Planning to achieve a peak performance at the precise moment is easier said than done. That’s especially true in the sport of cross-country, where athletes typically run several miles each day for multiple months and the risk of injury always looms.
“It’s a difficult balance to figure out how to peak at the right time to do what you want to do without getting injured,” said Rita Esterwood, Franklin’s cross-country coach.
Both of Franklin’s cross-country teams competed at the 2-A NCHSAA Championship this past weekend. While the runners didn’t set personal-record times, they still managed a solid showing against the best runners in the state.
The boys placed ninth out of 20 teams. It’s one spot better than the Panthers finished last year, which was one spot better than their 2017 performance.
Ethan Stamey came excruciatingly close to earning all-state honors. The junior finished 11th – the top 10 earn all-state – and trailed the 10th-place runner by .37 seconds.
Stamey finished the 5K in 16 minutes, 22.50 seconds.
Nathan Stamey finished 16th in 16:30.05.
The twins each had nagging hip injuries, likely related to their bodies growing, Esterwood said. It kept them from doing two training runs during the week of regionals.
Also competing for the Panthers were Andrew Garrison (65th, 17:57.02), Aiden Carpenter (102nd, 18:41.56), Ethan Farrell (108th, 18:47.04) and Nik Payne (20:41.95).
Payne was the lone senior, so the Panthers should be primed for an even higher finish next year.
“They’ve got a good opportunity next year if they keep running – and if some of them will run over the summer – to do really well,” Esterwood said.
Girls gain experience
Franklin’s girls finished 15th out of 19 teams. It was their second straight year finishing 15th, after placing ninth in 2017.
The Panthers weren’t even expected to make it to state, with four freshmen among their six runners.
Dylan Garcia finished 16th to lead the Panthers. The junior crossed the line in 20:10.60.
Garcia broke the school record at the Mountain Six Conference meet with a time of 19:09.3.
Mykayla McClure (56th, 21:35.50), Hailey Bryant (102nd, 22:46.67), Maria Sgro (121st, 23:36.09), Ava May (152nd, 27:25.17) and Olivia Owl (153rd, 28:49.22) also competed for FHS.
Sgro, like Garcia, is a junior. McClure, Bryant, May and Owl are freshmen.
The Panthers attended more meets than usual this season, which Esterwood felt benefited the freshmen. There’s a significant difference between training runs and competing in races, where runners need to learn how to deal with nerves on the starting line, how to get in and out of crowds, and taking the right routes on turns.
“All of that is stuff you can’t train, just like a game versus practice,” Esterwood said. “It’s so different.”
The girls showed tremendous improvement. Cumulatively, they dropped 28:32 from their PRs from the start of the season until the end.
May dropped the most, cutting six minutes off her best time.
Garcia dropped 2:35, which Esterwood said is a tremendous improvement for an elite runner. Anytime Garcia sets a new PR, it will also be a new school record.
Coach moving on
This was Esterwood’s final season coaching and teaching at FHS. She’s moving to Asheville with her husband, Tony Esterwood, and starts a new job Dec. 9 in Buncombe County.
Esterwood will be a school nurse – she isn’t sure at which school just yet – through the Mountain Area Health Education Center program.
She informed the runners in September that this would be it for her.
“When I told the kids I was leaving they could have really given up or not given me the respect that they did,” Esterwood said. “It really shows the depth of character that they have to continue to listen and be respectful and allow to be coached.”
Esterwood coached the girls cross-county team since 2016. She coached the boys in two stints: 2011-2013 and 2018-19.
She also coached girls soccer for two stints: 2012-16 and 2018.
It won’t be easy leaving Franklin, she said.
“Oh it’s been great, it really has been. There’s no better parents than cross-country parents. They’re the best parents to work with. It’s completely supportive and they’re right there to help and cheer on,” Esterwood said.
“Cross-country kids have been really fun. I’m glad I ended on this team, because this team has really been a unique team. They’ve been able to do things I didn’t think they’d be able to do.
“But I will miss it.”