Franklin’s top distance runners are through to the state meet.
After strong showings at the Mountain Seven Conference meet, on Oct. 26 Panther cross country traveled to Salisbury for the 3A West Regional. There three Panthers placed among the top 25 in their races, earning berths to the state meet in Kernersville Nov. 2.
Having placed second on the women’s side and fourth on the men’s at conference 10 days before, both Panther teams needed strong runs at regionals to advance to state. Complicating matters was the regional course itself, more than three hours from Franklin and unfamiliar to its runners. After Hurricane Helene damaged the 3A West regional course at Freedom High School in Morganton, officials were forced to combine the 3A West and Midwest meets.
“It was a little bit flatter than what our Freedom course would have been, but it still had a few challenging spots,” said head coach Melissa Ward of the Salisbury course. “I think mostly the heat was more challenging – we’d had some cooler weather, and even here we had some warmer weather that day, too. It wasn’t extremely hot, but I think it possibly played into them overthinking it and feeling like they had something to work against.”
After the Midwest men ran the first race of the day, Franklin’s boys took the starting line for the first West Region contest. There senior Matheson Post capped an excellent 10-day run, following his eighth-place finish at conference with a state-qualifying time.
“Matheson getting through, that was really special. I know he really wanted to, especially after being named Athlete of the Month,” said Ward, referring to Post’s recent award from Franklin’s Corbin Dental and First Citizens Bank. “He’s like, ‘I can’t be Athlete of the Month and not make it to state!’ … He’s come into his own this year, and done very well.”
While Franklin’s men did not place among the top 25% of teams to qualify for state, Post did punch his ticket as an individual, claiming one of just seven at-large bids reserved for runners not on qualifying teams. With a time of 18:13.04, Post led Franklin at 24th in the 171-person race, qualifying for state for the third straight year.
After Post, Franklin’s other two seniors were next across the line, with Tristan Gibbs placing 52nd (19:42.07) and David Rogers placing 83rd (20:34.02). First-year distance runner and Panther soccer standout Ken Modlin was hot on Rogers’ heels in 93rd (20:53.49), with Evan Pyles (100th, 21:12.56) and Eli Stewart (115th, 22:02.16) not far behind. With 343 points Franklin placed 11th out of 25 teams, just ahead of conference rivals Smoky Mountain (13th, 356) and East Henderson (14th, 392).
After the Midwest women’s race, the Panther girls took the starting line for the last race of the meet. There sophomore Morgan Cress turned in Franklin’s performance of the day, far outpacing her pre-race rankings to punch her own ticket to state.
“She [finished] sixth, and I think she came in ranked 23rd, so that was awesome,” said Ward of the 148-person, 19-team race. “She was determined. When she heard she was ranked [that low], she was not OK with that. That’s what I love – if she wants it, she’ll go after it, and she was really trying to get the team through as well. … Basically, if she had ran what her ranking had her predicted, she would have ran more like a 21:00, 22:00, so that would have made it a little bit more difficult to get through.”
With a sixth-place finish in 20:46.30, Cress turned in Franklin’s top finish of the day, joining junior Amy Mendoza Lopez (23rd, 21:55.74) in earning an at-large bid.
After Cress and Mendoza Lopez, junior Abigail Pope was third across the line, placing 45th in 23:47.68. Sophomore Breanna Pendergrass finished just behind Pope in 53rd (24:22.44), with fellow sophomore Katelyn Lopez placing 74th (25:27.54). Junior Briseida Tlahuice-Flores and sophomore Anna Timan rounded out Franklin’s scorecard, nearly finishing back-to-back in 82nd (25:46.08) and 84th (25:55.61).
As a team Franklin’s women just missed a collective bid to state, placing just outside the five-team cutoff in sixth (188). With the core of the team made up by underclassmen however, the future looks bright for Franklin’s women.
Upon returning home from Regionals, Ward conducted personalized workouts with Cress, Mendoza Lopez and Pope, limiting their mileage to keep their legs fresh for state. They traveled to Kernersville’s Ivey Redmon Sports Complex on Saturday, Nov. 2. The Press will report on that meet’s results in next week’s edition.
“I think it’ll be a fun little trip,” said Ward. “It’ll be the four of us, and I’m bringing David Rogers as well as support for those three. He’s worked really hard, he’s PR’ed [set a personal record] at almost every meet this season, and I just feel like he’s earned the opportunity.”