Feeling the effects of some cooler temperatures, Mansfield’s junior cross country team pushed along the Sturthard Stampede 1.5 mile race in Acorn and brought home a pocket full of medals.
Six runners, three each off the junior girls and junior boys’ teams for Mansfield, made the awards stand at Acorn. Rather than split the competition into big school and little school divisions, the hosts handed out top 20 medals across the board.
To the delight of the Tiger cubs, the pick six made for a fun trip home.
Olivia Bouse, Faith Rainwater, and Harleigh Mars took home three of the six piece set for the Tiger women. Ethan Chapman, Steven Perez, and Levi Escalante hauled home the remaining three pieces for the Tiger men.
Bouse, just a seventh grader, had been flirting with a top place reward all season. The first time runner had been within reach of an individual medal almost every time out. This time the Tiger youth made sure of the prize by moving into tenth place down the back stretch. Her time was 10:44.6 for the 1.5 mile race.
Perez, an eighth grader off the MJH boys squad, had similarly been close to medal reward each week of racing. The Mansfield junior high runner finally broke through for a trophy of his own. His mark of 9:15.0 placed him 16th among 74 total junior boy runners.
Mansfield’s most consistent junior high runners this season both notched individual rewards at Acorn. Ethan Chapman was fifth among the men with a 8:47.1 clocking. Faith Rainwater from the girls’ team was 16th with a mark of 10:58.4.
Joining the medal ranks for the first time this season were Harleigh Mars and Levi Escalante.
Mars, a 300m conference hurdle champion in track, ran the one loop course in 11:03.8. She was 17th among the women.
Escalante who specializes in cross country only, ran the race in 9:19.8. He was 16th place among the men.
