In 2007, Mansfield’s track program finally broke through with a state title. After a couple of fourth place finishes, two thirds, and a pair of runners-up; Mansfield kept inching closer to the big trophy but never stood atop the podium. Then, it happened! Followed by another and another and another until the Lady Tigers were a bona fide dynasty.
Mansfield’s senior girls track and field team went on an incredible 4 year run from 2007 through 2010. Trophies stacked up, records fell, and 8 different rings filled the fingers of some mighty hungry track athletes. With this historic timeline reviewed, directors of the Mansfield Wall of Fame selected this combined era of Lady Tiger track for induction into this year’s WOF Class.
The players, coaches and managers making up the 2007 – 2010 track collective will join 9 individual inductees at this year’s upcoming WOF Induction Ceremony. A reception along with a public introduction of the WOF Class of 2025 will take place on October 17 at Mansfield High School.
As this date approaches, we offer a deeper look into the profiles of each of the new members. This week the spotlight will shine on the Mansfield track teams that raised the bar for future generations. This is a look at the MHS senior girls state championship track teams from ‘07, ‘08, ‘09, and ‘10.
The productivity of the Lady Tiger track program was making a lasting impression across the state during this special time of Mansfield athleticism. Most notably, the group won 4 consecutive indoor and outdoor state titles, 4 straight conference titles, and countless regular season meets.
The 2007 track team was the first Mansfield collaboration to hoist a state championship trophy since the 1986 girls basketball team. Although they had gotten close in previous campaigns, the group never had the numbers to take them over the top. Finally, the addition of a couple of strong classes with emerging talent joined an otherwise experienced few. Now armed with an ability to dispense a larger wealth of skill sets across a wider range of events, the crew climbed to the top and never looked back.
Meagan Graves (Clark) was an All-State sprinter and one of three seniors on that first title team. Some 18 years after the fact, she framed the experience this way.
“It was an honor to compete alongside a team whose dedication, perseverance, and unity led us to our first state championship,” Graves (Clark) announced.
“Being inducted into the Wall of Fame is more than a recognition of past achievement. It is a lasting symbol of the legacy we built together and the inspiration we hope to pass on to those who follow.”
Mansfield went undefeated at home, at conference and at state during those four consecutive seasons. Individual Lady Tigers collected 40 All-State awards, 50 All-District plaques, 16 state records, 17 school records and 8 state championship trophies and rings. If “bona fide dynasty” needs a description, let this be the illustration.
This initial group proved a state title was possible. The ‘07 team won the combined 1A-4A ATCA indoor title in Fayetteville by 34 points behind the comforts of a full squad. The tougher outdoor state finals they won by only 8.75 points.
The outdoor state finals have long been recognized as a tougher task because a team can only send those athletes that make the advancer file out of conference play. Also, outdoor has 3 extra events (2 back then) to cover. In contrast, a team can send its entire roster to the indoor state finals which carries only a 14 event schedule, although that’s now restricted to 2 athletes per event (3 back then).
Mansfield fought back the charge of a stubborn and favored Green Forest squad at the ‘07 outdoor finals hosted by Harding University in Searcy. Remarkably, MHS carried only 10 athletes and competed in only 12 of the 16 events for the close contested victory.
A suddenly more confident 2008 team crushed the competition the following season. They scored 124 points indoors through all 14 events and 176 at outdoor in all 16 qualifying events. Both state titles were won by more than doubling the point totals of their nearest opponents.
Danielle Clem (Godwin), one of three seniors on that second state title team, was recently asked to think back to her time as a Lady Tiger track athlete.
“In 2007 and 2008, I earned All-State honors as a Mansfield Tiger,” she noted with a discernible hint of joy reflecting from her face, “an achievement that still fills me with pride.”
She went on to say. “More than a title, it was about being part of a legacy built on grit, discipline, and heart. Mansfield girls track wasn’t just a team; it was, and still is, a tradition of excellence that I’m honored to be a part of.”
By the 2009 season, MHS was firmly in control averaging a whopping 175 points per meet. Sporting its largest roster in decades, the 32 person roster was deep and dominant. In fact, at the district finals that year, the team won all 17 events and accumulated a staggering 342 total points in the single meet.
Reflect upon one distinguishable fact to gain a perspective as to how dominant that particular 342 point total was. Mansfield would have still won the ‘09 conference championship had all the other six district schools combined their point totals.
Perhaps the most complete team in Tiger track history, the ‘09 squad was beyond good. Historically unheard of, this team qualified in every single event to the prestigious Meet of Champs, basically the All-Stars of all classifications. With that many MOC qualifiers, it would be no surprise to know that this particular MHS lineup could have left the 3A outdoor state finals after the conclusion of field events and still come away comfortable winners.
Olivia McKay (Smith), an All-State and Meet of Champs qualifier that season, was one of 9 seniors on Mansfield’s third title team. A team pillar for three straight years, McKay expressed much the same sentiments as the previous team leaders upon hearing the WOF news.
“The ladies on the 2007 – 2010 track teams worked incredibly hard and were able to achieve amazing accomplishments,” McKay (Smith) sent by text from her home in Hoover, Alabama. “The people on those teams will forever be special to me and it’s such an honor to be recognized alongside them.
“Thank you to the coaches for recognizing our abilities and putting us in a position to be successful,” she would go on to write. “It’s an honor being recognized as a team and going on the MHS Wall of Fame!”
By 2010, Mansfield was traveling to some of the biggest meets in the state. Regular season meets at Van Buren, Southside, Bentonville, Fayetteville, a combined college and high school meet at the University of Arkansas were intentionally scheduled for the challenge.
By this time, Mansfield had made the cover of VYPE High School Magazine twice. Team members modeled GTM uniform styles in a promotional sports equipment catalog. The Arkansas Track and Field Hall of Fame proclaimed Mansfield as the Lewis McCollum Track Program of the Year. And, the United States Congress awarded the team national recognition by flying an American Flag over the Capitol in the team’s honor.
In 2010, the Lady Tigers scored 1,755 points over the course of the season. They produced 6 state records, 5 school records, won 6 regular season meets, district, and both state finals. The class of 2010, with 8 highly recognized and decorated seniors, had completed a perfect four year run.
Danielle Fry (Overton), an All-State Lady Tiger relay runner, saw her fair share of state titles in high school. The current Mansfield assistant track coach and head cheer coach not only collected all 8 track and field state rings, but she also won 2 more on Mansfield’s top rated cheer squad. That’s an astonishing total of 10 state championships by her 2010 graduation date.
Uniquely suited to carry on the traditions of both sports, Fry (Overton) returned home to Mansfield to coach. As success follows success, she had coached 2 state championship cheer squads and 5 state runner-ups at Lavaca High School before coming home to her alma mater.
She explained her time in a Lady Tiger uniform like this.
“Some of my greatest memories from high school were being a member of the Lady Tiger Track team. It was an honor to be a part of the team from 2007 – 2010, and it is an honor to know my team is being inducted into the Wall of Fame in Mansfield.
“Being a part of those teams has shaped so much of who I am today, and as a coach myself, I aspire to have the same leadership qualities that my coach demonstrated to us.”
