Tigers Brave Cold At Van Buren Meet
The temperature was a balmy 34 degrees at the start of the Van Buren Running Festival on the last day of February. The Mansfield Tigers along with about a dozen other schools braved the cold temperatures and got some work in at the season’s first outdoor track meet before a slight mist and even colder temperatures invaded Pointer country.
“A year ago at this time we were still running indoor,” stated John Mackey the coach of the Mansfield Tiger and Lady Tiger track teams. “It’s been a long time, if ever, that we ran an outdoor meet in February. It was definitely cold.”
Mansfield took extra precautions in warming up their players and trying to keep them as comfortable as possible. About three-quarters of the way through the meet, coach made the decision that the line between risk and reward was to blurred for them to continue. The troops came home early skipping the last few events to avoid potential injuries that could have occurred due to cold muscles in sprint mode.
“We tried to get sweaty the best we could with an extended warmup routine,” said the coach. “There is only so much you can do in extreme temperatures like that. You could probably warm up for hours and never break a sweat on a night like that.”
Mackey assigned his new track assistant, Coach Kaylie Pyles, to supervise the bus as the team camped in its warmer confines rather than outside in the usual tent section. As the races proceeded, Pyles would send the respective athletes out early to get re-acclimated before their race.
Sophomore hurdlers Makayla Strutton and Renden Emery had productive nights despite the cold conditions.
Strutton, from the women’s team, posted a pair of scoring runs in both the 100m high hurdles and the 300m low hurdles. Her marks of 19.09 and 58.30 respectively placed her in the top six of the two events.
Emery, off the men’s squad, covered the 110m high hurdles in 19.96 to win his heat. Later, the second leading scorer off of last season’s junior high team posted a measure of 47.83 to take sixth in the 300m style hurdles.
Emery also ran second leg in the men’s 4x100m relay.
Tiger baseball player Randal Claude who double dips the spring sports started the relay. He and Emery were joined by Jake Smith and Jaicy Griffin to complete the seventh place grouping.
Griffin ran the 100m dash as the Tiger’s top sprinter from a season ago. He did not participate in the scheduled 200m dash as a precautionary measure. It was in the 200m dash at the 2018 state championship that Griffin finished in the top eight.
Strutton joined senior newcomer Sara Willadsen along with juniors Addison Goetz and Delilah McKusker as part of their 4x100m sprint team. The going wasn’t as good for the girls as limited reps outdoor led to an exchange zone infraction in the first turn causing a disqualification.
With the runners only format, Mansfield took only a limited number of participants.
Blayne Bryant and Artem Zirka joined the Tiger men as part of the sprint team and distance team respectively.
Lennon Woods served the Lady Tigers through the hurdles. Hailey Byers and Alyssa Berry completed the 400m dash. Josefin Lofving ran the 1600m.
Going Home Again
It was bound to happen: a retired librarian and a retired history teacher join forces to record the previous days in the history of their hometown of Mansfield, Arkansas.
There is a Facebook site where people visit and begin a sentence or two, “Remember when?” Sometimes everyone can recall a time; photo or thought but, sometimes few or none can answer your question. For some reason, people hoard their photos or Family Bibles in fear that a relative might want them. (It happened in my family.) These old friends got to thinking that they should rattle the bushes and shake loose some of those photos people surely had, deep in the bottom of the closets.
Beverly Boyd Jeffery, daughter of Darlene and the late Frank Boyd of Mansfield, was quick to jump headfirst in the idea of a meeting of anyone who might have a memory and wished to share it. With Beverly’s heritage, she knows news and made the rounds to all of the area. I, Jack James, just showed up, pretty much.
At the strike of 1 PM on Friday, March 1, tables began filling up with a vast array of wonderful memories captured by photography! People peppered in and out of the Mansfield City Hall for over two-and-a-half hours looking to share a story or to reminisce about our collective pasts. For a first try at such a project of collecting shareable information, I think we all did a pretty good job!
All of our findings will be shared here at Resident Press. Don’t forget to link family and friends to our site! If you’d like to share a memory or scanned photo with us, you are very welcomed to do so by sending them to: jackwjames@aol.com. Thanks to the Mansfield City Hall for letting us use a space and to everyone who came and shared!
Waldron PD Assists in Drug Bust
On Friday March 1st, the Scott County Sheriff’s Office, 15th District Drug Task Force and Arkansas State Police assisted the Waldron Police Department in executing a search warrant at 451 Cedar Street in Waldron.
During a search, approximately 22 grams of a white crystal-like substance was located in the residence along with numerous items of drug paraphernalia.
Four subjects were taken into custody and are facing possession with the purpose to deliver, endangering the welfare of a minor, drug paraphernalia charges and an enhancement charge for proximity to a certain facility (residence located across from a school).
Hornets Show Great Promise For Baseball Season
Baseball season got underway for the Hackett Hornets as they took on the Hector Wildcats in last nights away game. Although the Hornets lost 3-2, the boys played extremely well considering the cold temperatures and the amount of time that they have had to practice. Hackett was first to put two runs on the board in the second inning. In the fourth inning, it was Hector who added one run to the score. But by inning five it was Hector who got in two runs and the game came to an end.
Hackett is a young team with the majority of the roster being
The game that was scheduled for tonight, March 1, against Mansfield, has been postponed until further notice. As it stands now, the Hornets will travel to Lavaca on Monday, March 4, to face the Golden Arrows with a 4:30 p.m. start time.
Lady Arrow’s season comes to an end… but their legacy will continue.
Photos by Jamie Shelly
Lavaca Lady Arrows headed off to Carlisle for the first round of the Arkansas 2A State Tournament. Coming off of a heartbreaking loss in the Regional Championship game to the Danville Lady Little Johns, The Lady Arrows remained highly optimistic about their chances. They met up with the Riverside Lady Rebels in the first round. Riverside came in as the favorite with a 32-7 record and averaging 52 points per game. The Lady Arrows played hard and held the Lady Rebs to only 37 points. However, The Lady Arrows had a hard time finding the bottom of the net, only scoring 20.
For the Lady Arrows, it was sad to have a season cut short of the goal. However, these ladies have had a great season and should be extremely proud of themselves. They have played hard every time they hit the court. They have proved that they have no quit in them. Most importantly though, they have left their mark on the school. They have built a legacy of basketball excellence and set an example for future generations of Lady Arrows to follow. This is a senior laden team, and they will be missed for sure, but the Lady Arrows will be returning a talented group of underclassmen who stand ready to pick up the torch. Resident Press would like to wish seniors; BethAnn May, Hope Headley, Skylar Hyatt, Julianne O’Dell, Avery Green, and Adeline Newhart, God Speed and good luck in your futuren endeavors. Thank you ladies for the memories.
Coach Wyles had a special relationship with these seniors and will miss coaching them next year. He expressed his pride in them them and his outlook of the future of the program saying, “I couldn’t be more proud of this group of girls and what they accomplished this year. Making the state tournament is never easy, and I’m really glad these girls were able to see the product of their hard work this year. The seniors who are leaving our program have been a really special group of girls to coach. They’re ending their careers with 57 wins, a conference championship, a district championship, a regional runner-up, and a state tournament appearance. Beyond all that, those girls have been great leaders for our program, in our school, and within our community. It’s hard to replace that kind of character in student-athletes, but I’m incredibly thankful that I got the opportunity to coach them. I’m really excited about what we have returning next year. This off-season we’re going to spend a lot of time getting stronger in the weight room, and getting a lot of skill development reps in on the court. Next year these girls will be looking to repeat what we were able to accomplish this season.”
SCSO Warns Area Seniors of Scam Artist
The Sebastian County Sheriff’s Office has issued an alert to area citizens, particularly, senior citizens. The SCSO warns that residents need to be aware of the work of a scam artist in the county.
On February 27, SCSO took a report of fraud from an 88 year-old citizen. She had reportedly paid a man $4,200 to repair her driveway. Promises were made by the scammer, but he did not follow through.
According to the man, he would redo her driveway to include a base layer
Almost $6,000 has been paid by the victim and so far the only work done was a thin layer of crusher rock on her driveway.
SCSO has identified the scammer as Brian Stanley. Stanley, 40, is a white male with dark hair and dark eyes. He stands around 5’6” and weighs over 200 lbs. While he has been identified, investigators have been unable to
SCSO Captain Pevehouse said, “We are asking the public to help us in locating Stanley and also being
Lady Tigerrrs Brrrave The Cold
It sure was a cold one for the Mansfield Lady Tigers Softball Team. With temperatures in the lower thirties, the girls gave it their best in last nights game against Northside. Getting off to a rough start, Northside made nine runs in the first inning with Mansfield bringing in zero.
In the second and third innings, Northside had added four more runs. The game was called shortly after with the final score reading 13-0 Northside. “We use most of our first 5 non-conference games for practice opportunities and ways to get better,” says Head Coach Kent Elmore. “It also allows me to better evaluate who I can rely on at different positions.”
“My seniors hit the ball well but the bottom half of our lineup has to improve. I am still trying to fill in some big holes and seeing what players want to step up,” said Coach Elmore. Leading the team was Caroline Nicodemus and Rylea Weaver who each made some good hits and went 1-2. “Cold weather really played a factor last night, our girls just didn’t have the mental toughness needed for that situation.”
Hopefully, the Lady Tigers can catch a break from Mother Nature as they compete in tomorrows Pottsville Classic. Mansfield will play at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. against Clinton and Pottsville JV.
FB Women Celebrate Read Across America at MES
Members of the women’s leadership of Scott County Farm Bureau came to Mansfield Elementary to participate in Read Across America.
Sue Cox, a SCFBWLC member, read the book “Sixteen Cows” to fourth grade students. Regina Oliver read “Clarabelle-Making Milk and So Much More” to second and fourth grade students.
Oliver displayed a variety of foods derived from dairy cows, and gave each student a cheese stick and coloring sheet.
Other members of the Scott County organization who came to read at MES
All of the ladies had fun reading to these students and look forward to reading again next year. The ladies of the Women’s Committee will be reading to elementary school students in Mansfield and Waldron over the next two weeks in conjunction with Read Across America.
Make-a-Wish In Mansfield
Today, Friday, March 1, will be the only day that Make-a-Wish will be in Mansfield, so don’t miss them!
They will be at Mansfield’s 71 Express, 504 Highway 71 S. from 3-5 p.m. Swing by, and enter to win a Grasshopper mower from the Mower Shop in Fort Smith. They are $1 per entry, and 100% of the donations go to the Make-a-Wish Foundation. A $20 donation will also get you a collectible
With the help of others through donations, Make-A- Wish is able to grant life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses. In 2018, a wish was
Six years ago, another area child, Radley O’Neal, was granted his wish. “He’s a
KTCS 99.9 is putting on the event. The radiothon starts April 5. You can also donate online to kids who are waiting on wishes to be granted in the River Valley.