Franklin boys swim team wins title with one upperclassman
No seniors, no problem.
Despite having only one upperclassman, Franklin’s boys swim team won the Mountain Six Conference championship.
It was the third straight title for the Panthers.
“We all encourage each other and we work as a team,” said Michael Frazier, who is the lone junior and captain. “During practice, we work hard.”
The Panthers entered the Jan. 17 meet as a slim favorite based on seed times. When the ripples settled inside Waynesville Recreation Center, it wasn’t quite as close as expected.
FHS racked up 460 points, buoyed by winning all three relays (which feature double the points compared to individual events). Hendersonville came in second with 372 points.
“We saw it coming because we were ahead on our seed times, but I knew a lot of us did better on our times than the last meet,” sophomore Joseph Vernelson said.
“I don’t remember coach telling us we won, I just remember seeing the trophy.”
Swimmers were allowed to enter two relays and two individual events (or three and one).
Hunter Cabe was the only FHS swimmer to win both of his individual events, taking titles in the 200-yard IM and the 500-yard freestyle. He shaved more than 16 seconds off his personal-record time in the 500 free.
“Just pushing harder at practice in the previous week,” said Cabe, explaining the time drop.
Frazier won the 200 free and finished second in the 100 back.
Traveler Shaw won the 1-meter diving event with 312.90 points, while Kyler Cochran took second. Franklin had the only divers in the conference.
The diving meet was held two days before the swimming meet at the Jewish Community Center pool in Asheville. That’s the closest place to Franklin that has a diving board, and coach Dwain Picou takes them there twice a week to practice.
The Panthers also earned wins at all three relays. The teams consisted of:
• Cabe, Clayton Guynn, Caden Tyler and Vernelson in the 200 medley
• Guynn, Shaw, Vernelson, Frazier in the 200 free
• Tyler, Cabe, Shaw and Frazier in the 400 free
Tyler, a sophomore, was asked how the Panthers managed to win despite having one upperclassman.
“I think it’s really the coaches that have helped us, because without them we wouldn’t have been doing so well,” Tyler said. “They push us more at practice.”
Guynn, a freshman who won the 100 breast, was in agreement.
“I have to definitely give it up to our coaches,” he said. “They’re amazing. They’ve just done a lot for us.”
The coaches are Dwain and Dina Picou. Their wealth of swimming experience and knowledge dates back more than a dozen years here in Franklin, not mention their previous coaching stints in Florida.
Because the boys were seeded closely with Hendersonville, the coaches told the boys to make sure they employed “safe relay starts.”
“Just paying close attention to not being to too quick on the relay starts to make sure we did not DQ on the relays since they are double in point value,” Dwain Picou said. “We thought we could win the boys, but we wanted to make sure we did not lose any relay points.”
While the boys beat four other squads, the FHS girls finished third out of four teams. Brevard won it with 453 points, followed by Hendersonville (441) and Franklin (389).
Claire Holland had the best individual finish for the girls, taking second in the 100 breast. She was also part of the 400 free relay team with Callie Roper, Olivia Stahl and Deaven Lombard that placed second.
The girls are also very young, with no seniors and five juniors.
Both teams are also very small, featuring a dozen team members.
The future is certainly very bright.
“We are very excited about the next few years as our swimmers get more experience and we have some good swimmers moving up from our middle school teams,” Picou said.
This makes the second three-peat for the boys in school history. The first was from 2012-14.
Never has anyone helped the Panthers win conference titles in all four years of their swimming career. Frazier will get that opportunity next year.
“That would be pretty great,” he said, “and I plan on doing it.”
Well before that can happen, though, the Panthers still have goals they hope to achieve this season. Up next is the 1-A/2-A West Regional, slated for Saturday in Charlotte.
The Panthers aim to set more PRs at regional and to qualify for state.
Asked if the relay teams could advance, Cabe said he believes they can.
“We’ve got some fast guys,” he said.