Calhoun County, AL – Conn, White Plains’ girls back on top. Back from knee injury, Williams leads Oxford back to victory after key graduation losses.
By Joe Medley
Graduation left White Plains’ Maddyn Conn with lots of alone time in Thursday’s Calhoun County cross country meet, but graduation couldn’t knock Oxford’s boys off the top.
Those were the headlines in the 2023 county meet, as Conn bagged her third championship in four years, winning by nearly two minutes to leads White Plains to the team title.
Isaac Williams, back from a knee injury, led the boys’ field as Oxford had four of the top six finishers and got all five scoring runners in the top 15.
Conn finished in 18 minutes, 57.29 seconds, well ahead of Oxford’s Emerson Maniscalco (20:40.44), and White Plains had 46 points to Oxford’s 62. The Yellow Jackets edged out defending champion Jacksonville, which took third by a point.
Williams finished in 17:04.98 for his first county title, edging teammate Case Payne by nearly seven seconds, and Oxford’s boys had 28 points to White Plains’ 65.
Graduation threatened to be the biggest winner. Gone from last year were the top three finishers for Oxford’s boys, two-time winner Noah George, second-place finisher Evan Somers and sixth-place finisher Andrew Nordan.
That didn’t stop Oxford’s boys. Besides Williams and Payne (17:11.40), Matt Tippets took fourth in 17:42.71, and Phil Copeland was sixth in 17:57.52. Jack Houston also made All-County, finishing 15th in 18:42.81.
“That boils back to focusing on the guys who may not be top five,” Oxford coach Landon Delozier said. “Last year, we had a bunch of guys, four through nine, that were all fighting for that top-five spot, and now we’re reaping the benefits from that.”
Williams was victorious after missing three races for what he called “pretty bad tendinitis” in his left knee. He underwent physical therapy during his down time.
“I’m no Noah George yet,” he said. “Coming off of injury and starting off with this is a good feeling.”
The girls’ field lost the 2022 winner, Oxford’s Katie Keur, the UAB signee and one of Conn’s top competitors since Conn broke onto the high school cross country scene. Two years ago, Conn also battled teammate Anna Strickland, now at Jacksonville State.
Conn, Keur and Strickland all showed up in the same race pictures in 2021. Conn and Keur ran together last year.
No one stayed close to Conn on Thursday. She broke from the pack as the mass start paraded by the gallery. Her nearest company drove the lead four wheeler.
Conn glided across the finish line then hit the ground after pushing herself so hard. After some recovery time on a nearby bench, she returned to the finish line to root teammates across.
“I’m just really proud of our team,” she said. “We had a few that finally broke 23.”
All five White Plains runners made All-County Thursday. Abbie Dickeson (21:09.36) finished fifth, Koralys Garcia (22:04.19) 11th, Kate Reeves (22:44.96) 14th and Shelby Wilkins (23:01.36) 15th.
White Plains’ girls avenged last year’s loss to Jacksonville, which overcame the then-defending champion Wildcats 52-55.
“The girls have worked hard all season,” White Plains coach Chase Cotton said. “Jacksonville got us last year out here, and they kind of had that in their minds. They really, really wanted it today..”
2023 Calhoun County XC Meet
At McClellan
BOYS
Team scores: 1. Oxford 28, 2. White Plains 65, 3. Pleasant Valley 97, 4. Alexandria 102, 5. Donoho 130, 6. Piedmont 166, 7. Jacksonville 206, 8. Ohatchee 229, 9. Saks 235, 10. Faith Christian 237.
Top 15 finishers
All-County
1. Isaac Williams (Oxford) 17:04.98
2. Case Payne (Oxford) 17:11.40
3. Jayden Veazey (Pleasant Valley) 17:39.71
4. Matt Tippets (Oxford) 17:42.71
5. Christian Sotelo (White Plains) 17:43.03
6. Phil Copeland (Oxford) 17:57.52
7. Braxton Williams (Pleasant Valley) 18:21.61
8. Caden Birchfield (Alexandria) 18:26.42
9. Alexandria Boling (Alexandria) 18:30.94
10. Jaiden Gacia (White Plains) 18:33.93
11. Cameron Rogers (Faith Christian) 18:35.38
12. Hunter Hartwell (Donoho) 18:35.89
13. Riley Hunter (White Plains) 18:38.80
14. Riley Goodson (Donoho) 18:39.44
15. Jack Houston (Oxford) 18:42.81
GIRLS
Team scores: 1. White Plains 46, 2. Oxford 62, 3. Jacksonville 63, 4. Alexandria 84, 5. Piedmont 133, 6. Pleasant Valley 159, 7. Saks 199.
Top 15 finishers
All-County
1. Maddyn Conn (White Plains) 18:57.29
2. Emerson Maniscalco (Oxford) 20:40.44
3. Aubrey Williford (Oxford) 20:48.87
4. Emma Easterling (Jacksonville) 21:06.75
5. Abbie Dickeson (White Plains) 21:09.36
6. JoJo Watson (Alexandria) 21:11.96
7. Kammy Buchanan (Alexandria) 21:13.59
8. Addison Williford (Oxford) 21:35.68
9. Mattie Todd (Piedmont) 21:41.88
10. Maddie Holt (Jacksonville) 21:50.40
11. Koralys Garcia (White Plains) 22:04.19
12. Gracie Easterling (Jacksonville) 22:13.16
13. Claudia Dempsey (Piedmont) 22:33.89
14. Kate Reeves (White Plains) 22:44.96
15. Shelby Wilkins (White Plains) 23:01.36
