Dylan Garcia broke one of Jennifer Wiggins’ records during the cross-country season in the fall.
The Franklin junior then erased another one of Wiggins’ records from the ’90s at the second track meet of the outdoor season. Garcia ran the 3,200-meter race in 11 minutes, 58.39 seconds. Wiggins’ record was 12:01, which stood since 1995.
“I’m really thankful that she set those records,” Garcia said, “because that’s something for me to chase.”
The former record holder and new one initially connected on social media last fall. They have many mutual friends, which is how Nelson – her last name now – learned about Garcia.
Garcia broke Nelson’s 5K record in October at the Mountain Six Conference championship, shattering the mark of 19:31 by running a 19:06.3. Friends tagged Nelson in a post, making her aware of the feat.
“A few people were telling me what a great person Dylan is and what a great girl she is, which is great to hear,” said Nelson, who lives in Knoxville, Tennessee, with her husband and three children.
“We’ve chatted through messenger back and forth. I’m really happy for her.”
Garcia initially felt bad for Nelson. But records are made to be broken, Nelson said, and she was very happy for Garcia.
“That’s what she worked for, now that’s what I’m doing,” Garcia said. “So it was fun.”
‘Perfect athlete’
Jim Byrd, who coaches distance runners for the FHS track teams, had high praise for Garcia.
“She’s the perfect athlete,” Byrd said. “She never has an attitude, she always believes in what you tell her to do. She always shows up thinking, I got this. You can’t ask for anything better than that. Anytime you say something, it’s, ‘Yes.’”
Based on how well Garcia performed during the cross-county season, when she won conference and placed 16th at state, Byrd felt like going for the 3,200 record would be more prudent before going after the 1,600. It naturally fell into good training, he said, where she needed volume before intensity.
Garcia much prefers training and running the 1,600, but she made a deal with Byrd that if she broke the 3,200 record, they would then focus on going after the mile record.
“I was like, ‘fine,’ so I had to prove him wrong,” Garcia said.
Garcia didn’t run the 3,200 during her sophomore year. Her previous PR as a freshman was 14:07.
At the first meet of this season, March 4 at Owen, Garcia ran a 12:16. A week later at Cherokee, she joked with Byrd that she was going to break it at that meet. Byrd felt confident she might break it that day.
“I never thought I would do it,” Garcia said. “I just thought it was a joke.”
The boys and girls run the two-mile race together, and Garcia followed Ethan Farrell. It helped having someone to go after, since Garcia was the top female racer.
“We played a game of tag with it,” she said. “Farrell would go and then I would follow up right behind, and when I got too close he would speed up a little bit. That sort of gave me an advantage.”
Garcia crossed the finish line and raised her arms knowing she had gotten under 12:00 and broken another record.
It was a mental battle running around the track for eight laps, not to mention having to maneuver around lapped girls and guys. It would’ve been much easier for her on a cross-country course.
“The fact that we had to go eight laps around a track, it’s just mind blowing,” she said.
More records in sight
The meet in which Garcia broke the 3,200 record took place March 11. The next day, the NCHSAA announced spring sports would be on hold for at least three weeks. That has since been extended to May 18 as the earliest date competition could resume.
Garcia set numerous goals for this season, including earning MVP honors at conference, then hopefully breaking the 1,600 record at regional, then going all out at state.
She’s six seconds off the 1,600 record of 5:15. Nelson doesn’t hold this record, which actually belongs to her former teammate, Corie Fuchs. It’s stood since 1995.
Fuchs, Nelson, Jaque Timan and Erica Riendeau still hold the 4x800 relay from 25 years ago.
It’s Nelson’s last record, but she hopes it also gets broken soon.
“I understand how happy Dylan was, I know what that feeling is like,” Nelson said. “I’m thrilled for her.”
Byrd said Garcia is a coach’s dream. She clearly has tremendous talent, but it’s her attitude and work ethic that sets her apart.
“The unique thing I can say about her is I don’t think since I have been at Franklin I’ve ever had anybody with a real chance at breaking all of the distance records,” said Byrd, who’s coached for eight years.
Garcia has the 5K and 3,200 records. Her PR is six seconds from the 1,600 record, and she’s less than five seconds from the 800 record.
Teammate Hannah Angel said she and Garcia don’t get to practice together much because their events are different, but it goes well when they do.
“I think we rely on each other a lot,” said Angel, who also broke a school record in March. “We count on each other to run our best no matter how previous races went and we use each other as support. It’s great to have her as one of my best friends and a teammate.”
Garcia has been spending a lot of time at a friends’ house at the request of her mother, Star Hooper, who’s a nurse.
The new routine of not having school and practice was initially weird. While Garcia enjoys the freedom of choosing when to run and when to do school work, she’s ready for everything to return back to normal.
And she’s eager for more chances to break another record.
“Hopefully we can do it (this year),” Garcia said. “If not, we do have senior year. But I’m trying to do it this year.”