Jacket signsations

By EASportsToday.com
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Updated: December 18, 2024

Oxford marks the signings of cross country runner Maniscalco, volleyball players Prince, Montgomery and Bozeman.

Video by Joe Medley

By Joe Medley
East Alabama Sports Today

OXFORD — Oxford High’s girls sports flexed Wednesday.

The school held a ceremony to mark the college signings of four female athletes, including three players that just helped the school’s volleyball program set a school record with 45 victories in a season.

Cross country’s Emerson Maniscalco signed to run with the cross country gardens-spot program, Alabama-Huntsville.

Volleyball standouts Mileah Prince and Jazlyn Montgomery signed to be teammates at Auburn-Montgomery, and Oxford volleyball teammate Daelyn Bozeman will transition hitting to be a setter for Coastal Alabama Community College.

What follows is a look at the careers and college decisions of all four athletes:

Emerson Maniscalco

UAH has become a destination school for cross country athletes. The current roster includes Munford’s Taylor Simmons and Dakota Frank, a two–time Class 4A state champion; Southside’s Will Anglea and Jackson Griggs; and Oxford grad Noah George.

The men’s program won NCAA Division II South Regional championships in 2011 and 2019 and advanced to the NCAA championships nine times. The women have five appearances at the NCAAs.

Getting the chance to run there “is so meaningful, and the coaches there truly care about their athletes, not just as athletes but as people, as well,” Maniscalco said. “That was definitely a factor in me choosing to run there.”

Oxford cross country coach Landon Delozier said Maniscalo has run in 126 individual races, totaling 258.5 miles, since seventh grade. She has six wins and seven runner-up finishes, including the 2024 Calhoun County meet. She was also runner up in the Section 5 meet and the 3,200-meter run in the county track championship.

She’s had 44 top-five finishes.

“She’s been one of the most consistent athletes that I’ve ever had the pleasure of coaching,” Delozier said. “She shows up every day and works every day.

“She’s made an impact not only through her running but also developing our young athletes. We had a really young girls’ team this year.”

Daelyn Bozeman

She was a four-year starter and key player on two state-tournament teams as a right-side hitter.

“She’s a strong right-side hitter,” Oxford coach Wendy McKibbin said. “Being a left-hander is an advantage.

“She’s going to be setting in college, so that’s going to be different for her, but she can still be very effective as a setter/hitter when she’s on the front row.”

Bozeman chose Coastal over Snead State.

“I chose Coastal because of the coach,” she said. “I could tell that he really treats his players like family. They were super close.

“When I went there for a visit, it was like I had been playing for them, and I felt comfortable in the gym. I wasn’t scared or worried.”

Jaslyn Montgomery

Also a four-year starter and “leads the program in blocks over the past few years,” McKibbin said.

“She’s had a big impact on our program over the last four years,” McKibbin said. “We’ve made the state tournament two of the last four years, and she’s been instrumental in that. She will do well on the next level.”

Montgomery chose AUM because of its nursing program.

“It had everything I wanted, and Mileah is going,” she said. “I get another opportunity to play with my best friend at the next level.”

Mileah Prince

Also a four-year starter, she played right side, middle and outside. She has more than 1,000 career kills.

“She left everything she had out there on the court this year,” McKibbin said.

Prince said getting to play college volleyball with Montgomery fulfills a mutual dream.

“We’ve always dreamed of going to the same college and being roommates, but we never really thought it would happen,” she said. “We’ve been pepper partners since we were in seventh grade. We’ve been best friends, playing basketball and volleyball together.

“Now that we’re going to play college volleyball together, it means the world to me.”