“I was nervous,” admitted Mansfield sophomore Danielle Lowery. “We had brought a small group to try and qualify. I didn't want to let my coaches or my Mom down.”
Those were just some of the thoughts going through the mind of Mansfield's top high jumper as she took on the vertical jumpers at the Greenwood Bulldog Relays on April 10. The late season track meet was approximately 24 hours before Mansfield’s prom. Because of the distractions associated with prom preparations, only three Lady Tiger contestants were taken to the state qualifying meet less than 10 miles down the road. Among them was Danielle Lowery. She did not disappoint as her athletic talents became the Belle of the ball.
For an automatic bid into next month’s AAA state track meet, a class 3A high jumper must clear at least 4’ 10”. Lowery had done just that earlier in the year, but it did not count because it was a non-qualifying meet in Booneville. Because of rain storms and postponements, only one other legitimate opportunity to attempt the required measurement had come her way since that point. That was at Alma before spring break. Three solid attempts at the bar height were good but not enough as each time the cross bar was slightly dislodged. Then a calm, clear night at Greenwood came along after storms forced both the Mansfield home meet and the Gaile Hainley Meet in Waldron to be rescheduled.
“I managed to stay calm,” expressed Lowery as she took on a cross section of high jumpers from various classifications at the Bulldog Relays. “There were other jumpers still trying to jump, but I was really excited.”
Oddly enough, Lowery was at the required 3A height when a call rang out for her heat of the 400m race. The Mansfield coaches had stayed away from the talented leaper to reduce her level of anxiety. However, when the race call came across the public address system, they knew the attuned tenth grader needed permission to stay at the field event and drop out of the race.
“Go down there and tell her to concentrate on the high jump,” said interim head coach John Mackey to Kaylie Pyles, Mansfield’s recently returned head coach fresh off maternity leave. “Let her know she’s okay to skip the race. She’s in the groove and that’s what we came over here for anyway.”
The permission to stay within the moment must have worked. Having missed her first attempt at 4’ 10” under the hurried conditions of the anticipated race, the Lady Tiger’s second leading scorer self corrected under the reprieve. On her second attempt, the bar was cleared cleanly without worry.
“I was extremely happy,” shared Lowery after her favorable performance. “I knew the coaches would be proud. I just give God all the glory and thank Him for helping me through without injury.”
The sophomore didn’t stop there. Once the rush of making a state prerequisite calmed down, the Lady Tiger high jumper refocused her attention on the ensuing height increase. Squarely in a zone with all aspects of her jumping technique in sync, Lowery lifted even higher on her next target. A rarified height, at least for female jumpers, of five feet was easily mastered on her first attempt. She was suddenly in Mansfield’s Five Foot Club, an exclusive membership of less than ten Lady Tiger members.
With the leap, Lowery won the Greenwood field event. Excited with winning the event and qualifying to state, she chose not to continue. Going home on a make was equally important.
Lowery also competed in the discus and shot put before the high jump started. Her total points in all three events amounted to 17 of the team’s 39. Teammate Laney Wood, who competed in five events at Greenwood, scored the other 22 points.
Wood was there to attempt a qualifying standard in the pole vault. She was also there to work on heptathlon events that she typically doesn’t try during the season. As far as the pole vault requirement, it was out of reach this day despite her clearing a bar good enough for second place overall. She did set a personal record (19.21) in the 100m hurdles, a heptathlon event she had only run one other time.
Eva Trinh of Mansfield was also in attendance. She too was there to compete in the pole vault as well as move up in running distance with a first time attempt in the 1600m run. Both results were among her best attempts in those particular events.
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