After near perfect weather conditions for running at the front of the week, an unusual hot October morning greeted the Mansfield cross country teams at Van Buren by week’s end.
The Pointer Invitational on Saturday saw temperatures reach the 90 degrees. Just a few days earlier, the temperatures were in the jacket mode of 60 degrees.
With the hotter than expected race conditions, Mansfield found themselves turning in times closer to what they ran back at the start of the season. Although the slower times were disappointing, it was the same for most of the schools in attendance.
Mansfield senior Megan Rose was among those effected by the warmer weather. Just four days earlier, the Mansfield recruit blistered the Magazine Invitational with a winning 5K time of 19:42.
It was a career best time for the Lady Tiger. It also put her into top-two status at the 3A state level according to ar.milesplit.com. At Van Buren, Rose and others ran two to three minutes slower.
“The course was definitely more challenging and the heat didn’t help,” commented Mansfield cross country coach John Mackey. “I heard one coach telling her players that if Megan was slowed it was understandable for all. Megan is the measuring stick by which a lot of players judge themselves.”
Rose went 23:21.37 at Van Buren. The marker was still the second best time among the small schools and 17th overall among all classifications.
Because of Rose’s runner-up individual time, the stage was set for the MHS Lady Tigers to place second in the team standings. Lennon Woods joined the medal party with a 7th place measure at 25:59.44. Natalie Brewer followed closely at number nine in 26:43.59.
Brewer along with Addison Goetz (11th) and Jessica George (13th) rounded out the scoring five with Rose and Woods for Mansfield. All five runners medaled.
West Fork took first in the team scoring with 27 points. Mansfield followed with 35 points while conference opponent Atkins tallied 58.
“It did seem like we handle the heat better than most,” realized Mackey. “Compared to others, especially from our own conference, we ran better than most. We are in shape.”
Devon Pyles, from the Mansfield men’s team, continued his string of medals. The senior and two-time All-Star runner crossed at 21:05.22. The mark was good enough for ninth place among small schools. It was also better than any other runner off the three conference schools attending.
All toll, Mansfield came away with six senior high medals. Also running and earning medals on the day were five junior high contenders.
Off the junior girls squad, Faith Rainwater, McKenzie Griffin, and Olivia Bouse placed in the top 15. Rainwater was sixth among classes 1A-4A. Griffin was 13th. Bouse closed at 15th passing a Waldron runner by one second for the final medal.
Jadellyn Wood and Shasta Christopher completed the junior girls scoring unit. As a team the crew was fourth overall in the small school division.
For the boys, Mansfield was represented by medal winners Ethan Chapman and Steven Perez. Chapman came in 7th while Perez went 12th.
Tiger eighth grader Levi Escalante was two places shy of a medal at 17th. Tyler Escalante and Tommy Phang completed the junior boys scoring team. Collectively the five members were second place in the team standings behind West Fork and in front of Waldron.
Jessie George, Lennon Woods, Natalie Brewer, Devon Pyles, Megan Rose, and Addison Goetz enjoy medal runs at Van Buren
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