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Junior Tigers Competitive as School Record Falls

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4:34 pm

Junior Tigers Competitive as School Record Falls

Mansfield continued their busiest week of the season, with their third track meet to host in a four day span. With 24 teams making their way to Tiger Stadium on March 28, the Mansfield junior high squads did well. Both teams finished among the top five in respective divisions, and also set a school record to highlight the evening.

The Lady Tigers were pushing a very tight team race all night. Wins by Skylynn Harris in the shot and discus, plus a Sadie Roberts victory in the high jump kept them relevant from the beginning. Another victory in the 300m hurdles by Harleigh Mars later in the evening kept the team standings tight.

Sadie-Roberts-jump — Lady Tiger Sadie Roberts won the junior girls high jump with a PR 4′ 11″.

Madelyn Jones and Shelby Cole kept the Mansfield junior girls track squad holding serve with high scores in the hurdles. Collectively, Jones, Cole, and Mars accounted for 29 points through the 100m and 300m style hurdle races.

The boys were paced by freshman Ethan Chapman who ran three distance events and anchored the mile relay. Mansfield’s main cross country weapon actually established a new school record in the process.

Despite finishing second in the 1600m run, Chapman’s time of 5:21.62 broke Manuel Uselton’s 13 year old record in the four lap race. Uselton’s mark of 5:42.12 was set back in 2006.

The Tiger men were also fueled by high throws from Zayne Dugan and Shawn Brown. Dugan won the discus at 120’ 11” and Brown was second in the shot with a distance of 42’ 3”. Both were personal bests.

relay-discus-throw-Mansfield-tiger — Mansfield’s Zayne Dugan won the Tiger Junior High Relays discus throw at 120′ 11″.

Adding to the personal best parade were pole vaulters Steven Perez and Ashton Hinkle. Perez took fourth at the horizontal jump with a clearance of 10’ 0”. Hinkle increased to 9’ 0” for seventh place.

Natalie Allison, McKenzie Griffin, Faith Rainwater, and Olivia Bouse produced in the women’s 4x800m relay. Allison also gave high marks in the triple jump with a distance of 28’ 9”.

John Branche continued to shave seconds off his 400m time. A fourth place in that one lap sprint plus another one lap cooperation in the 4x400m relay gave the Tiger men 10 more points.

Dru Buckner, Tommy Phang, and Chapman comprised the final relay with Branche.

Waldron won the men championship with 116 points. DeQueen chased with 110 points to finish second. Ozark rallied with 101 tying Booneville for third place. Mansfield dropped to fifth with 65.5 points.

DeQueen finished off the tight junior girls race with 116.5 points. Mena was runner-up at 101.5. Waldron was third with 99. Mansfield’s girls were within trophy grasp at 98 points.

The Lady Tigers did win the specialty event of the night. The combination of Hailea Raines, Brooklyn Adams, Skylynn Harris, and Sarah Fisher won the “Honey Bun” relay. The honey bun was a 4x100m relay for thrower’s only.

relay-honey bun-winner — Mansfield throwers Sarah Fisher, Brooklyn Adams, Skylynn Harris, and Hailea Raines claim top prize in the honey bun relay.

MHS Senior Teams Gain Ground at Home

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Resident News Network

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3:59 pm

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Mansfield’s senior track teams gained traction with a home stand on March 26. The Tigers and Lady Tigers hosted 24 teams and 707 entries for the 15th annual Tiger Relays.

Big school DeQueen and recently reduced classification Waldron dominated the festivities at Mansfield. But, the home team had it’s shining moments to make significant improvements on the season.

Sophomore Makayla Strutton continued to shed time off her hurdle events. The Lady Tiger’s top point producer so far this season finished second in the 300m hurdles (54.62) and fourth in the 100m high hurdles (18.35).

Teammates Lennon Woods and Delilah McKusker each ran season bests in the 300m hurdles to give Mansfield two more spots in the top eight. Woods (55.83) and McKusker (56.71) were fifth and sixth respectively.

Renden Emery from the Mansfield men’s team went a season best in the high jump at 5’ 8”. Two days later he went a career best 39’ 7” in the triple jump at the Alma Airedale Relays.

Tiger Jaicy Griffin made progress in his rehab of a strained knee suffered before spring break. The junior sprinter collected top eight marks in the 100m, 200m, and long jump at the home meet.

Brooke Wright, Janna Coplin, and Haylie Burns added to the women’s score with 16 points through the throws.

discuss-Mansfield-Tigers — Brooke Wright and Janna Coplin score in the discus at Mansfield.

Wright was top Lady Tiger with a 94’ 0” discus toss for second place. She was also fourth in the shot at 28’ 2.5”.

Coplin knocked on the 70 foot door with a 68’ 6” discus toss for seventh place. She did cross the 70 foot threshold two days later with a 73’ 3.5” mark at Alma.

Burns set her own personal record in the shot put. The tenth grader pushed the 4kg implement 28’ 2.5” for eighth place.

Senior Sara Willadsen claimed her personal mark in the high jump at 4’ 8”. That vertical measure was good enough for third place. She went 6’ 6” in the pole vault at Alma for another individual best after learning the event just a few weeks ago.

Exchange student Artem Zirka bettered his individual times in all three of his races. Two of those marks reduced even more with a trip to the Airedales a couple of days later.

Zirka-relay-Mansfield-Tiger — Artem Zirka gives a thumb’s up with his progress in the distance events at the Tiger Relays.

Zirka now claims a 1600m run in the time of 5:27. He went 800m in 2:27. Finally, he averaged almost 6 minute miles in a 12:05.73 run of the 3200m distance race.

Haylee Buckner picked up points in the high jump at both the home meet and at Alma. The senior has a season best mark of 4’ 8”.

Josefin Lofving grabbed her first ribbons of the year. The Swedish exchange student ran 3.5 miles at Mansfield and 1.75 miles at Alma.

Bri Sanderson and Jacob Brown continued to make progress in the shot and discus. Sanderson, just a sophomore, went 40’ 0.5” with the 12 pound shot to score three points for his Tiger team.

Ribbon Run Hosted

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Resident News Network

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2:05 pm

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By Mansfield Preps

As school started back up after a week off from spring break, Mansfield hosted the first of three track meets at Tiger Stadium. The first of those included a “Ribbon Run” for local seventh grade athletes.

Mansfield welcomed over a dozen schools to the Monday matinee. Throughout the 32 event schedule, the girls and boys off the Tiger seventh grade team collected a large portion of the available ribbons.

Each lane race declared winners one through eight. The field events and distance races required individuals to place among the top 8 overall.

Katelyn Corson continued her upward tend in the 400m dash. The first year track runner impressed with another first place in the one lap sprint. She was a winner at the Mena meet as well just before the spring break.

Kynslee Ward also pushed the pace as the multi-event athlete excelled in the hurdles, high jump, and long jump. The rookie runner has traveled with the junior high team as well this season. She has collected two high point individual awards over the first half of the season.

Peyton Martin, for the Tiger men, was the busiest of the boys. He competed and placed well in the pole vault, long jump, high jump, and hurdles. He also lead leg to the sprint relay squad.

Jonathan Norrris was also put to the test with entries in the horizontal jumps, hurdles, and relays. Teammate Zach Hayslip joined Norris, Donovan Walker, and Ethan Walker as part of the 4x400m relay. Hayslip and Donovan Walker also competed at the triple jump venue.

Dakota Langford continued progress at both the discus and shot put ring. Turner Wright joined him there as the leading Tiger throwers.

Kadynce Robinson, and Kadence Mathisen posted good numbers at the Lady Tiger discus and shot put circles.

Eden Mounts and Raine Hecox joined in the hurdle races for the first time this season. Both ran legs on separate relays. Both were involved in the horizontal jumps.

Emile Nelson, Charity Crowe, and Trinity Scott joined Hecox in the 4x800m relay. Mounts was the lead leg with Harlie Fuller, Kalie Sysakayavong, and Ward in the 4x100m exchange.

girls-7th-relay-Mansfield-Tigers — Harlie Fuller, Eden Mounts, and Kynslee Ward cover the 4x100m relay for the Mansfield seventh grade along with Kalie Sysakayavong (not pictured).

Peyton-Martin-track-Mansfield-Tigers — Mansfield seventh grade track athlete Peyton Martin.

SCSO Needs Help Identifying Thieves

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Tammy Teague

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1:33 pm

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The Sebastian County Sheriff’s Office needs the public’s help in identifying two suspects who used a stolen credit card to go on a shopping spree in Fort Smith.

Unbeknownst to a woman playing a round of golf at Ben Geren Regional Park, thieves had gotten into her car and stolen her wallet. The woman realized her wallet was missing immediately upon returning to her vehicle. Later in the day she was alerted by her bank and her credit card company that someone had used her cards at two locations in Fort Smith.

Her debit card was used in Fort Smith at Target for a purchase for $1,040. Her credit card was also used at Best Buy for around $3,500.

Investigators were able to find videos of a man and a woman who used the cards at the two retail stores. To this point investigators have not been able to identify the two suspects.

SCSO is asking for help. If you know who these people are or have any information, SCSO wants to hear from you. Please call the Fort Smith Sheriff’s Office at 479-783-1051. Callers do not have to give their name.

Arrows vs. Magazine rescheduled for Wednesday

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Resident News Network

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12:06 pm

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Arrows vs. Magazine rescheduled for Wednesday

Due to a conflict with the FBLA State Conference, Lavaca Golden Arrow baseball and softball games scheduled for Monday and Tuesday have been rescheduled. The Golden Arrows will take the field at home on Wednesday against he Magazine Rattlers. Game time on both Baseball and Softball fields will be 4:30. Come out and support these Arrows as they strive remain undefeated in conference play.

The Lady Arrows are sporting a .365 Batting Average, led by Brianna Winchester, Jessica Flanagan, and Sierra Lamb. Defensively for the Lady Arrows, BethAnn May is boosting a 1.3 ERA. For the boys, the bats are starting to warm up. Led by Kaw-Liga Brewer, Jimmy Hall, and Trey Castor, The Arrows are ready to put the pressure on opposing defenses. Defensively for the Arrows the team has a 1.66 ERA lead by Jimmy Hall who has struck out 27 of the 54 batters faced this year.

City of Hartford Undergoes Beautification Project

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Tammy Teague

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11:20 am

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City of Hartford Undergoes Beautification Project

The City of Hartford’s main street has recently undergone some changes. The baskets of flowers hanging from the poles of downtown, and the newly erected flagpole at City Hall have made a great impact in the over look of Broadway Street.

All beautification projects have been done in part by city workers. Richard Galyn, a city employee, said he plans to continue doing things that will help make the city look nice. Additionally, he plans to ask residents to adopt one of the poles in order to expand the project.

At the last city council meeting, the details of erecting a flagpole at city hall were discussed. Since that time, the work has been completed.

Certainly the efforts of those within the city have not gone unnoticed, and it makes the town look great!

There’s No Catching These Lady Bulldogs

Sports

Megan Hecox

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11:05 am

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Pictured is #12 Bayleigh Lipham

In an out of this world, mind-blowing, trying to figure out what just happened softball game, the Lady Bulldogs came out of nowhere and pulverized the Mansfield Lady Tigers. For the first five innings, things stayed cool and collected with a score of 4-2 Mansfield. But after an encouraging talk from coaches Bailey Moore and Jayden Southard, the Lady Bulldogs unleashed the beast and delivered an incredible 12 runs to end the game 14-4 Waldron.

With four runs for her team was Taylor Stacy. Mackinzie Callahan, Bayleigh Lipham, and Saige Mahar brought in two runs each. And with one run apiece was Rheagan Sanford, Molly Richmond, Whitney Richmond, and Kelsey Yother. Mackinzie was victorious with three hits and three runners batted in. Molly, Bayleigh, and Whitney all had two runners batted in each as well.

Staying quick on her feet with eight putouts was Bayliegh Lipham. Saige had five assists with one putout. Rheagan had three putouts with one assist. Jayden Manning earned one putout and one assist. And combining for five putouts were Mackinzie, Whitney, Taylor, and Ashtyn Moore.

With her one of a kind pitching style for the Lady Bulldogs was Ashton Young. She threw out 76 pitches to 24 batters striking out one. The Lady Bulldogs are sitting UNDEFEATED and number one in conference play 5-0. They will hit the road on Tuesday, April 2 to take on the 6-3 Charleston Lady Tigers at 4:30 p.m.

Tigers “Ball” To Bulldogs

Sports

Megan Hecox

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10:23 am

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Pictured is #6 Seth Fudge

On Friday, March 29, the Mansfield Tigers faced the Waldron Bulldogs in a glove to ground hitting spree conference game. In the first inning, the Tigers earned two runs and control of the game. But the Bulldogs were relentless leaving the Tigers to make only four runs and ending the game 10-4 Waldron. The Mansfield Tigers now find themselves sitting 2-5 on the season.

Successful with one run each was Aaron Brewer, Hunter Willsey also stealing two bases, Codi Chick, and Nathan Brewer. Codi was the big winner of the game with his remarkable home run. Cody Fudge led the Tigers in putouts with seven while Isaac Cothran secured three. Layton Howard made one putout and one assist. Hayden Henson earned one putout. And Ethan Pettus helped with one assist.

Pitching for the Tigers were Seth Fudge and Hayden Henson. With his iron arm, Seth threw out 88 pitches to 25 batters striking out seven. And throwing with a strength like Schwarzenegger was Hayden with 47 pitches to 11 batters striking out two. The Tigers are back at it again on Tuesday, April 2 at home against the 2-4 Cedarville Pirates at 4:30 p.m.

Sports Writer Gone Nuts

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Resident News Network

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9:59 am

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We are saddened to inform everyone that our very own Sports Writer, Megan Hecox, has been arrested. Although the investigation is ongoing, we do know that she was picked up by the Game and Fish commission late last night. It is rumored that she has a horrible addiction of chasing squirrels.

Hecox’s lawyer says there is incriminating photographic evidence turned in to law enforcement. One particular photo shows Hecox running through her house in a sports jersey as innocent squirrels scatter for safety.

Hecox will likely plea insanity (nutcase) & is being held with a 1,500 “Acorn” bond.

WARNING: Attached image may be disturbing.

Bulldogs Field Of Dreams Come True

Sports

Megan Hecox

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9:15 am

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The Waldron Bulldogs are still wearing the same smiles on their faces that were put there after Friday nights baseball game. Playing against rivals, the Mansfield Tigers, the hosting Bulldogs knew they would be faced with a well-coached team. Never ones to back down, they readied themselves for what they knew would be an epic game.

The Mansfield Tigers were first to put runs up on the board but come the second inning, that lead was all but a memory for the Tigers. The Bulldogs were knockin’ em out and bringin’ em in as the score read 8-2 Waldron by the end of the third inning. When all was said and done, the final tally was 10-4 Waldron with the Bulldogs also earning a season high with nine hits during a game.

Upgrading their conference play record to 1-3, the Bulldogs are maturing as a team and confident they have what it takes to start winning. Sophomores Drake Carnley and Braden Williams achieved five runs between them with Drake also batting in two runners and Braden batting in one. Ruben Valdez and Seth Hunt brought in two runs each while freshman Blake Owens made one.

Seth also led the Bulldogs with some of the biggest hits of the day. He had a total of three hits with one double over the center-fielder and another one in the left-center gap. Drake and Braden were victorious with two hits apiece. And Caden Fuller and Clayton Montgomery rattled out one each with Clayton batting two runners in and Caden stealing three bases. Tyler Owens and Seth Hunt did the pitching for the Bulldogs. Tyler threw out 107 pitches to 22 batters striking out 12 while Seth threw out 30 pitches to nine batters striking out four.

Ruben, Seth, Drake, and Clayton worked together in the field making no mistakes to conquer their seven total putouts. With seven assists of his own was Blake Owens. “This was a huge win for us,” said Coach Mark Brigance. “This will get us going. We feel good about tonights West Fork game. Seth Hunt will be the starting pitcher with Tyler Owens receiving him.” The Bulldogs will host the 2-6 West Fork Tigers tonight with game time starting at 4:30 p.m.

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