Nine event wins and six second place finishes highlighted Mansfield’s senior girls as they scared Pottsville in the team standings at Ozark on March 23. What’s impressive is that Mansfield did so while competing with only nine players for a nifty runner-up team finish at the Hillbilly Senior High Relays.
Because of the short roster, a common theme in Mansfield women’s athletics this school year, the Lady Tigers were unable to enlist in three of the 18 scheduled events. Ultimately, those three resulting zeroes cost the red and white. In a tightly contested meet between two teams that broke away from the pack of 11 scoring schools, MHS fell 10 points shy of the championship.
Pottsville, a 4A-4 school outside of Russellville, scored in every event but pole vault, winning seven. Their full squad effort, which was in doubt until the final two events, accumulated 164 total points for the team title. Twenty of their points came in the last two races as Mansfield clung to a small four point lead headed into the 3200m run and the 4x400m relay.
“To be honest, we were happy to have the numbers we had for the first outdoor meet of the season,” commented John Mackey, Mansfield’s mentor for the 2025 season. “Some of our softball players, we were able to enter them into some limited events at the last minute. They became available after the cancellation of a home game versus Dover.”
What Mansfield brought to the table was decidedly quality bites albeit in small morsels. Laney Wood, one of only a few full time MHS track athletes, ran a maximized individual schedule to give the Tigers its main menu. The senior scored 37.5 points through 4 individual events and 2 relays for high point honors. Her best marks included a 9’ 0” pole vault and a 31’ 10” triple jump. Both were blue ribbon winners.
Daisy Nelson, last season’s class 2A state champion in the 100m dash, won three individual events and anchored the winning 4x100m relay. Her individual production peaked at 32.5 points in limited duty. She was intentionally left off a maximum routine for precautionary reasons due to softball commitments limiting her track practice. The junior won the long jump (15’ 6”), 100m hurdles (17.44), 100m dash (13.06), and anchored the first place sprint relay (55.39).
Trinity Triska, Danielle Lowery, and Ashlynn Whittaker joined Nelson in the 4x100m cooperative. Triska, a senior, hasn’t been in the sprint event since her freshman year. Whittaker, almost exclusively a distance relay person, was a solid first time member in the short relay.
Triska and Whittaker were actually on the same plan for the night. Because of their limited track time as dual sport kids, each was enrolled in only relays. The pair competed in the longer 4x800m and 4x400m baton passes to go along with the shorter sprint relay. Mansfield did not have enough members to field a 4x200m squad.
Lowery, a full time track participant, maximized her scoring efforts as the Tigers’ second leading scorer. The versatile weapon contributed 33 points in an array of skill sets. At the top of her point production came a ten tally win at the high jump. The junior also placed second in the shot, third in the discus, and fourth in the 400m run to complete her individual entries. As part of two different ensembles, Lowery anchored the third place 4x400m grouping with Wood, Triska, and Whittaker then took the back stretch in the faster 4x100m troupe.
Throwing teammate Kaylee Ward wowed the crowd with a personal record win in the women’s shot put. The junior All-State athlete lofted an incredible landing of the 36’ 0” for 4 kg ball toss. The next best mark in the event was from Mansfield’s Lowery who’s second place measure was six feet and one half inch shy of Ward’s winner.
Ward totaled 18 points on two events. In addition to her 10 point haul at the shot put ring, another eight point score came from her 78’ 6” second place distance out of the discus circle.
“Kaylee is an incredibly strong thrower,” noted Mansfield’s coach. “She’s just now coming over from basketball and has not had a lot of practice, especially in the discus. I think she’ll easily eclipse the state standard in the shot put by the time we get to the first qualifying meet.”
Bailey London was terrific in the distance races for Mansfield. Last year’s newcomer of the year rallied for a 6:16.81 metric mile and a 2:49.37 metric half-mile. She placed second in both long races behind a strong distance core out of Pottsville. The sophomore also anchored the second place 4x800m relay squad with Triska, Whittaker, and Wood in the lineup.
Wood finished second in the long jump (14’ 8”) and third in the 300m hurdles (56.24) to push the Lady Tiger ledger. Eva Trinh scored in the 800m run while newcomer Mercedez Jones entered two sprint events for Mansfield.
Mansfield’s senior team is scheduled for an appearance in Booneville on March 17 before entering their first qualifying meet at Alma on March 20.
