Reloaded Deerfield-Windsor cross country team eyes region and state titles

ALBANY – The Deerfield-Windsor boys’ cross country team is aiming for a strong season despite the challenge of rebuilding after losing three key seniors. Head Coach Jake Clawson believes staying healthy will be crucial to their success.

“If we can be the best version of ourselves on state championship day, I think we can win it,” Clawson said. “There are other strong teams like Westminster and Athens Christian, but we can’t control them. All we can do is train.”

Clawson is optimistic about the talent on his team, expecting them to be favored to win the region. He also sees a real possibility of a state championship if the team performs to its potential.

Deerfield-Windsor graduated seniors Garrison Slaughter, Jackson Belusko, and Michael Collins from last year’s region championship team, which stumbled at the state meet partly due to health issues. “We picked a bad day to have a bad day,” Clawson said.

This year’s squad includes four seniors, led by Ethan Newsome, who is expected to be the first Knight across the finish line. Newsome finished sixth overall at the Patriot Pride Invitational last Saturday with a time of 17:02.33. However, he has set his sights much lower.

“That was just the first race,” Newsome said. “It was kind of like shaking the rust off. I’m working to get my time down to the low 16s or high 15s. That’s where I want to be.”

Other seniors on the team include Bowen Bailey, Wade Singleton, and Bob Baranko, but some of the runners likely to score for the Knights aren’t seniors. Freshman Whatley Fountain, who had the second-fastest time of any eighth grader in Georgia last year, finished just six seconds behind Newsome on Saturday.

“I expect big things from Whatley,” Clawson said. “He’s a very talented runner, and we expect him to do well.”

Sophomore Mangham Pippin was the third Knight to finish on Saturday, clocking in at 18:18.33. Remarkably, Pippin’s time came just hours after returning from playing in Friday night’s football game in Americus.

“With a small school, it’s great to have athletes who can compete in more than one sport,” Clawson said. “Mangham doesn’t miss training time; in fact, he’s getting double the work. I have complete confidence that he can play football on Friday and still run well on Saturday morning.”

Junior Jack Moore, expected to make a significant impact this season, is currently rehabbing from foot surgery. Moore has suffered two broken feet but is hopeful to be back racing in two weeks.

“My goal is to get down to 17:30,” Moore said. “I want to do whatever the team needs from me, so I’m working hard to get back into shape.”

With Moore sidelined last week, freshman Daniel Roland and junior Drew Dowdy finished the scoring for the Knights. Also competing were Mills Cothren and Noah Tanner. Eighth graders Ross Garrett and Jordan Jantz finished in the top five of the JV race on Saturday and may provide additional support for the varsity team.

Clawson is pushing his team to face the best in Georgia. The Knights will compete this Saturday in Whitesburg at the Bob Blastow Invitational, where hundreds of the state’s top runners will gather. Last year, the top time at this meet was 15:09.80, set by Noah Martinson of Carrollton High School, with 55 runners finishing under 17 minutes.

The Knights will host their own meet at Albany State West on September 14, with their eyes set on the state championship at First Presbyterian Day School in Macon on October 26.

By Joe Whitfield
Sports EditorJoeWhitfield[email protected]