Mansfield Lions win Class 2, Sectional 3 title
Mansfield’s Blake Henry, fourth from left, sprints to the finish line. Henry qualified for the Class 2 State Championships in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters.
The Mansfield Lions won the Class 2, Sectional 3 team championship this past weekend in Mountain Grove after defeating New Heights Christian Academy by eight points with 83 overall.
Mansfield has athletes qualifying in 10 different events for this week’s Class 2 state championships in Jefferson City, which will put them in position to compete for a top four finish at state.
The championships are scheduled for Friday-Saturday, May 23-24.
The Lions won three individual sectional championships during their big day in Mountain Grove.
Nolyn Corder led the way as he won the 1,600 meters race with a time of 4:33.77. He also won the 3,200 meters title with a time of 10:12.95.
Malachi Ussery won the sectional crown in the long jump after leaping 6.79 meters.
He was also second in the triple jump with a leap of 12.83 meters and second in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 41.32 seconds.
Blake Henry was second in the 200 (23.30), third in the 400 (51.06) and fourth in the 100 (1`1.49), which advances him to state in all three races.
The 4x400-meter relay team of Braxton Bolfing, Henry, Ussery and Corder advanced to state after their second place finish with a time of 3:35.37.
Fisher Croney moved on in the high jump event after clearing 1.79 meters for fourth place.
Though they didn’t qualify for state, Zachary Perkins was sixth in the discus (34.46 meters) and Riley Pierson was seventh in the long jump (5.63 meters).
Cali Lemons led the Lady Lions by winning the sectional title in the 300-meter hurdles with her time of 48.12 seconds. She also qualified in the 100-meter hurdles (17.48) with a fourth place finish.
Faith Clark advanced to state in the 800 meters with her fourth place time of 2:34.76.
As for relays, the 4x100-meter relay team of Laikyn Ball, Devynn Ball, Kayley Kingery and Jacie Ussery qualified for state with a fourth place time of 55.07 seconds.
The 4x200-meter relay team was also a state qualifier as they placed fourth with a time of 1:53.44. That squad features Addie Jones, Laikyn Ball, Devynn Ball and Lemons.
Jones moved on to state in the triple jump as well after leaping 9.7 meters to place fourth.
The 4x400-meter relay didn’t qualify for state, but was fifth (4:37.65).
Though both did not advance, Jones was sixth (4.37 meters) and Laikyn Ball was seventh (4.17 meters) in the long jump.
As a team, the Lady Lions were sixth overall with 44 team points.