Mansfield Athletic Award Series: Track, Softball, and Baseball

Editor’s note…

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the traditional Mansfield Tiger Booster Club Banquet to honor athletic award winners of the 2019-2020 sports seasons were canceled. To publicize the athletes that won either conference, state, or local awards, this publication is offering a series of articles related to those participants that earned athletic accolades this school year. Mansfield coaches submitted narratives pertaining to their specific teams and are being released in chronological segments.

It should be noted that all 2020 spring sports seasons were canceled by the Arkansas Activities Association just as those events were getting underway. Those athletic events had but a few weeks of competition before the statewide shutdown. For this reason, typical end of season awards were not available because of limited events in the regular season as well as no district or state competition. Awards for these sports were generally limited to senior recognition.

2019-2020 Senior Girls Track Awards:

(contributions by Coach John Mackey)

Mansfield’s track and field team was able to compete at the ATCA Indoor State Championship and a few weeks of outdoor season before Covid-19 shut down their season. At the indoor finals, the Lady Tigers brought back finishes reminiscent of their glory days when winning state titles was a yearly occurrence. Mansfield had two competitors win individual gold. Sophomore, Sadie Roberts, and freshman, Skylynn Harris both took state titles in their respective events.

Roberts won the high jump with a season-best five-foot jump and Harris outdistanced all throwers at the shot put ring by almost a foot with a winning mark of 33’ 8.75”. Overall, the girls’ indoor team climbed to fifth place in the class 3A standings. Interestingly enough, had Mansfield competed in the class 2A finals as they will next school year, their score would have won the small school state championship. Due to entry limitations, Mansfield took only 19 active players to indoor. That roster was set to have 31 players available by districts had the season continued. From grades seventh through twelfth, the Lady Tigers carried 58 players this outdoor season.

The high school team ran one complete outdoor meet this season. That resulted in 148.5 points and the team championship at Booneville. They also went to a runner’s only meet in Van Buren for a fifth-place finish. The only other senior high meet was a trip to Mena. That event was cut short due to lightning and rain. Mansfield was sitting in second-place when the meet was called with five events remaining. The junior high girls and seventh-grade girls each got to experience two track meets before their seasons ended prematurely. Neither group had been beaten by a conference foe. The junior girls were the meet champions at Booneville.

Freshmen girls that moved up to the senior high indoor team and scored in the top eight at state included: Natalie Allison, Cassidy Carlton, Skylynn Harris, Madelen Jones, and Jadelynn Wood. Additional ninth graders that either competed at indoor state or were ready to move up to the senior high team by district included: Brooklyn Adams, Lita Hecox, Alyssa James, Magean Newman, Seven Sanderson, and Alayna Turner.

Individual Awards for Senior Girls Track and Field:

Skylynn Harris – Class 3A Indoor All-State, and Class 3A State Champion – shot put 33’ 8.75”

Sadie Roberts – Class 3A Indoor All-State, and Class 3A State Champion – high jump 5’ 0”

Senior Recognition Awards:

Janna Coplin – discus thrower

Addison Goetz – sprints and sprint relays

Delilah McKusker – hurdles and sprint relays

Lennon Woods – hurdles and sprint relays

The 2019-2020 Female Track Athlete of the Year Award…

With no real statistical data from an unexpectedly shortened season, this year’s award could have gone unclaimed. However, a winner was selected based upon a slightly different criteria. Six years in the program with accolades to back up an award-winning past lead to this unprecedented conclusion. Leadership, integrity, and value to the program have set this player apart. Athleticism and academics also lent a strong nod. Summed up, these were overriding factors for this year’s honoree.

Add being a student coach to both the girls and boys seventh-grade track teams this season, her credentials make even more sense. As a student coach for nearly the entire school year, this senior spent countless hours offering sport-specific demonstrations. She led warmups, taught workout routines, and gave first-hand awareness to program values. Two years ago, this player was identified by an outgoing senior and a track liaison as the player that should be responsible for the “golden baton”. This special relay stick was used by members of all of the Lady Tiger championship runs. To be chosen as it’s keeper automatically sets this player on a different playing field.

Soon, when social distancing norms return, she’ll be responsible for passing on the “golden baton” to a well thought of underclassmen with similar characteristics. For some, it may seem a fraction of a season wasn’t enough to determine a player of the year. That may be true. This decision was based upon a senior’s entire career. One that embraced the Lady Tiger track traditions through her multiple contributions. This year’s Female Track and Field Player of the Year is Delilah McKusker.

2019-2020 Boys Track and Field Awards:

(contributions by Coach Mark Tolton)

The foundation for the senior boys’ track team was based upon the heavy lifting of the throws team and the youthful experience of the cross country core. Experienced sprinters, the talent of new faces, and the enthusiasm of a young freshmen four made it a team on the rise. Like the girls’ team, this group only competed at the ATCA indoor meet and less than three full outdoor meets. One of the biggest highlights for the men’s team came at the Van Buren Runner’s Festival. Mansfield cobbled together their first 4x200m relay team in decades.

The AAA had deleted the event years ago but decided through actions of their advisory board to bring it back next season. In anticipation of the renewed relay, Van Buren ran it as an exhibition event. The combination of John Branche, Codi Chick, Austin Carlton, and Jaicy Griffin squeaked past a field of big school teams for first place. The winning time of 1:41.16 was four-hundredths of a second faster than the likes of Southside, Van Buren, and Clarksville.

Bri Sanderson was regaining his discus form of a year ago. In 2019, he was a top-five thrower in all of class 3A. Jacob Brown, Shawn Brown, and Shaddon Moore were moving up the discus and shot put ranks as well. Ethan Chapman broke his personal record and junior high school record in the 1600m run in two consecutive outdoor meets. He also established a new PR in the 800m run. Randall Claude, Chick, Carlton, and Griffin shored up a solid sprints team. Renden Emery and Victor Steffen advanced the hurdles and jumps team. And Ashton Hinkle was establishing himself as the top junior high pole vaulter through the early conference standings.

Mansfield’s senior boys were just outside the top 10 at the state indoor finals. They were fourth at Booneville in the only complete outdoor meet. They were eighth at Van Buren using only relays, hurdles, and some distance events. They were sitting third at Mena before the storms stopped the meet and the AAA canceled the season a few days later.

Senior Boys Recognition Awards:

Jacob Brown – discus and shot put thrower

Jaicy Griffin – sprints, sprint relays, and long jump

2019-2020 Softball Awards:

(contributions by Coach Erica McKay)

While the Mansfield softball season was cut short, the Lady Tigers were able to compete in five games before the pandemic. For those five games, multiple Lady Tigers were able to stand out and make a name for themselves.

This year’s Lady Tigers consisted of young talent that was able to contribute to the growth of the team in a short amount of time. That included freshmen Brooklyn Adams, Skylynn Harris, and Natalie Allison. Adams, who defensively was a threat at third base, also had led the team with 12 hits and seven RBIs with 16 at-bats. Harris made a name for herself on the mound and consistently provided hits in a time that was needed. Asking a freshman to step up in a key spot on the field (center field) is a challenge in itself but Allison took on the role and excelled.

The returning players who stepped up in their role to lead the team were: Sophomore, Kiara Thomas, who stood solid as a middle infielder and our lead off with consistently finding herself on base. Junior, Hailey Walker, worked hard in the offseason to come off the bench and truly stepped up as our right fielder. Junior, Amber Elmore, took on the challenge playing multiple positions as a first baseman and second baseman based on the rotation of pitchers and excelled. A junior move-in, Chloe Creekmore, proved to be a threat as the starting catcher and four-hole in the lineup coming in having the second most RBIs and tying with the second most hits.

Senior, Abby Morgan, has been known for her timely hits and that was no exception this year. Kyli Davidson, a senior, has been the most improved in her position as a left fielder. Her reading on the ball has grown tremendously and I never worried when she would have to make a play on the ball. Our last senior, Maggie Strunk, was the leader on the team. She stepped up as our starting pitcher and threw the ball really well with 25 strikeouts in 21 innings pitched. When she wasn’t pitching, she stood solid as our shortstop and was also an offensive threat with tying at second with the most hits.

While only being able to play limited games, this team grew a tremendous amount and we were all looking forward to seeing how far they would go. For this year’s awards, we are honoring our seniors, who we wish could have had a true senior season. We are truly proud of their past, present, and future accomplishments in sports and school.

Senior Recognition Awards:

Abby Morgan – First Baseman/DP

Kyli Davidson – Starting Left Fielder

Maggie Strunk – Starting Pitcher/Shortstop

2019-2020 Baseball Awards:

(contributions by Coach Tim Cothran)

The Tiger baseball team was able to play four games before the season was cut short. With lots of youth on the team, the future certainly looks bright. The young Tigers competed well in an early-season tournament in Dequeen, finishing fourth. With the prospects of heading into a new conference next year and the potential we have with our young pitchers, Tiger baseball appears to be poised for some great days ahead.

As a coaching staff, we hate the way this all had to happen. We regret not being able to see what our two seniors could have accomplished this season. There is no doubt, with their abilities and work ethics, that Clay James and Isaac Cothran would have been considered for postseason honors, but alas we will never know. We had a total of 14 on the roster, some of which had been working hard since the first day of school.

Senior Recognition Awards:

Clay James – Starting Outfielder

Isaac Cothran – Starting First Baseman