Photo: Mansfield’s Brooke Wright as seen at the 2021 Meet of Champs was recently recognized as a member of the All Arkansas Academic Track and Field Team
The accolades for Mansfield’s T. Franklin Boyd Female Athlete of the Year continue to grow. A recent mailing verified that 2021 MHS graduate Brooke Wright received a roster spot on the All Arkansas Academic Track and Field Team.
Through a rigorous nomination process, Wright was one of a select few athletes from across the state to earn the honor. Nomination forms were accepted by the Arkansas Track Coaches Association and reviewed at the conclusion of the 2021 season. From there, an ATCA committee reviewed the criteria and made their selections.
Nominees must have earned at least a 25 on the ACT Test, accumulated at least a 3.5 GPA, and qualified to the state track meet. Wright surpassed all three criteria on route to claiming the Class 2A individual state title in the discus. The All-State athlete and Meet of Champs qualifier won the discus championship on May 5 with a toss of 104’ 3”.
“Brooke is the type of athlete that all Mansfield players should strive to become,” said Mansfield track and field coach John Mackey. “She was a special person not just through her athletic talents but through her personality, academics, and musical talents. We are blessed to have had a player like this come through our program.”
Wright was a Top 10 high school honor graduate. She was an award-winning member of the Tiger Marching Band. She claimed the Most Valuable Player plaque leading Mansfield’s 2020 volleyball team to the Class 2A state championship. She was a starter on the Lady Tiger basketball team that finished in the elite eight at this season’s state tournament. She scored 12 points as a thrower on the state runner-up MHS track and field team.
To say her list of high school achievements was numerous would be an understatement.
“What’s remarkable is that Brooke managed to keep such high marks in her school work while being so involved in so many extra-curricular activities,” Mackey said. “It proves academics and athletics can coexist. It’s exciting Brooke was recognized as a member of the All Arkansas Academic Track and Field Team.”
The ATCA award covers the entire state through all six classifications. Typically around 25 track athletes per gender are selected from the hundreds of nominations each year.
The last time a Mansfield athlete was so honored with this same acclaim was seven seasons ago. That 2014 list included multi-dimensional senior athlete Mallory Ward who helped lead her track team to the Class 3A state title.
Ward was first in the pole vault, second in the long jump, second in the high jump, and third in the 4x400m relay in 2014. Like Wright, Ward too was named the T. Franklin Boyd Tiger of the Year.
