Former Mansfield cross country athlete Faith Rainwater (2nd from right) poses with her new UA Rich Mountain teammates before the start of the college opener.
Former Mansfield Lady Tigers laced up their running shoes in recent weeks to make their college debuts. In different uniforms for the first time since graduating high school last May, the core members of Mansfield’s most celebrated cross country team found mixed success in their college openers.
Darby Jones, Katlynn Moore, Faith Rainwater, and Hope Rainwater found their way to next level long distance running via their remarkable high school careers. Now, the new college freshmen minus one have posted their first times as collegiate runners.
Faith Rainwater was the first of the four former Tigers to run a college race. The two-time high school All-State cross country runner did so on August 26 as a member of the University of Arkansas Rich Mountain Bucks.
Jones and Moore followed eight days later at the Bob Gravett Invitational albeit for different schools. Jones ran for the host school, Ouachita Baptist University, while Moore donned the colors of the University of the Ozarks.
Hope Rainwater was to join her twin sister Faith at the UARM home opener. The younger of the sisters by only a few hours was sidelined with a foot injury. She was unable to run at her first college meet.
“These girls were the foundation for one of Mansfield’s most decorated cross country teams,” said Mansfield mentor John Mackey. “I’m really proud of them. It takes courage to step up to the challenge of college running. They gave us two big state runner-up trophies. They will be assets moving forward for their respective teams.”
The results were varied as the former Tigers found stiff competition from seasoned collegiate runners. They also found familiar faces that ran in some of the same scheduled high school events of which Mansfield once competed in through past seasons.
Samantha Shores, the UA Rich Mountain head cross country coach, gave her perspective to the college upgrade.
“The first race is always the hardest race and especially here,” sent the UARM coach via email. “It is very hot and our course is not for the faint of heart.”
Shores, who spotted Faith Rainwater from an early age, recruited the recent Lady Tiger graduate as her MHS team used to run local high school meets along the Rich Mountain home course.
“I have known since I first met Faith that I wanted her to be part of this team”, continued Shores in the email address. “I signed her early on. Faith is a good runner with great potential.”
Faith Rainwater navigated the hilly landscapes of the Mena junior college’s home course in 23:28.5 for the 5K distance. Her time, most likely elevated by the extreme high temperatures greeting the afternoon race, was still good enough for second place among all contenders.
As a team, the UARM Bucks finished second with 55 points. NorthWest Arkansas CC took first with 32 points while Redlands CC and National Park College took third and fourth respectively.
“The girls ran well considering,” said Shores. “I believe it is the start of a great season for them.”
Jones, who was also recruited by Shores for the UARM Bucks, crossed the finish line of her first college event along the comforts of the Ouachita home course on September 3. The 2021 high school All-State selection and MHS Player of the Year, rounded the 5K course in 22:51. Her position was 33rd among the large field of entries.
Ouachita flooded the field with Purple Tigers as the well stocked racing stable nearly pulled off a perfect score to take the home meet with 18 points.
Southern Arkansas, Henderson State, and the University of the Ozarks followed in the team standings at the Ouachita hosted 5k race.
“It looks like Darby started out about where she did this time last year,” said her high school coach, John Mackey. “From the sounds of it, it went pretty well. She was excited to see Kat (Katlynn Moore) at the same race. They even started the race next to each other.”
Moore now runs for The University of the Ozarks. She’s one of three incoming freshmen on the Eagles nine person roster. She finished 24 spots behind her former Tiger teammate but figured into the point positioning of the D-III school out of Clarksville, AR.
The former Mansfield product got a late start to preseason cross country camp at U of O. Moore spent nearly her entire summer at military training for the Army.
“We started the race next to each other,” texted Jones as she expressed the thrill of seeing Moore’s friendly face among the large group of runners at the Gravette Invite. “We got pictures.”
As far as the race went, Jones offered only a few details.
“It was mostly hilly and I kept my pace the entire time,” wrote Jones. “I was nervous to say the least but it was an exciting weekend. Kind of a medium feeling run but I’m proud of it.”
Rich Mountain’s Coach Shores explained the jump to the collegiate level as typically hard on most incoming freshmen.
“The transition from high school to college is difficult for many,” read Shores’ email. “The mileage increases and the workload gets a little tougher. It is demanding on the individual and their time.”
Although at a different school now, Jones considered attending Rich Mountain with Shores and Mansfield’s celebrated twin runners. The newest Ouachita Tiger confirmed the preseason training has been difficult at times.
“It’s been really busy and I’m very tired,” commented Jones. “I’m still trying to figure things out but I’m meeting a lot of sweet people on the team. I’m even finding people that I can pace with and that push me to keep up. I’m proud of Faith, Kat, and pray that Hope recovers soon.”
Hope Rainwater missed her first race due to an untimely sprained ankle suffered by some hill training in preparation for the debut. She was in a walking boot the day her new Rich Mountain teammates including her sister ran the first race of the season.
“Over the summer I kept thinking about Hope,” confessed Shores. “I called her up and asked her if she wanted to come to college and run for the Bucks XC. She committed not long after that. Hope is a powerhouse. She is going to surprise many people this year. Hope being hurt was hard since she had been putting in the work and looking forward to her first race.”
