Still beaming from the glow of the ATCA indoor state championship Mansfield won a little more than a week ago, Lady Tiger Darby Jones put good use to the team’s entry into the Van Buren Runner’s Festival. At the first outdoor track meet of the 2022 season, the Mansfield senior runner punched her ticket to the outdoor state finals with a pre-qualifying mark in the women’s 3200m run.
The March 4th runner’s only track meet saw nearly 20 local teams gather in Van Buren to record the first races of the outdoor season. Jones was scheduled for both the 1600m and 3200m runs as part of a small group of Tigers that went to the festival.
“There were unlimited entries at this runner’s only event,” Mansfield Coach John Mackey described. “That in itself made for a very long night. However, the extra rest worked to our advantage.”
Jones in particular saw the rewards of the extended rest time. She strategically did not run the usual 4x800m relay in lieu of two individual races. The ideal was to be fresh for a chance to post some really good numbers in her individual distance events.
The sit out strategy along with the extended time of multiple heats in various races definitely helped. Jones ran her fastest 1600m (6:08.44) of her career followed by another personal record in the 3200m run (13:07.86).
The last of the two races, the 3200m run, met standards (13:33.98) for early entry into the class 2A outdoor state meet. Jones now has a clear part to the state finals in May without the pressure to perform well at the district championships.
“After the 1600m run, Darby and I talked about the standards and how her mile time was on target for a pre-qualifying performance in the two-mile,” Mackey confirmed. “We quickly plotted a path that would give her a chance to run faster than the 13:33 standard. From there, Darby did all the work.”
According to the coach, Jones was well within range after completing the first four laps of the eight lap race. With 800m to go, she was still very well within reach. With 300m to go, the coach said he knew the time was in her favor.
“With 300m to go, she had nearly two minutes to spare,” gleamed Mackey . “Darby surpassed the standard and broke her PR by nearly 47 seconds. It was a good day to be a Tiger.”
Mansfield only took 5 girls and 5 boys to the runner’s only meet. Minus the field events specialists, and others with conflicting band and FFA exercises, the total team roster was far from full.
The Lady Tigers and Tigers, despite limited entries, still had good showings in their premiere events.
Junior Jadelyn Wood had another good night fresh from her MVP type display at the state indoor meet. The multi-purpose player set personal records in two hurdle races.
An 18.47 mark in the 100m hurdles was Wood’s best mark. Then a 53.33 push in the 300m hurdles was another PR as she placed fourth among 17 players in the race.
“Jadelyn is starting to figure it out,” commented Mackey. “A commitment to the weight room and extra time getting quality reps will definitely sharpen her skills.”
The men’s 4x200m relay saw Mansfield win their heat and place second only to a very fast Van Buren squad. The cooperation of Tyler Escalante, John Branche, Tommy Phang, and Axle Ravnsborg rounded the 2 lap course in 1:40:32.
“Their handoffs looked really good especially for having a rookie in the mix and limited prep time since indoor,” MHS men’s coach Josh Brown said. “If these boys can keep improving, they should be real threats at the state level moving forward.”
The same group ran the 4x100m relay as well. That time was 48.87 seconds.
Somewhat gassed from the earlier relay race, the results weren’t quite the same against the fresher legs of different relay runners pulled from the deep rosters of the larger schools.
Mansfield was 12th overall in the shorter sprint relay. In the small school standings, the time was good for seventh.
Guilherme Bueno completed the Tiger men’s roster on the night. The foreign exchange student was scheduled for the 1600m run and 800m run.
McKenzie Griffin and Hope Rainwater added to the Mansfield women’s team with distance events. Griffin posted her best mile since earlier in her career with a 6:44.91 measure. Rainwater clocked in at 7:10.09. The two seniors also added value in the 3200m and 800m runs respectively for the Lady Tigers.
Shelby Cole, another MHS senior, ran the 100m hurdles, 300m hurdles, and 200m dash at Van Buren. There were 51 girls that ran the 200m dash.
For the men, 81 runners covered the same 200m distance. Phang of Mansfield was seventh fastest among small school competitors. The junior was 36th overall with a time of 25.83.
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