#7 - Gabrielle Joyce
Gabrielle Joyce anchors a tough defense proven to keep Oxford in a lot of games for Girls Soccer. The Lady Chargers only allowed 1 goal in 190 playoff minutes to Center Hill and New Hope (where they did not allow a goal) but only lost because of penalty kicks - where the defensive line is taken out of the equation.
She was one of the two underclassman Captains (with now-Junior Zoe Scruggs) last year with only one Senior on the squad last year (thus retaining nearly their entire starting lineup from last year - and returns the entire defense).
It will fall on Joyce and the rest of the D-Line to keep Oxford in games if the offense has as hard of a time scoring like it was last year. They would love to have breathing room when they have to defend their Region 1-5A Title from last year. Out of the 9 games I attended last year, Joyce and the defense held their opponents to 2 goals or fewer 7 times, including both games in the playoffs.
In Cross Country, Joyce has one of the Top 20 times in 5A having broke 17 minutes last year in the Tupelo Invite last year. She needs a time like that at the State Meet next year to give the Girls Cross Country a fighting chance to win the school's 9th title in the sport. She finished 21st last year but 50+ seconds off her personal best she had set in that Tupelo meet.
She also participates in Girls Track having run the 400m dash and 800m run during her career at OHS.
#3-12 have come and gone - #2, then #1 will respectively be released over the next two Fridays. You may have noticed a certain sport hasn't had a student-athlete show itself on this list yet...
**Editor's Note: This is the tenth of 12 Dandy Dozen Seniors I am releasing which will be done every Friday. This release ends the random number release rankings. You can see a schedule of which number will be released next HERE. #2 will be released next week.