Providence Academy, an independent Christian K-12 college preparatory school in Rogers, simply had too much fire power. Mansfield along with a few other serious contenders were left fighting for a chance at the second place trophy at the class 3A State Track Meet in Prescott on May 6.
The private school Patriots and their all-everything distance duo, Gabbie and Maggie Bishop, delivered most of the punches the Lady Tigers and others had to absorb. In addition, torrential rains and lightning, which caused a five hour delay, soaked the conditions making it difficult for any team to chase the eventual champs.
Through it all though, Mansfield’s senior girls held their collective heads above water to make it another respectable showing at the state event. The Lady Tigers, despite some early rain related gaffs, still posted season or personal bests in many areas to finish sixth in a tightly contested race for the runner-up prize.
Three sport All-State athlete, Kaylee Ward, did her part for Mansfield. Before the first round of heavy rains hit Prescott Stadium, the junior thrower was in high command at the discus ring.
Ward sent three well placed tosses into the sector. A 99’ 5” landing wowed the crowd. A 91’ 6” throw kept on the heat. Never trailing through the opening round, Ward then ripped off a personal mark of 101’ 6” to join Mansfield's elite 100 foot club. The Lady Tiger’s 6’ 4” college prospect for basketball, volleyball, and track was firmly in the lead waiting for the finals.
“Kaylee definitely rose to the occasion,” boasted John Mackey, Mansfield’s recently retired head track coach who returned for the 2025 season. “She put up three big numbers and pretty much intimidated the other throwers. Many of the entries had brought with them resumes of 100 foot plus throws. Kaylee was ranked sixth going in, but quickly rattled the cages of the ranked.”
Then it hit. Lightning struck a few miles to the west of Wolf Stadium causing the first delay. Behind it, the first of two rain fronts blew into the area causing Ward and the rest of the hundreds of athletes in competition to take shelter.
“That first front caused about an hour and a half delay,” pointed out Mansfield’s coach. “When we came back, nothing was quite the same. Conditions were just awful.”
When the discus ring opened back up, Alyssa Spurlin of Centerpoint High School got to go first. As the lowest qualifier barely making the finals, she took advantage of the calmer winds and settled down weather. After posting preliminary marks ranging in feet near the 70’s and 80’s, Spurlin let loose an unexpected winner of 106’ 11”.
No one else in the finals could approach that number as a light rain came back into the picture. The slight drizzle kept succeeding throwers at bay including Ward who was unfortunately now the final thrower competing in a returning heavier rain.
Spurlin took the discus gold medal and an automatic invitation to the Meet of Champs on May 14. Ward finished second individually, yet still garnered All-State honors in her third sport of the school year.
“Weather played a huge part in a couple of key events,” noted Mackey. “The high jump and pole vault in particular took the largest lumps. In the high jump for instance, at least 8 participants entered with a five foot jump or better. The winner barely cleared 4’ 10” as most of the good jumpers had to start in the mud just to get to the apron.”
Mansfield’s Danielle Lowery and Laney Wood were probably most affected by the soggy conditions. As vertical leapers, it was obvious they just couldn’t get a proper footing or hand hold.
Lowery, a high jumper, who in competition has consistently cleared five feet through the last few weeks, struggled to clear the opening bar. Wood, a pole vaulter, who just recorded a personal best 9’ 0” two weeks earlier and who was inching towards 10 feet in practice four days before, could not keep a grip on the pole and struggled with steps.
“Those were areas I thought would be good for us,” expressed the coach. “You can’t fault the kids. They were doing their best under deplorable conditions. I feel bad. They have been our top two scorers all season long and to be put in that situation, it’s unfortunate.”
MHS junior Daisey Nelson made the best of her circumstances. One of Lady Tiger’s most productive sprinters and horizontal jumpers pointed in all four of her state events.
Nelson managed a 16’ 0” long jump before the first rain delay. That stood up as the meet resumed for the fifth best mark of the day.
After a second rain delay that lasted nearly four more hours, Mansfield’s top sprinter came back to score in the 100m hurdles, 100m dash, and 4x100m relay. She finished sixth in all three races.
“Daisy went 17.12 in the hurdles,” explained Mackey. “That was her best time of the season. Under dry conditions, that’s probably well under 17 seconds and a personal record.”
Senior Trinity Triska joined Nelson in the team’s 4x100m relay. The former All-State distance runner stepped into the sprints when freshman starter Payton Meyers was sidelined with injury before the junior and senior district finals.
“Trinity has always been so versatile and willing to compete where the team needs it,” her coach said. “She’s had a lot to be proud of over these last six years.”
Freshmen Miley Clopton and Abby Smith ran the second and third legs of the sprint relay. Despite spending much of the season playing on the high school softball team, both showed tremendous athleticism for the track team in a variety of ways.
Clopton specialized in the sprints and occasionally the high jump. She made the 100m dash finals at this year’s state track meet along with solidifying the sprint team’s relay core. Clopton missed the scoring platform in the 100m dash by less than three-tenths of a second, but helped the relay team post points.
Smith was a high point candidate for a few meets of the junior high season. The athletic ninth grader high jumped, long jumped, pole vaulted, sprinted, and ran both sets of hurdles. At the senior high state meet last week, she ran the 300m hurdles and the 4x100m relay. She finished 11th in hurdles and sixth in the relay.
Bailey London, Mansfield’s top distance racer, qualified to state in three events. The sophomore anchored the 4x800m relay team and ran the 1600m and 800m individual distance races. Alas, all three events happened to be among the specialities of the Bishop sisters and Jane Adams, Providence Academy’s third best distance protege.
London posted a personal record of 2:49.30 in the 800m run and her second best mile of the season, yet did not score. Bishop, Bishop, and Adams dominated the top three places in all those events. In fact, it was the three Patriot front runners that swept every distance event which included the 800m, 1600m, 3200m, and 4x800m relay. Providence literally put distance between themselves and any other runner representing one of the possible 64 schools in line for the finals.
“Bailey ran a personal record in the 800m and one of her best miles of the season,” explained Mackey. “That just shows the caliber of the competition at state. She, like all our kids, still showed they were among the best in attendance.”
Wood, one of the two Mansfield seniors making the trip, competed in four events. After a disappointing pole vault performance, the Lady Tiger’s leading scorer for the entire season found some momentum after the second rain delay.
Wood pushed past the slick pavement to run her second best time in the 100m hurdles. Her time clocked in at 18.35 which was the 11th fastest finish of the evening.
Not a true sprint hurdler by nature, Wood added the event to her repertoire as practice for the upcoming state heptathlon. As she continued to get better over the last month of the season, her coach entered her into the district finals where by which she qualified to the state finals.
After that, Wood continued to regroup. The senior went on to post a personal record in her second best individual event, the triple jump, later in the night. Landing in a water soaked sand pit, Mansfield’s captain leaped 33’ 4.5” for one of the school’s top measures of all time. That mark placed her in sixth place.
“Laney had an exhausting day,” offered the track coach whom Wood worked with for most of her six seasons. “She started her state events at 10:30 AM with the pole vault. Competed in the hurdles and triple jump, back to back, something around dark. Then, she anchored the mile relay as the hour approached 11:00 o’clock PM.
“She’s been through the battles her whole career,” continued the coach. “In track and field, she has literally been in every event except the 100m dash. That’s 17 of 18 events. You have to be proud of the things she has done wearing the Lady Tiger uniform.”
Wood along with Summer Lyon, Adeline Godwin, and Lowery combined for Mansfield’s last race of the night, the 4x400m relay. As Wood, the anchor, crossed the finish line, it was working on hour 17 from the time the team bus had left Mansfield to the running of the last event.
“This was Summer and Adeline’s first outdoor finals,” infomed Mackey. “They had been waiting all day through the delays and 17 other events. We weren’t about to leave until they had their moment. Summer was our most improved runner, and Adeline was coming off an injury that caused her to miss almost the entire season. They deserved a chance to score, and that’s what they did.”
The Lady Tiger 4x800m relay group finished 8th overall with an accumulative time of 4:43.27. The result brought Mansfield’s team total to 31 points.
Nearly a half a full day before the closing race, Mansfield freshman Rylan Jones and sophomore Ashlynn Whittaker joined Triska and London in the state’s first race. The four that combined for the 3A-4 district championship formed Mansfield’s entry into the distance relay. The team finished in ninth place, just outside the scoring eight, with a 11:58.84 crossing.
Sometime several hours later, Ward became Mansfield’s leading scorer at this year’s state finals by finishing third in the shot put. The junior recorded a toss of 34’ 3.5” to place third in the 4kg weight event. With her position, Mansfield’s home district, the 3A-4 conference, crowded the top three places on the medals podium.
Gwen Bradshaw of Cossatot River won the shot put at 37’ 4”. Lamar’s Emma Bailey came in second at 35’ 0”.
In the final team standings, Providence Academy finished well ahead to win the class 3A state championship with 137 points. Ashdown took second at 53. Central Arkansas Christian had 52. Defending class 2A champion, Yellville-Summit, having moved up in classification like Mansfield, was fourth with 47 points. Dewitt, the indoor state runner-up, managed 32 points to squeak into the top five just ahead of Mansfield and most of the 37 scoring schools.
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