BE XC competes against top talent in Wendy’s Invitational

The Wendy’s Invitational is one of the ultimate high school cross-country races in the South. The annual event attracts the top teams from South Carolina and North Carolina, and is so exclusive that teams must be invited by the meet director.

 

The Bishop England girls’ and boys’ teams were on the receiving end of one of the invitations to the Oct. 7 event, which was held at the Larry McAfee Course at McAlpine Park in Charlotte.

 

The Bishops made their first appearance at the event, which featured more than 100 schools, and the 5-kilometer race lived up to its reputation.

 

“The Wendy’s Invitational always attracts the top competition from South Carolina and North Carolina,” Coach Tony Colizzi said. “This was the first year we were able to compete in the meet. This year’s competition did not disappoint, as many of the top teams from both states competed. The competition was great for our teams, and they ran very well.”

 

There were three races on the day, and the Bishops competed in the White Division, which pitted the top teams in head-to-head competition.

 

The Bishop girls finished in eighth place in their division, which included 36 teams and 241 runners. The Bishop girls were led by Nora Brahim, who ran a national elite time of 18:59.63, which was good enough to finish in 14th place overall.

 

Madison Riley finished in 26th place, Grace Buss 64th, Marlee Asmer 76th, Olivia Seymour 118th, Kate Tomas (129th, 21:44) and Caroline Edgerton 160th place.

 

The Bishop boys finished in 20th place out of 38 teams in a race that included 265 runners.

 

Charlie Tessier led the Bishops with a time of 16:48, which was good enough for 45th place in the individual finishes.

 

Jackson Muller was 59th, Marc Brahim was 107th, Gabe Hislop 143rd, Andrew Curl, 192nd, Ben Huntington 197th and Jude Asmer was 233rd.

 

“This experience was great for both the boys and girls team,” Colizzi said. “It was nice for them to run against kids they had never competed against. Competing against different competition allows them to better gauge how their season is going.”

 

The Bishops are in full gear as they prepare for the ultimate race, the High School League’s State Championships, which will be held in Newberry next month. They will get to preview the course this weekend, when they compete in the Bob Jenkins Coaches Classic.

 

“The teams are looking forward to competing at Coaches Classic,” Colizzi said. “Both teams should do well. The girls’ team in particular should place very high at the meet and gets another chance to compete against their top rival, Greer Middle College. Both schools have been running well this season and this will be the third time that they will compete head-to-head.”

 

After that the Bishops compete in the Region 7-AA championships on Oct. 19.

 

Currently, the Academic Magnet boys’ team is ranked No. 1 in the region, while the Bishops are No. 2.

 

The BE girls are No. 1 in the region, followed by Academic Magnet and Oceanside Collegiate.