Franklin’s distance runners have faced their toughest test of the season to date.
At the NCRunners Elite Winter Quads invitational Dec. 19, Franklin travelled to this year’s state championship course in Kernersville to race some of North Carolina’s best cross-country competition. Against one high school, R-S Central, and two dedicated track clubs, High Point and North Raleigh, the Panthers tried to improve their times in their last race before the Mountain Six championship.
“It went pretty well,” said girls coach Melissa Ward. “It was a rather tough morning for them at 40 degrees. … This is not a fast course by any means. Dylan [Garcia] didn’t really have any competition, so she was in the front. She won, obviously, which is a no-brainer.”
Following her blazing run of 19 minutes and four seconds Dec. 12, which broke her own school record and earned her an NCHSAA statewide Performance of the Week award, Dylan Garcia continued her streak of fast runs throughout the season. At the state course the senior crossed the line in 19 minutes and 44 seconds, a full minute before the second-place finisher. Mykayla McClure, Hannah Ludwig, and Hailey Bryant also turned in good times, finishing 12th, 14th, and 15th in the 27-person race with times of 23:18, 23:37, and 23:38, respectively. While no Panthers were able to improve on their personal records, Ward said she was happy with her girls’ times given the slower nature of the state course.
“All the girls worked hard,” said Ward after the race. “Everybody came in with decent times, but nobody beat any of their previous times. … It wasn’t a fast course or anything, with a lot of downhill. It had some gradual hills, nothing major, but definitely something you had to work for.”
Franklin’s boys just missed out on the first-place time. Ethan Stamey posted a rare second-place finish at 16 minutes and 22 seconds, crossing the line just five seconds after a runner from the North Raleigh Track Club. Nathan Stamey finished sixth in the 26-person race with a time of 16:45, while Isaiah Roots and Logan Russo finished 15th and 17th with times of 18:24 and 18:28. After the race, Ward said the boys had run well in less-than ideal conditions.
“Ethan and Nathan still came in very nice,” she said. “They did not PR [record a personal record], and they like to beat themselves up over that stuff. It was really good to have that competition because a lot of times they’re like Dylan and don’t have that push. I think it was difficult for them. They ran first, so the colder of the two races, and I think it was just a hard race today.”
While no Panthers recorded personal records on the challenging state championship course, the race was by no means a failure for FHS. In attending the Winter Elite invitational the Panthers tested their stamina against some tough competition and familiarized themselves with a course they hope to run again on Jan. 23.
“It was a good chance for them to preview the course for state, so that’s the reasoning behind going there,” said Ward. “We’ll try to give them some extra rest this week. … Some of the kids knew the course, but a lot of the freshmen, the people that just joined or moved here had never seen it, so they didn’t know it. Knowing helps you to kind of prepare yourself mentally and have a better racing strategy.”