Panther women’s track and field are 5A West Champions.
On May 8, both Franklin teams traveled to Jay M. Robinson High School (Concord) for the regional title meet, battling 18 other schools from Charlotte west. With a fourth straight title from the girls and a runner-up finish from the boys, Franklin advanced to the state meet as a true contender.
“The regional meet for us was all about ‘survive and advance,’” said head coach Matt Harlfinger. “We were a little bit conservative there because we knew that we had a chance to win the team title, but the team title wasn't really our big goal; the state meet was our big goal. We had to get everybody through to give ourselves a chance, and we did just about as good a job as we could have with that.”
As one of the region’s top programs, Franklin chose not to go full-bore at the 5A West meet, exerting less than their full effort in certain events in order to keep athletes well-rested. But despite pulling back the reins, the Panthers still looked like their usual selves.
“Jonas Phillips broke his own school record in the 300 hurdles. He ran 39.00 and actually upset the number one seed in the state, so he actually heads into the state meet with the number one time on the performance list,” said Harlfinger. “The same is true for our boys' 4x100-meter relay with Gabe Harrison, Reid Laseter, Siler Kinsland and Ken Modlin. They are going into the state meet coming off a school-record performance with the number one time in the state, and so we've got a chance there. And then we had a third one there with Anna Timan in the 300 hurdles; she also upset the number one seed in the state, and she's going to head into the state meet with the fastest seed time.”
Running earlier in the day with the meet’s results still undecided, Panther sprinters turned in some of their best times in the most important part of the season. As Franklin’s girls began to separate from the pack, distance runners kept their legs fresh for the state meet.
“Late in the meet, we felt really good about where we were at. … We actually qualified Amy [Mendoza Lopez], Morgan [Cress] and Abby Timann for the 3,200-meter, but they ran a fairly conservative race,” said Harlfinger. “So, if you look at the rankings we're ranked pretty low, but then if you look at what Amy and Morgan have done this year in the two-mile, we could legitimately finish first and second. The number one seed is 11:22, and Amy has run 11:12 this year, and Morgan has run 11:17. … That's the second-to-last event, and if we need to throw a knockout punch or for somebody to bail us out, I feel really good about those three girls being able to help us pretty late in the game.”
Despite their distance runners not running at full speed, Franklin’s girls cruised to their fourth straight regional title, defeating Jay M. Robinson 129-5-109. On the boys’ side Franklin placed second to the host team 118-73.
“We've got such a hard region – we really have the strongest one,” said Harlfinger. “If you look at North Lincoln, they’re possibly going to win [the state meet], Franklin High School has a chance to win it, Jay M. Robinson has a future Olympian [Cameron Tucker] on their team. That young man is just phenomenal – he broke the state record in the 400; he's the fastest kid ever.”
With just a handful of seniors in the toughest region in 5A, Franklin’s boys should be contenders for years to come. At North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University May 15, both Panther teams will compete for 5A titles.
Sports Editor Will Woolever can be reached at sports@thefranklinpress.com