The odds of completing the track meet were slim due to approaching late afternoon storms. A dozen schools including Mansfield took the chance and traveled to Mena for the Bearcat Senior Relays in hopes of running one more time before AAA mandates forced a two week hiatus.
Early success for the Tigers took place for both the men’s and women’s teams of Mansfield before the games committee canceled the remaining events after the 400m race.
Tiger throwers were up early when MHS junior Brooke Wright won the discus. Her toss of 91 feet outdistanced all competitors by nearly four feet. Senior teammate Janna Coplin set a personal record by topping 83’ 8” for third place in the same event.
For the Tiger men, Bri Sanderson picked up the pace with a monster hurl of 118’ 4” in the discus. His attempt was good for second place. Jacob Brown followed with at 97’ 9” spin for fifth place.
Wright and Sanderson doubled up for their respective gender teams to score high in the shot put as well. Wright pushed the 4kg brass ball a season best 31’ 5” for second place for the Lady Tigers. Sanderson launched the 12 pound silver shot 38’ 2” for third for the Tiger men.
Shawn Brown added to the Mansfield men shot put points when he pounded out a fourth place shot put of 37’ 7”. Shaddon Moore continued the Tiger throwing success with seventh and eighth places respectively in the discus and shot.
Hailey Burns added points to the Lady Tiger coffers with sixth and seventh place marks in both implement events.
Sadie Roberts continued her early season dominance in the high jump. The sophomore state indoor champion over took the field for first place in the vertical leap. She gained 5 points in the triple jump as well as contributed to the second place 4x100m relay team that was silver medalists.
Delilah McKusker, Makayla Strutton, and Danielle Lillie comprised the remaining legs of the Lady Tiger sprint relay. Those same three crossed in consecutive order in an earlier run 100m high hurdle race. Lillie was second. Strutton went third. McKusker finished fourth.
Mansfield’s men went fourth in the 4x100m relay. John Branche, Codi Chick, Austin Carlton, and Randal Claude took care of the stick work in that sprint cooperative.
Ethan Chapman continued his upward trend in the men’s 1600m run. The sophomore distance specialist nearly equaled his personal record with a 5:08.74 clocking around the 4 lap race.
More distance value came from Hope Rainwater, Katlynn Moore, Darby Jones, and McKenzie Griffin with second place effort in the women’s 4x800m distance relay. All but Jones ran the 1600m run as well producing another consecutive finish. Griffin was fourth. Rainwater went fifth. Moore finished sixth.
Ryan Hayslip and Logan Yoss scored in the pole vault. Renden Emery did so in the high jump and triple jump.
Harleigh Mars and Shelby Cole pointed in the 400m dash. Micah Smith scored in the 100m dash.
Mansfield’s senior girls tallied 111 points in the abbreviated meet. They trailed Waldron’s 136 when the meet was called with five events to go.
Mansfield’s men were inching forward at 52.5 points for third place overall when storms entered the area prompting the early dismissal. Only Waldron and Mena were above the Tigers in point totals when teams left the stadium.
