Strong effort carries BE's cross country teams to 2nd place at state
The effort was valiant, but the Bishop England High School cross country program’s bid for victories came up short Nov. 14 at the Class AAAA state championships.
Both the Bishop boys and girls finished in second place as the cross country season culminated at the Aiken Steeplechase.
South Pointe edged the Bishop boys 73-76, while Daniel was third with 93 points.
Bluffton defeated the Bishop girls 61-104. May River was third with 115 points. The top three teams in the girls’ race were from Region 6-AAAA.
“Both teams put up great effort at state,” said BE coach Tony Colizzi. “The boys battled South Pointe all season, and it was a great battle at the state meet against them. The boys ran very well; unfortunately our No. 5 runner was unable to finish the race, and our Nos. 6 and 7 runners could not make up for the loss. I don't believe we could have done anything differently to help get the boys over the top; they ran well and gave us their best effort on the day.”
Colizzi said the Bishop girls ran well, although their bid for a sixth state crown was denied.
“The girls' team knew going in that its No. 3 runner was battling an illness and that they were all going to have to run well if they wanted to finish in the top two,” the veteran coach said. “The girls did what was needed, and they brought home the runner-up trophy. It was a great day for the girls as they were battling against schools that have enrollments two to three times that of BE’s enrollment.”
Connor Good, Jackson Muller, and Gabe Hislop earned all-state honors to lead the Bishop boys. Good claimed third place with a time of 16 minutes and 8.54 seconds over the 5k course. Muller finished fifth, while Hislop placed 13th. Logan Schallenberger was 18th, and Jude Asmer placed 39th.
Nora Brahim led the Bishop girls with a bronze medal performance with a clocking of 18:38.59 to earn all-state honors. Siena D’Agostino was 17th, Katie Cheverie was 18th, Grace Buss was 32nd, and Maggie Wall finished in 34th.
It was Brahim’s final race as a Bishop.
“Nora has definitely left her mark on the program,” Colizzi said. “She has been an all-state athlete all six years she has been on the team. She has finished third three times, second twice, and first place one time. We will miss her, but we are excited to see her run next year at Samford University (Alabama)."
Colizzi also had praise for Good.
“Connor has been an amazing addition to the boys’ team,” Colizzi said. “As a first-year runner, he was our No. 1 runner. This is really impressive because he was doing competitive swim at the same time that he was competing with the boys' team. Connor led his swim team to a state championship and guided the boys cross country team to a state runner-up finish. I believe he is the first athlete at BE to bring home two trophies in different sports in the same season.”