Mansfield schools to rename buildings after 3 football coaches, former superintendent
The Mansfield ISD school board approved the naming of the Mansfield High athletic complex after beloved football coach Daniel Maberry on Tuesday, but he wasn’t the only one who will be distinguished with this honor.
MISD approved the naming of six buildings for individuals that made an impact in the district.
MISD sought community input with nearly 2,000 suggestions submitted. The suggestions were then studied by a committee and recommendations were brought to the school board for approval.
Dedication ceremonies will be held in the fall.
The MISD Center for the Performing Arts will be named after Dr. Jim Vaszauskas, the district’s former superintendent, who after 39 years retired in February of 2020. Vaszauskas spent more than 10 years leading Mansfield. He was named Top 5 superintendent in Texas in 2017.
During his time in Mansfield, the district had much success in the classroom as well as on the field of play. Timberview boys basketball won two state titles, Timberview girls coach Kit Martin was named a national coach of the year and Legacy girls soccer reached a state final.
Lake Ridge’s Jasmine Moore set national records at the state track meet in 2019.
In addition to the Center of the Performing Arts, MISD will rename the athletic complex at all five high schools. Along with the Daniel Maberry Multipurpose Athletic Complex at Mansfield, Lake Ridge will also honor one of its football coaches that lost his battle with cancer.
Lake Ridge will rename its building after defensive coordinator Billy Smith, who died in 2019 while still coaching the Eagles. Smith spent 15 years in the district coaching at Mansfield, Legacy and Lake Ridge.
Smith had been at Lake Ridge since it opened in 2012 and helped coach the program to a state title game in 2015. The Eagles had gone 54-17 from 2014-19 with Smith along the sideline.
Smith had battled thyroid cancer for three years.
Timberview will name its athletic complex after Terry Cron, the school’s first head football coach. He served 37 years in education as a teacher, coach, athletic coordinator and athletics director.
While at Timberview, Cron led the football team to the playoffs from 2006-09 before retiring in 2009. Cron did spend time as interim coach at Summit in 2016.
Cron had a career record of 175-94-3 over 22 years.
The Legacy athletic complex will be named after Mike Wynn, who served in the district for 24 years. He was the head of grounds and maintenance before retiring in 2021.
Summit’s athletic complex will be named after Donna Grant, who helped open the school in 2002 and was the first female high school principal in MISD. She spent more than 32 in education before retiring in 2007.
