Contributed article

Mansfield’s track and field prep team made progress with their second meet of the season at the Booneville Bearcat Seventh Grade Relays on March 14. Despite limited numbers, both the girls and boys had significant finishes. 

Rising star Abby Smith of the Lady Tiger seventh grade team made a run for the overall high point award. The multi-dimensional talent scored 32.75 points in her team’s 101.5 total using a pair of first place jumping events as her catalyst. 

Smith won the pole vault for the second straight meet. This time the first time vaulter reached a personal record with a leap of 7 feet 3 inches. She took another blue ribbon award at the long jump. That horizontal hop went 13 feet 7.5 inches for first.

Hunter Whittaker off the men’s seventh grade squad was the leading scorer off his unit. With four individual events and two relays, the rookie track athlete accumulated 20 points.

Whittaker’s best mark was from the triple jump. Twice he hit 29’ 8”. That turned out to be his longest measurements earning a second place red ribbon. His next best event was an individual 800m run in 2:50.28 for fourth place.

“It just takes a couple of meets, and then you usually start seeing some progress,” explained Tiger mentor John Mackey. “The players get familiar with their events and begin to understand their own thresholds. It’s pretty exciting to see their expressions when reaching a better time, a better distance.” 

In the team standings, Mansfield’s girls were third. Russellville ran away with the spoon with 176 points. Waldron took the runner-up prize with 135.5. Mansfield accumulated 101.5 with only 10 active players.

The boys fell to sixth overall with Russellville, Ozark, Booneville, Waldron, and Pottsville leading the way.

Miley Clopton had the best Lady Tiger race result. She clocked in at 14.26 for second place in the 100m dash. She also joined two sprint relays later in the night to give the squad added value.

Payton Meyers, Adeline Bray, and Smith joined Clopton in the 4x100m relay. A nearly identical lineup combined in the 4x400m relay with Rylan Jones substituting for Meyers. The two relays went fourth and third respectively.

Meyers added pole vault, high jump, and sprinter points to the pile. Bray gave solid numbers in the triple jump along with a gutsy 800m time.

Jones took the longest races with a third and fourth place finish in the 800m and 1600m runs respectively.

Bailey Quick, Aubree Helms, and Addison Howard all scored in the throwing events. Quick and Howard doubled up in the 4x200m relay. Kerrington Quick and Alivia Wilson joined the pair to make fourth place their reality in the 4x200m relay. 

Trevan Hattabaugh, Drake Brunson, Matthew Knight, and Whittaker had their best time in the 4x100m relay for the boys. They finished the one lap connection in 58.15 for fifth place.

Clayton Garrison showed off in the discus. The seventh grader won by nearly seven feet with a huge toss of 95’ 1”. He came back later with a moderate shot put mark of 27’ 8” to get one more point.

Brunson and Whittaker each scored in the long jump.

Contributed article

The Bearcat Relays in Booneville on March 13 saw a variety of high school teams descend on the scene for track and field action. Mansfield, among the many, took second place overall just slightly behind class 4A DeQueen.

With two events to go, Mansfield’s senior girls were just 10.5 points out of first place in the team standings. DeQueen, who was solid in anything hurdle related or 400m races or above, kept the pressure up.

“We just didn’t have the depth we needed to close the gap,” offered John Mackey, Mansfield’s head track coach since 1999. “The outcome wasn’t a disappointment. We have depth coming later in the season as conflicting spring schedules settle down. Right now, we are just building foundational pieces.”

The usual suspects once again produced for Mansfield. Jadelynn Wood in the hurdles and horizontal jumps, Carter Whiley in the sprints and vertical jumps, and Seven Sanderson in the shot and discus offered high marks. 

Wood brought in 29.5 points through four individual events and two relays. Whiley tacked on 18.5 points in her four individual skills and the winning 4x100m relay. Sanderson produced 18 points by winning the shot put and placing second in the discus.

“You count on those three to produce each night,” expressed the coach. “There’s a solid mix of others that are finding their way and making contributions as well.”

Azlynn Stover made an impression starting two relays and anchoring two more. The sophomore nearly touched all bases with a first place, a third, and two fourths from those cooperatives.

The women’s 4x100m relay was the Lady Tiger’s best race of the evening. The combination of Laney Wood, Whiley, Jadelynn Wood, and Stover won the sprint relay in 56.72.

Stover added Raine Hecox with the Wood sisters for the third place 4x400m relay as the team made one final push in the overall standings. 

Earlier Stover and Hecox joined Summer Frazier and Addie Bowman in a resilient 4x200m finish for fourth. Stover, Hecox, Frazier, and Laney Wood also knocked out a fourth place 4x800m partnership.

Laney Wood was third in the pole vault at 7-6. Similarly, Kaylie Lowery finished third in the discus. Ashley Martin rounded out the scoring with points in the 3200m run.

DeQueen closed out the meet in first place with 123 points. Mansfield followed as runner-up with 99.5 points. Mena came strong landing in third with 89 points among 20 attending schools.

Aston Hinkle and Austin Ruiz of Mansfield went second and third in the men’s pole vault. The pair jumped 10-6 and 10-0 respectively.

Trey Powell ran a modest 11.56 in the 100m dash before a tender ankle sidelined him for the remainder of the night.

Contributed article

Already an individual state indoor track champion, Mansfield freshman Daisy Nelson attended her first outdoor track meet of the season on March 13. 

Booked solid with simultaneous softball and track schedules, Nelson swapped her cleats for spikes for the day to attend the Van Buren Junior High Pointer Relays. The decision was a good one as the All-State indoor champion showed up and showed off in front of mostly large school competition to take home the individual high point award.

Nelson won the 100m and 200m dashes. She also picked up a pair of individual second places in the 100m hurdles and long jump. She took third place in the pole vault along with a fourth place 4x100m relay score. Her point total over six events peaked at 43.25 points to snatch the high point prize and run away from entries hailing from larger schools such as Russellville, Greenwood, and Fort Smith.

“Van Buren was a good place to get the outdoor season started for Daisy,” opened up Mansfield veteran coach John Mackey. “She committed to early season softball right after the indoor track finals. Van Buren was going to offer real competition and give her a chance to see quality runners. She was terrific.”

Mackey had to keep up with his young star via live results from MacDonaldtiming.com. His high school team was attending the Booneville Bearcat Relays on the same night. He relied on men’s coach Ethan Bowman to manage the two junior squads in Van Buren.

Nelson and company gave a solid team account. They finished first among small schools and fourth overall. Only Russellville, Greenwood, and the Southside freshmen outpaced the Lady Tigers. Eleven total teams scored.

Danielle Lowery showed versatile athleticism by scoring in the shot put, discus, and two relays. She joined forces with Ashlynn Whittaker and Annabell Martin in one relay and Molly Beck, Madison Hearron, and Nelson in another.

The Mansfield junior boys tied for fifth in the overall team points. They too were the best among small schools in attendance.

Northridge and Alma were in the three-way tie with the Tigers. Russellville took the top spot just like in the women’s events. Southside, Van Buren, and Greenwood occupied second through fourth positions.

Ethan Martin was among the highest places for the Tigers. The freshman pushed the shot put 41-11 for second place. 

Braxton Bartlett was the other best Mansfield measure. He went 25.42 in the 200m dash to take second place overall. He was also fifth in the 100m dash and anchored the fourth place 4x100m relay with Dominic Shores, Zander Walters, and Dawson Robinson.

Cadien Ore whirled the 1kg discus for a new personal best. The ninth grader sent the implement 124-09 for a fifth place standing.

Shores and Alex Hecox scored multiple places through two hurdle events. Shores’ crossing in 18.98 over the 110 m hurdles was the quickest Tiger mark for fourth place.

Joey Williams placed the highest in the men’s distance races. The Class 2A All-State cross country runner ran the 1600m in 5:33 for 9th and the 800m in 2:31 for 5th. He was also the anchor of the fifth place 4x800m relay with Joseph Carter, Hunter Whittaker, and Gunner Williams.