Out of nowhere
- Updated: October 26, 2017
Anniston boys, PV girls win county team championships; PV’s Miller, Alexandria’s Nunnelly win individual gold (free content)
By East Alabama Sports Today
OXFORD — The boys team that won the Calhoun County Cross Country Championship Thursday literally came out of nowhere to do it.
Three months ago Anniston didn’t have a formal cross country team. On Thursday, the Bulldogs were running to the podium and doing their “who-we-are” dance to collect the championship trophy.
The Bulldogs placed five runners in the top 12 and edged two-time reigning champion Pleasant Valley by three points, 41-38, for the title.
Christian Myles’ 12th-place overall finish was Anniston’s fifth finisher — five spots ahead of PV’s No. 5 — to give the Bulldogs the points they needed for the popular victory.
“That was really cool, a success story,” said White Plains coach John Moore, who encouraged the top Bulldogs’ runners this summer to put together a team. “That’s the kind of stuff you make movies out of.”
James Haynes was the first Anniston runner across the line, finishing fourth; the team went 4-5-7-10-12; PV finished 1-6-8-9-17.
“That shows me they know what the word ‘team’ means,” Anniston coach Lisa Howard said. “They made sacrifices for the team all the time. They came out today and ran hard and I could not have asked for anything more from them.”
PV senior Matisse Miller won the race, setting the meet record in 16:55.86. White Plains freshman Jake Moore was second in 17:09.29, a school record.
Pleasant Valley won the girls team race, coming from 10 points behind a mile into the race to edge Alexandria by nine points. It’s their second straight county crown and third in the last four years.
Alexandria junior Abby Nunnelly was the first across the line, returning to the winner’s circle for the first time since 2013. She fell early in the race, but kept the leaders in sight and eventually passed them on the way to a 19:48.41.
Nunnelly won the event as a seventh-grader at Ohatchee. She is the first runner to win the County for two different schools.
“I’m glad one of them was mine,” Alexandria coach Phillip Hartsfield said.
These stories will be updated for premium subscribers.
To see a gallery of photos from the race visit www.bjfranklin.smugmug.com
CALHOUN COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP
GIRLS RACE
Team scores: Pleasant Valley 31, Alexandria 40, White Plains 89, Oxford 119, Ohatchee 130, Jacksonville 158, Saks 210.
Top 15 individuals
(All-County recognition)
Abby Nunnelly, Alexandria 19:48.41
Trinity Roberts, Pleasant Valley 20:52.71
Rachel Faucett, Pleasant Valley 21:08.51
Briar Poytress, White Plains 21:11.96
Mary Shelton, Jacksonville 21:32.70
Gracie Hood, Pleasant Valley 21:52.96
Michaela Moore, Alexandria 21:59.79
Allasha Dudley, Anniston 22:04.17
Juliana Ballew, Pleasant Valley 22:12.49
Sarah Kilgore, Alexandria 22:22.14
Catie Hulsey, Alexandria 22:25.62
Brittany Caywood, Ohatchee 22:29.52
Emma Hood, Pleasant Valley 22:32.54
Michaela Watts, Alexandria 22:36.91
Katie Snow, Alexandria 22:56.91
BOYS RACE
Team scores: Anniston 38, Pleasant Valley 41, White Plains 69, Oxford 114, Ohatchee 159, Sacred Heart 162, Alexandria 193, Jacksonville 193, Faith Christian 230, Donoho 267.
Top 15 individuals
(All-County recognition)
Matisse Miller, Pleasant Valley 16:55.86
Jake Moore, White Plains 17:09.29
Reed Robinson, Oxford 17:16.54
James Haynes, Anniston 17:17.05
Miciah Myles, Anniston 17:35.84
Skyler Mcleod, Pleasant Valley 17:41.05
William Farley, Anniston 17:48.57
Jacob Gladen, Pleasant Valley 17:57.90
Dekota Roberts, Pleasant Valley 17:58.34
Tony White, Anniston 18:08.60
Luke Larson, White Plains 18:18.67
Christian Myles, Anniston 18:22.77
Gabe Hammonds, Ohatchee 18:23.14
Dylan Hulsey, Oxford 18:31.89
Blake Noah, Ohatchee 18:37.30
You must be logged in to post a comment Login