Among a large field of teams at the Waldron Bulldog Junior Invitational track meet on April 9, Mansfield finished third in both gender divisions.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers built their point production with several well earned marks in a variety of events. Notably, the women’s hurdles, high jump, and throws were a real strength. The men’s mile, 4x400m relay, shot put, and pole vault were also good to the Mansfield track core.
Madelen Jones, Shelby Cole, Harleigh Mars, Skylynn Harris, and Sadie Roberts stood out for the MJH women.
Roberts had a tremendous night at the high jump pit. The freshman leaper joined an elite list by clearing five feet for the first time in her career.
“It was really a show stopper,” said Mansfield Coach John Mackey. “Sadie was by far the best jumper there. She had already won the meet at 4-8 so she went for a new personal record at 5-0. Mission accomplished!”
Jones and Cole bested a very fast field of 100m hurdlers by going one-two for the Lady Tigers. Jones won in a personal record of 17.52 seconds. Cole crossed a blink later at 17.70 seconds for her personal record as well.
Jones and Mars made a very competitive 300m hurdle field one of the highlight races of the night.
Jones went PR with a 53.04 clocking over the eight barrier sprint for second place. Mars timed in at 53.07 for a photo finish third place ribbon. The meet’s top time posted by an Oklahoma runner was just a fraction ahead of the two Mansfield natives.
Harris continued her strong hold at the shot put ring. The Mansfield eighth grader powered the 6 pound ball 41’ 3” for the victory. She was nearly as dominate in the discus ring with another victory. This time the 4kg discus sailed 90’ 7” for the win.
On the men’s side, Ethan Chapman rivaled his own school record with a second place 1600m time of 5:13.68. That eight point effort was followed by another such tally by Steven Perez in the pole vault. Perez jumped 10’ 0” for the silver medal.
Second place was a theme for the Tiger men. Shawn Brown put the shot 40’ 9” for the second best mark on the night. Dru Buckner sped over the 300m hurdles in 48.85 for a red ribbon. Then, Logan Yoss, Buckner, Tommy Phang, and John Branche teamed together for the second place 4x400m relay in 4:10.38.
Hope Rainwater, McKenzie Griffin, Olivia Bouse, and Faith Rainwater covered most of the scoring for the Lady Tiger distance racers. Jadelynn Wood, Jones, Roberts, Alexis Rivera, Kynslee Ward, Bouse, and Mars made sure no Tiger relay landed below third.
Shaddon Moore supported Brown with throwing points. Branche came through with 400m dash scoring. Phang and Yoss added through the hurdles while Ashton Hinkle took fifth in the pole vault.
Seven Sanderson posted her best shot put throw (32’ 1”) to round out a productive night of track and field for Mansfield. She was fourth place. Brooklyn Adams was near her best as well as the eighth grader spun the discus 75’ 4” for a third place measure.
