BROOKLYN — In cross country, running a 5-kilometer race in less than 15 minutes is akin to rolling a 300 game or pitching a no-hitter. And having four sub-15 runners in the field made the Division 2 boys state championship the most competitive out of the eight contested at the Michigan International Speedway on Nov. 2.

Dearborn Divine Child seniors Anthony and Michael Hancock, East Grand Rapids senior Evan Bishop and Fremont junior Nathan Walker came into the race with those impressive credentials, and sure enough, by the mile mark, the quartet broke away from the pack.

As the two-mile mark approached, Bishop surged with Anthony Hancock giving chase, and the other two fell back, yet still well ahead of the rest of the other 241 runners in the event. Bishop hung on to win in 15:12.6. Anthony Hancock was about 30 meters behind (15:18.2), and his brother out-sprinted Walker to the finish to take third (15:23.7 to 15:23.9).

“I didn’t really expect Bishop to try and gap us as much as he did,” Anthony said. “I sort of knew that he would be expecting us to out-kick him if we took it to the line, so he did gap us out there, and when he did gap us, he just pushed it really hard to the finish.”

“I just wanted to stay as relaxed as possible, and then leave it all out there,” Bishop said. “(I needed to) trust the training, and trust my coach and my teammates. I know my teammates are all out here pushing themselves to the limit, so I also wanted to do the same thing for them.”

This was the third year that both Hancocks earned all-state honors for finishing among the top 30.

“Going into the race, we were hoping for (first and second place). That didn’t happen, but we did get 2 and 3,” Anthony said. “I knew that Michael and Walker would be battling it out, and I had the feeling that Michael would beat him; his kick is so strong. And then I turned around and I saw him passing.”

The weather conditions (windy with light rain and snow flurries) were less than ideal for racing, as was the footing on the muddy course (tempered by three days of rain earlier in the week).

“Outside of the stadium, it wasn’t really windy; I think the wind was at our backs, and then once we got into the stadium it was so windy,” Anthony said. “I thought, 'I just have to push to keep my spot; don’t lose it.'”

Bishop said the circumstances played to his strong suit.

“Some of my best races are in the worst conditions, so times are out the window, but you still have to compete against the guys that are going through the same conditions,” Bishop said. “Last year I was second three times, so to win this, I couldn’t be happier.”

While none of the four broke 15 minutes on Saturday, all finished at a pace under 5 minutes per mile, which is another impressive benchmark.

Even though Walker was fourth among the group, he had the better support system, as his Fremont teammates captured the team championship with 68 points. Divine Child was sixth at 224 points, while East Grand Rapids finished seventh at 262.

In addition to the Hancock brothers, three other Catholic school competitors from Metro Detroit also earned all-state honors: Divine Child freshman Michael Hegarty finished 19th in the Division 2 race at 16:23.8; Novi Detroit Catholic Central senior Luke Perelli was 10th in the Division 1 competition at 15:47.6; and Pontiac Notre Dame Prep senior Jennifer Ohlsson finished ninth in the Division 2 girls field (18:34.9).

It was the second such honor for Ohlsson, and the first for both Perelli and Hegarty.

Spurred by the Hancocks — who both have committed to continue their running careers at the University of Michigan — the Falcons’ sixth-place finish was the best of the day among 15 Catholic schools competing.

In addition to the Divine Child boys, three other squads had top-10 finishes: Catholic Central was ninth in Division 1 with 257 points; the Divine Child girls were ninth in Division 2 with 307 points; and the Clarkston Everest Collegiate girls were 10th in Division 4 with 317.

The Falcon girls led six Catholic schools in the Division 2 race, which also included Warren Regina (15th, 399 points), Macomb Lutheran North (23rd, 552), Notre Dame Prep (24th, 583), Bloomfield Hills Marian (25th, 588) and Ann Arbor Fr. Gabriel Richard (28th, 689).

Behind Everest in the Division 4 girls race were Allen Park Cabrini (11th, 318) and Royal Oak Shrine (25th, 546). Grosse Pointe Woods University-Liggett was the Catholic High School League’s only team competing among Division 3 girls, and the Knights finished 27th (811).

Other Catholic League boys squads competing included Warren De La Salle (27th, 726 points) in Division 1, Madison Heights Bishop Foley (21st, 533) in Division 3, and Cabrini (19th, 442) in Division 4.