The results didn’t quite reach one of the ‘foundational goals’ thrust upon the Mansfield Lady Tiger track program when they first started hosting track meets way back in 2005. However, a deeper look into the team scores from the most recently run Mansfield Junior Tiger Relays did reveal one thing. The hometown Tigers are trending in the right direction.
“Since we first started hosting track meets some 20 years ago, winning the home meet was always a priority,” former Mansfield head coach, John Mackey, and now MHS’s 2025 interim head coach opened up. “Over the last two decades, we always tried to instill in our players the importance of representing at home. It’s important, at least to me, for each new team to embrace the traditions, the pride and passion of the players that built this program. More former players than you know, return to watch or work the meets. It’s important to them that our kids do well.”
Mansfield’s young Tigers just didn’t have enough experience to supplant all the teams entered into the 20th version of the Tiger Relays. They did, however, pull away from the majority of the 16 registered schools. The junior Tigers landed in a respectable third place overall just behind large school entries Greenwood and Waldron.
Greenwood, representing the largest classification in attendance, had just enough depth for the team title. As a group, the blue and white Bulldogs scored 138 points backed by budding superstar, Paisley Hogan, the individual high point winner.
Scott County rival, Waldron, came in second with 130 points. The orange and black Bulldogs relied heavily on their distance core and sprint mechanics to stay within the top two.
Mansfield pushed the pace with 106 points for third. Their throws, hurdles, and sprints put them in early contention. A lack of an established horizontal jumper, their best Tiger entry shelved because of injury, created a shortfall for the Tigers.
Mena closed hard with 103 points placing them fourth in the team standings. Danville dropped well off the pace and from the leaderboard, but still took fifth place with 50 points to best the remaining six scoring schools.
That brings it back to an enhanced inspection into the Lady Tiger numbers. Mansfield was good, but just not good enough in all the skilled events. A lack of experience and overall depth showed up at the wrong time.
Nearly three-quarters of Mansfield’s active junior high roster was made up of mostly seventh and eighth graders. That unique dynamic alone provided 38% of the team’s scoring. The rest of the team’s production came from a freshmen group with loads of experience but with limited availability.
The Tiger’s prep team has just seven freshmen on the roster. Peyton Meyers is the lone full time track athlete from the class. Freshman Adeline Godwin, another track purest and the team’s best horizontal jumper and mid-distance runner, has been sidelined with injury since the first meet. The other five freshmen, all celebrated for their particular track skills, have to navigate conflicting spring schedules much of the time.
It was those dual sport freshmen that had a significant impact at the Tiger Relays this past week with their cameo appearances. In fact, it was the entirety of the freshmen track class that accounted for 62% of the team’s scoring. Count Mansfield’s big three; Abby Smith, Rylan Jones, and Miley Clopton as coming up aces in the group’s quest for home supremacy.
Smith chalked up a quick 20.5 points with an impressive 100m hurdles win, a 4x100m relay victory, and strong marks in the pole vault and 4x400m relay. Jones knocked out 19.5 points on her own by winning the shot put, placing second in the discus, and anchoring a third place 4x800m relay team. Clopton added 18.5 points by taking the photo finish first in the women’s 100m dash, narrowly slipping to third place in a film inspected 200m dash, and racing the fastest leg in the blue ribbon 4x100m relay.
“When they are involved, they are amazing,” noted the coach. “If they could find the time to expand their individual meet schedules, it would absolutely have an impact on the team totals.”
Addison Howard, another dual sport freshman, contributed a fourth place shot put in her first meet of the season. The Lady Tiger ninth grader threw a team second best 32’ 10.5” in her only event.
“Addison’s another one that could make a significant difference,” continued the Mansfield mentor. “She’s been spending much of her free time getting prepared for this type of moment.”
Mayce Phillips, an eighth grader, scored in three events. Described as a hard worker and determined player, Phillips went top eight as a rookie hurdler in two different barrier races and was the lead leg in the 4x200m relay.
Phillips was joined by an all eight grade lineup in the longer sprint relay. Bentley Hoover, a typical Tiger scorer, ran the second leg. Abbigail Adams took the baton third. Anchor Natlee Moore took the final pass crossing the line for fifth place points.
Bethany Mounts, an up and coming sprinter, anchored Mansfield's winning 4x100m coop. She punctuated the freshmen fellowship of Meyers, Clopton, and Smith.
“Bethany will do whatever is asked,” expressed Mackey. “She’ll go out of her way to practice after school and on weekends just to get better. She’s mentally tough and accepts the most challenging events.”
Mounts and Hoover both scored in the 400m dash taking seventh and third place respectively. The pair of underclassmen also assembled half of the Tiger’s 4x400m lineup. Lillianna Porter joined the pair in the final race after previously scoring in the 4x800m grouping, the 1600m run, and the 800m run. Smith, the only ninth grade leg on the last relay, ran the fastest split in the 4x400m to position the team for a top two race finish.
Hadley Shores ran the fastest Mansfield split in the women’s 4x800m section. She was joined by Adams, Porter, and Jones for a third place finish.
The following night Mansfield hosted the Seventh Grade Ribbon Run as part of Tiger Relay Week. Allie Hattabaugh, a MJH new addition to the sport, was one of the headliners.
Hattabaugh, recognized by some as the buzzer beating hero of the junior high’s district basketball championship, looked tremendous in winning the 800m run. The first time track runner cruised well ahead of a crowded field completing the two lap race in an outstanding time of 2:56.
“Allie has been exploring her track options,” explained the same coach who just happened to teach both parents of the seventh grade rising star. “She’s still trying to figure out what events are the best fit for her talents. She can jump, sprint, and obviously run the middle distance. I’m just happy she had a chance to show a Mansfield home crowd her abilities.”
The Tuesday night specialty event featured only seventh grade athletes. Six serious minded track schools from across the local area joined in the fray. Booneville, Greenwood, Mena, Ozark, Waldron, and of course Mansfield gathered for the intimate function that allowed unlimited entries.
Hattabaugh was among Mansfield’s best revealed secrets on the second night of the Tiger Relays Week. Paris Cervantes was another. Cervantes, also a starter on that championship basketball squad, struck gold for the youngest of the Lady Tiger prep teams. She won the 100m hurdles and followed that up with another win in the 100m dash.
“Paris is long and lanky and full of raw ability just like some of the best players from the past,” the coach confessed as he was rewinding the memory banks for a comparison. “It’s still early, but this one reminds me so much of Clara Ellingburg (MHS class of 2010) at that same age.”
Cervantes and Hattbaugh both served two sprint relays for Mansfield's seventh grade team. Elly Ling and Izabella Childs joined them in the 4x200m group. Ling and Hope Fury did so in the shorter 4x100m quadrupling.
Kamryn Bolin won both the shot and discus for the Tigers. The seventh grader has been dominant in the throws against other players her own age. For that reason, the rookie thrower actually competed up on the junior varsity squad the previous night before her own showcase event the following evening.
Abbie Neal, Mykenzie Pollard, and Paityn Eubanks, all scored points in the women’s throwing events for the seventh grade Tigers. Jaiden Black came through for Mansfield landing among the top five triple jumpers. Cervantes and Hattabaugh added value in the horizontal and vertical jumps as well.
The senior high edition to Tiger Relays had to be rescheduled for Monday, April 14. Heavy rains that hit the area hard a day after the seventh grade ribbon run made conditions unacceptable for Mansfield to host the state qualifying high school meet on the original April 3rd date.
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