams accept.

 

“Repeating last year’s results is going to be tough but both teams are capable of finishing where they did last year,” Colizzi said. “The girls will again be battling Greer Middle College for the championship trophy. The boys’ team will be in a battle for state runner up with Academic Magnet.”

 

Pierce Walker led the Philip Simmons boys with a 25th-place finish while Joseph Wright, Ian Mullaney, Ryan Rousseau and Matthew Perry finished in the top 100. Wesley Patterson and Stone Sweatman rounded out the Iron Horses’ top seven runners.

 

Avah Mallek led the Iron Horse girls with a fifth-place finish while Laura Perry was 17th. Kezia Varner, Lilah May, Anna Alomar, Josie May and Emmy Wood were the other runners.