Track title for BE girls comes down to a split second

In the end, the Bishop England High School girls’ track team came up 1.5 seconds short in its attempt to defend its Class AA state championship.

 

That was the difference between first and second place in the team standings as the June 18 state meet at Lower Richland High School came down to the last event of the day, the 4x400-meter relay.

 

The Bishops were tied with Gray Collegiate Academy at 69-69 as the Bishops and War Eagles leadoff runners took their blocks. After four laps around the track, Gray Collegiate crossed the finish line in second place with a time of 4 minutes, 15.19 seconds to grab the silver medal. The Bishops finished fourth in the event with a time of 4:16.59.

 

That gave GCA a 75-72 victory and its first state title. Bishop England was seeking to win its 15th state title since 2001. The Bishop girls own the state record with 14 state championships, and Saturday marked the third time BE finished No. 2.

 

“Losing by three points is a tough loss, and the closest loss we have ever had,” BE coach Tony Colizzi said. “It was our best 4x4 of the season, and even more impressive is that we had to run an alternate on the relay.”

 

The Bishops came on strong late in the season and improved on their sixth-place standing from a couple of weeks ago.

 

“This team has worked exceptionally hard all year,” Colizzi said. “Most weeks during the season, they put in six-day weeks with either a meet or another practice on most Saturdays. They came together as a team over the last few weeks, and I believe that was a huge driving force for their success in the championship season.

 

“Our seniors, led by Marlee Asmer, Caroline Edgerton, and Catherine Grizzle, wanted to go out on top, and they pushed the underclassmen to work hard in practice. The underclassmen definitely listened based on how well they did at the state meet.”

 

Sometimes, waiting for the final team scores isn’t for the faint of heart. While the Bishops lost the close encounter Saturday, they have been in state meets where they hoisted the biggest trophy after razor-thin victories, including Carvers Bay 61.5-61 in 2002, Emerald 79.5-75 in 2005, and Emerald 88-87 in 2005.

 

The Bishop girls had six athletes earn all-state honors, including Nora Brahim in the 1,600 and 3,200, Asmer in the 800 and 4x800m relay, Edgerton in the 4x800m relay, Grace Buss in the 4x800m relay and 3,200, Katie Griffin in the pole vault, and Caroline Wilson in the 4x800 relay.

 

Meanwhile, the Bishop boys improved on their 12th place finish from last year by holding down ninth place with 32 points in the state championships. Fairfield Central High School won the boys Class AA title with an 83-58 victory over Greer Middle College.

 

Marc Brahim was one of three BE boys who earned all-state recognition in both the 1,600 and 3,200 runs. Patrick Asher was all-state in the discus, and Jack Leahy was all-state in the 400 dash. The Bishop boys had athletes enter in 12 of the 18 events.