Mansfield kicked off what will ultimately be a very busy spring sports calendar with a trip to the Arkansas Track Coaches Association Indoor State Finals on Friday, February 28. Behind the strength of some outstanding individual performances, Mansfield showed flashes of a promising track and field season.
Supported by individual state titles by two of its girls, the Mansfield Lady Tigers finished fifth overall in the class 3A division. The Mansfield men despite some competitive measures landed outside the top ten.
Freshman Skylynn Harris and sophomore Sadie Roberts put the MHS women into instant contention as the two each won first place in their individual events.
Harris bested all shot put throwers competing in the newly opened Fowler Center adjacent to the Randal Tyson Track Complex. Her state championship mark of 33 feet 8.75 inches easily outdistanced the next best throw by nearly one foot.
Meanwhile, Roberts rocked the high jump competition just past the hallowed hallways joining the Fowler facility to the Tyson arena. Within the shadows of multiple SEC and NCAA championship awards won by the U of A track teams, Mansfield’s highly flexible tenth grader cleared five feet for her first individual state title.
Only 19 members of the Lady Tiger lineup were activated for the class 3A indoor championships due to ATCA entry limitations. The active roster included 3 seniors, 2 juniors, 6 sophomores, and 8 freshmen.
Mansfield’s senior girl’s team could boast up to 31 players by the class 3A Region 1 West District outdoor finals in April.
Of the 19 athletes representing the MHS women, 11 contributed to the scoring column.
Freshman Madelen Jones hit pay-dirt in both the 60m hurdles and high jump. She was sixth in the 3A division hurdles with a time of 10.98. She tied for eight in the high jump at 4-4.
Sophomores Hope Rainwater, McKenzie Griffin, and Faith Rainwater joined freshman Jadelynn Wood for fourth place in the 4x800m relay. Wood was a common link to the team’s other relay squad. She fronted the 4x400m relay combination of Cassidy Carlton, Danielle Lillie, and Lennon Woods. That group took seventh place.
Lillie, just a junior, finished fifth in the long jump at 14-8. Fellow junior Brooke Wright was ninth in the shot put at 28-2.
Freshman Natalie Allison was fourth in the triple jump with a bound of 31-9. The multi-sport athlete missed a top three triple jump medal by three-fourths of an inch.
Darby Jones, a sophomore, ran 14:20.80 to take fifth in the 3200m run. Faith Rainwater was slightly ahead of Jones in the same race but slipped on the inside rail in the final 2 laps to post a DNF.
Roberts tied for eighth in the women’s pole vault at 7-0 without the benefit of run throughs due to her extended stay at the high jump venue.
Senior Delilah McKusker was ninth in the 60m hurdles. Her time of 11.37 was a 1.20 second improvement over her time at the 2019 ATCA Championships.
For the Mansfield men, freshman Aston Hinkle was fourth in the pole vault. The ninth grader cleared 10 feet. He also competed as a member of the 4x800m relay and the 3200m run.
Junior Codi Chick tied for 6th in the high jump after clearly 5-6. He also showed flashes of speed in the 60m dash (7.89) and the 200m dash (25.09). Teammate Randal Claude was close behind in the 60m dash at 7.99.
Bri Sanderson took home a point in the men’s shot put. The junior thrower pushed the 12 pound shot to 38 feet 7 inches for eighth place. He was a 2019 bronze medalist in the discus at last spring’s outdoor finals.
Sophomore Ethan Chapman was within 11 seconds of his junior high school record in the 1600m run. Running for the senior high distance team, he rounded the indoor mile in 5:24.39.
John Branche, Victor Steffen, Logan Yoss, and Renden Emery were collectively tenth in the 4x400m relay. They completed the co-op in 4:16.17.
Austin Carlton competed in two horizontal jumps and the 200m dash. Shawn Brown threw the shot.
