Panther women’s cross country are the state’s third-fastest 5A team.
Having placed third at the 5A West Regional the week before, on Halloween the team traveled to Kernersville for the 5A state meet. With five runners inside the top 50, the team earned a podium finish.
“The girls went out and executed the plan exactly how they were supposed to,” said head coach Melissa Ward. “We knew we had a chance – we came in ranked sixth – and we discussed that we could get third place, but it takes everybody doing what they’re supposed to do. We got third place, so it was a good day.”
On a difficult course at the Ivey Redmon Sports Complex, Franklin’s girls raced 137 elite foes from across the state, led once again by Amy Mendoza Lopez. The senior talisman placed 16th with a time of 20:06.04, followed closely by junior Morgan Cress (22nd, 20:29.23). Hot on Cress’ heels was promising freshman Abigail Timan (29th, 20:51.32), with seniors Abigail Pope (41st, 21:25.28) and Mindi Holbrooks (46th, 21:32.85) not far behind. Freshman Molly Radecki (96th, 23:11.33) and junior Anna Timan (116th, 24:12.47) rounded out the Panther card.
Excluding those of runners not representing full teams, the numerical values of Franklin’s top five finishes (14+20+27+37+40) added up to 138 points, just ahead of Cedar Ridge (139) for fourth place overall. Franklin’s Mountain Eight Conference rival West Henderson placed second overall (96), behind a near-unbeatable squad from North Lincoln (19).
“Our top five really just locked it in and pushed hard,” said Ward of the veteran group. “I think a lot of that was just the mental toughness going in, knowing where they could be and working hard to be there and not giving up mentally halfway through the race when things get tough. ... We had some season best [times] – I know that Abby Timan PR’d [set a personal record] – but overall it was a season-best for almost all of them.”
With Franklin’s highest team finish at the state meet since 1999, the Panther girls capped a stellar year in Kernersville, bringing Mendoza Lopez, Pope and Holbrooks’ careers to a fitting end. On the boys side, a pair of young Panthers provided hope for the future.
“The boys started the day with Evan [Pyles] and Jase [Rogers] running in the 5A boys race, and both of them PR’d,” said Ward. “[Last week] I mentioned that it’s not a PR course, so let me eat my words, but that’s a good problem to have. The first words out of Jase’s mouth were, ‘It was fun,’ so, that’s a good thing. They started the day off well, and then of course that gave the girls some encouragement going into it feeling like, ‘OK, maybe we’ll be alright.’ ... With their PR’s, that says a lot going into next year of what we might be able to do, and hopefully the whole team next year [will qualify for state].”
In placing nearly back-to-back in 86th and 89th, Rogers (18:21.50) and Pyles (18:25.55), both underclassmen, should spearhead the Panther men for years to come. In a sport which prioritizes the state meet above all else, Franklin’s multiple season- and personal-best marks exemplified a well-run program, for which Ward shared credit with assistant coaches Matt Harlfinger, Jeff Howard and Kim Jakushev.
“We had a really good training plan this year from what Matt and I have worked on – Matt has probably put in even more than I have – but just research and podcasts and digging into things, and the big takeaway we got was that if you have a plan, as long as they believe in it, it will work,” she said. In the week leading up to state, the team put the plan into action. “We had a couple little speed workouts, and I feel like they have so much more fun with those just because it’s fast and not super-long stuff. We kind of gave them a different angle – both workouts we did on the track, we took away their watches and just made them go by feel, and they all thought they ran slower than they did, which was pretty cool. They were significantly faster than what they mentally thought they were doing, so it really tells you what your brain can do to you while you’re running. So that was a fun little element to throw in there, and I think that helps them see, like, ‘Oh, I’m actually pretty good.’”