Mansfield senior girls track team win the Gaile Hainely Relays in Waldron.
Rivalries grow stronger each time another dramatic ending etches another sizable scar into the long running series. So was the pulsating finish to the Gaile Hainley Relays in Waldron on April 3.
As it has unfolded many times over, Mansfield and Waldron saw their senior girls locked into a battle for Scott County bragging rights. In the end, it was Mansfield that squeaked out a one-half point victory.
With 16 of 18 events scored, Mansfield forged ahead by 3 points thanks to sophomore Ashley Martin’s sixth place 3200m run. As the final 4x400m relay took off, Waldron flipped the script with a late scoring of the women’s high jump. The Lady Bulldogs were suddenly ahead by 1.5 points.
Both teams realized the winner of the final relay event was going to go home the Gaile Hainely Champion.
Waldron took the early lead on the opening leg. Mansfield stormed back with Addison Stover on the second leg. Lady Tiger Trinity Triska moved up to the third leg after anchoring a close call at the Tiger Relays in the same race a week earlier.
Triska stretched the lead to about four seconds before handing it to senior Jadelynn Wood. Wood, carrying the exhaustion of her sixth event along with the baton, dug deep like a senior should. The MHS anchor ran the fastest split for the longest leg, fighting off Waldron’s Emily Powell who also turned in a terrific time.
Mansfield stayed clear of the Bulldog bite and held on for a two second win and the meet championship. Final team totals read Mansfield with 111 points and Waldron with 110.5.
Longtime Waldron Coach, Gaile Hainley, for whom the Waldron senior high meet is called, enjoyed the final event.
“That race is my favorite because of the situations like that,” wrote Hainley in a congratulatory text to John Mackey, Mansfield’s winning coach. “The girls that ran that last race must have given 120 percent to accomplish it.”
Mansfield had won the very first Gaile Hainley Relays several seasons ago. Although the Mansfield coach couldn’t recall how many times his teams had won the event, he shared that it had been a few years since the Lady Tigers had come out on top.
“They (Waldron) had gotten the better of us the last few years,” noted Mackey. “This was special to win it once again late in my career. Coach Hainley means the world to both schools. We are honored to take home a trophy with her name on it.”
Not only did the Tigers win the senior girls division, they also got a couple more athletes qualified to the state championships.
Seven Sanderson and Kaylee Ward surpassed the women’s shot put mark and collected their ticket to the the class 2A finals. Mansfield senior homeschooler Ashton Hinkle pre-qualified in the men’s pole vault.
Hinkle had ideal conditions to clear his personal best at 11’ 6” to beat the standard by 3 inches. He finished second in the vertical jump. A few days later, he finished second again at the Airedale Relays.
Sanderson, who had pre-qualified in the discus at the Mansfield home meet six days earlier, pushed the shot 32’ 8”. That measurement exceeded the AAA benchmark by nearly a foot and a half.
Ward, limited in reps due to softball commitments, found the calm evening to her liking as well. The freshman phenom eclipsed the 31’ 4” standard by an inch and a half to punch her state ticket.
“Excited to get three more events under wraps,” said the Mansfield mentor. “Chances are getting slim as the season is winding down. We have a few more athletes capable of reaching the 2A benchmarks. That will be our focus leading up to the district championships in a couple of weeks.”
Sophomore Carter Whiley equaled her Mansfield home meet 4’ 10” high jump in Waldron. She did it again for the third consecutive time at the Leonard Daniel Memorial Airedale Relays three days later. Her high jump measure has qualified her to the 2A state meet.
Senior Jadelynn Wood has been within a second or less of reaching the women’s 300m hurdles standard three consecutive times. Mansfield’s player of the year last season has been inching closer towards that 51.25 margin through appearances at Mansfield, Waldron, and Alma.
Wood’s younger sister, Laney Wood, has been striving for her own pre-qualifying mark in the pole vault. What appeared to be a 8’ 6” clearing of the cross bar at Waldron dropped off the uprights as her left hand scraped the bar on the way down.
Tiger Trey Powell continued the battle in the men’s 100m dash standard. Despite winning the short sprint at the Hainley Relays with a 11.90 timing, his victory was shy of the 11.46 target time.
At Alma, the sophomore was excruciatingly close to the mark once again. His official time was 0.01 away from the specification at 11.47.
Mansfield only took a handful of athletes to the second meet of the week. With limited entries the girls finished fourth overall at 94 points. The Mansfield men finished sixth after reaching seventh in Waldron.
Mansfield scheduled the second meet for another qualifying opportunity. They also wanted to attend the dedication of the Alma track facility for longtime Airedale coach Tom McMurray. While on staff at Alma, McMurray was the leader of several state championship teams.
“Coach McMurray was a mentor to me especially when Mansfield first got a track,” said Mackey. “This was a special occasion. For years, it was Mansfield girls and Alma boys that marqueed local meets. We wanted to be there for him.”
