* Padua Academy's Anna Bockius is one of two Week 2 COROS Distance Athletes of the Week
Photo Credit: Derek Dingle/MileSplit
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Rocco Culpepper after a 9th place finish at Brooks XC Nationals this fall.
Class of 2026
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Rocco Culpepper had a busy weekend up in Oregon at Hayward Field after opening his home Niwot Invitational with a 4:09.66 win in the 1600m last week. On Friday Night he'd compete in the Mile with his biggest competition being his teammates Quinn Sullivan and Hunter Robbie. The pace would be taken out with leaders going through 409m in 1:02.38 and Culpepper sitting in 10th behind Sullivan in 9th in 1:03.42. The pace would slow up a little over the next 400m as they went through 809m in 2:07.
The Niwot duo was done wasting time as Culpepper began to push the pace as they'd go through 1200m sitting 1-2 in 2:09.10 with Yosuke Shibata (South Euguene, OR) holding on in third after leading through 809m. Sullivan would pass his teammate in an exciting last 400m where they duo closed in 56.68 for Sullivan and 56.85 for Culpepper. Culpepper would make a late charge to pass his teammate for a narrow win in 4:05.95 to 4:05.97. He did not make the pass until right at the line sneaking through on the inside of Sullivan.
He'd come back on Saturday night to compete against a strong 800m field. Mana Voss would take the pace out in 53.86 with Culpepper sitting in third in 54.97. He'd be able to make up some ground, but Voss would hold on to take the win with Culpepper running a personal best of 1:50.56.
Culpepper now ranks US#2 for 1600m/Mile and US#4 for 800m with a big 3200m test ahead of him this weekend at Arcadia.
Watch Anna Bockius win the 2025 DIAA 1600m State Title in 4:49
Anna Bockius, Padua Academy (DE)
Class of 2026
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Anna Bockius of Padua Academy (DE) went to the Rustin Invitational and in a solo effort ran a new 800m personal best of 2:06.47. Her mark was the fastest time over 800m last week and is US#3 so far this outdoor season! She took the pace hard from the gun in her 800m outdoor debut going through 400m in 1:00.3, six seconds ahead of the field. She'd close in 1:06.1 en route to her new personal best.
Her best event has shown to be the 800m, but Bockius has range with a Mile personal best of 4:49.51, a 10:20.70 3200m PR and a 56.48 400m Dash. She also is strong in cross country and has been a DIAA cross country state champion the last three seasons and was 9th at NXR Southeast this fall.
In 2025 Bockius ran a 2:09.60 over 800m indoors and opened her outdoor season in 2:10.88. She ended the season with her previous 800m personal best of 2:07.21. If she's already in 2:06 form without any competition, Bockius is set up to have a monster senior outdoor track season.
Girls 800 Meter Run Finals
| Place | Video | Athlete | Team | Mark | Wind | Heat | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Anna Bockius | 12 | Padua Academy | 2:06.47 | 4 | ||
| 2 |  Julia Ziemniak | 12 | West Chester Henderson 01 | 2:14.40 | 4 | ||
| 3 |  Brooklyn Brown | 9 | Avon Grove 01 | 2:14.92 | 4 | ||
| 4 | Paige Ballinger | 10 | Padua Academy | 2:16.00 | 4 | ||
| 5 | Teresina DeAscanis | 12 | Padua Academy | 2:16.23 | 4 |
Note:
This is a series that will run every week on MileSplit. We will be naming our COROS Distance Athlete Of The Week each week as we finish out the indoor and season and move into outdoor.
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