By TOM WILLIAMS

We are running a little late again this year but Ocean City High School sports continued to succeed in 2025. OCHS teams won 17 championships during the 12 months of 2025.

But only one team had the ultimate season. They won the state championship.

The girls cross country team is the OCHS Team of the Year for the 2025 calendar year..

Coach Tim Cook’s teams have a pretty good record (35-1) in his fourth season at the helm. That is a .972 winning percentage. He has been named South Jersey Girls Coach of the Year. His girls won the county championship for the 37th time in 40 years and the fourth time in his four seasons.

In the state Group 3 meet, the Raiders finished with 94 points, 16 points better than runner-up Middletown South. Among South Jersey teams, Moorestown finished sixth, Mainland was 17th, Clearview 18th and Delsea 19th.

Sophomore Riley Tolson led the way, finishing third in the state meet. She actually was tied for second but lost the tie-breaker. Tolson won the South Jersey championship when seven OCHS runners finished in the top 12.

In the state meet, junior Carly Godfrey was eighth, junior Peighton Clemens finished 27th, sophomore Lenna Driscoll was 37th, freshman Bella Cera was 38th, senior Gabrielle Henry finished 54th and junior Lilly Flora was 70th out of 142 runners.

In Ocean City High School sports history only 27 teams have won state titles in over 110 years of competition. The last team to win a state championship was Andrew Bristol’s baseball team in 2021, The only other cross country team to win a state title was Mike Naple’s 1988 girls team..

The cross country team received state championship rings during Butch Gleason Coaches vs Cancer Day last month. That group included assistant coach Steve Hoffman and freshman Isabelle Edwards.

Ocean City’s success in girls cross country, which started with Naples, who had a 209-28 record in dual meets over 21 years, is continuing. The 2025 Raiders again had a season that will add to that reputation.

The 2025 OCHS Team of the Year – Girls Cross Country.

Coming Monday – the 2025 OCHS Athletes of the Year.