Will Woolever
sports@thefranklinpress.com
Another stellar FHS track and field season has come to an end.
At the 2A State Championship meet at North Carolina A&T University June 26, 17 Panther athletes tested their skills against the finest athletes from across North Carolina. By the end of the day, FHS had added another state champion to the school’s storied track and field history.
“We were placed third in the rankings for state. The first two teams were at 4:15 and some milliseconds, and there was us at 4:17,” said head coach Melissa Ward of the women’s 4x400-meter relay. “We’re looking at that going ‘we’ve gotta beat two seconds,’ knowing that they were going to stack their relay with some good people too. … Hope [Smith] started and maintained her position, and I think we were in fourth or fifth place at that time. Maria [Sgro] took over and got us up at least one [position], and Hannah maintained us pretty well. We stayed right in that area, and then Dylan [Garcia] came in and knocked off everyone. She took on some ground; it was so impressive to watch. I couldn’t believe my own eyes – it was like magic.”
After starting the final leg dozens of meters behind the anchor from Lexington, it looked as though Garcia would never be able to catch up in time. For most of the final lap, Lexington maintained a sizable lead, but heading into the final turn, the senior turned on the jets. Meter by meter, Garcia began to make up ground, overtaking the anchor from second-place Croatan with just a few hundred meters to go. On the final straightaway, the senior absolutely blew past the anchor from Lexington, sending the event’s spectators into a frenzy and her teammates into a state of euphoria.
“The whole stadium went wild,” said Ward. “Even people not on our team were like, ‘Holy Cow!’ It was incredible. Her split in that was 58 seconds, and of course it doesn’t count for anything official since it was in a relay, but that was a PR, and would have been a record for the high school. Hope, Maria, and Hannah all ran 1:02 and 1:03, and Maria had a PR in that race as well, so they all did awesome. … After the relay, the girls just cried, and we all cried as coaches. It was beautiful, everybody was a mess.”
In taking home gold in the 4x400 relay, seniors Garcia, Angel and Sgro end their stellar high school careers having permanently etched their names in FHS history. Garcia nearly earned another state title in the individual 800-meter run, finishing second to season-long favorite Angie Allen from North Lincoln, while the 4x400 relay was just a small part of Angel’s superb day.
“She technically made the podium for all four events she did, which we expected. I mean, it’s Hannah Angel,” said Ward. “Taking her out of the triple jump to go be in that four-by-four was such a struggle, because she would have done pretty well in triple jump as well. She has all along, but I think she was ranked 6th in the state, so she would have had to PR [record a personal record] at the state level in order to reach the podium. I just knew that she was going to be awesome. She’s got the speed, she’s got the determination, and the last person she wants to let down is herself.”
In taking 3rd in the high jump, 4th in the 100-meter hurdles, 3rd in the 300-meter hurdles, and gold in the 4x400 relay, Angel earned more points for her team than nearly any other athlete at the championship. As one of the best athletes in the state at so many events around the track, the senior finishes her career as one of the greatest competitors in FHS history.
With podium finishes by Angel and Garcia as well as top performances from Anna Tastinger (9th in 300 hurdles), Hope Smith (10th in 400-meter dash) and Isabelle DuChemin (12th in 100 hurdles), Franklin’s women tied West Iredell for 5th place as a team among the 54 schools in attendance, earning 35 points to first-place North Lincoln’s 69. On the men’s side, Garcia’s 4x400 anchor leg wasn’t the only come-from-behind finish for FHS.
“In the two-mile, Ethan maintained [his position] for a long time, and that’s exactly what he’s trained for,” said Ward. “He was sitting in the back of the pack, and he was in sixth or seventh place a couple of times, and at the end he kicked it into gear and put himself in 3rd place. That was a beautiful finish too. He’s got some grit, and he did really, really well. They [Ethan and his twin brother Nathan] don’t get excited with their times, but he was thrilled. He podium’ed in his first time going to state in outdoor track, and he was like, ‘I got a medal!’”
With Ethan Stamey’s 3rd-place finish in the 3,200-meter and breakout junior sprinter Luis Torres taking home 5th in the 400-meter dash, Franklin’s male runners made their presence known in Saturday’s track events. On the field side, yet another senior impressed for FHS.
“Colby [Hurst] was pole vaulting for quite a while, and actually PR’ed with a 12’6”,” said Ward. “I think that might be a PR overall for him. I know he’s vaulted 12 feet in the past, but this whole season he’s been suck at 11, so I know he’s happy about that. He podium’ed with a 3rd place as well, so he was really tickled about that.”
With podium finishes by Stamey and Hurst and a top-5 finish by Torres in his first season with the team, Franklin’s men finished 13th out of 57 teams, recording 17 points to North Lincoln’s 66. After coaching both teams to top-13 finishes at state, the Mountain Six Conference Coach of the Year said her athletes exceeded her expectations this year.
“I’m just completely overwhelmed with pride for these kids,” said Ward. “They did so well, and I couldn’t have asked for a better first season, or for a better set of athletes going in. I’m going to miss so many of them because this was the end for them, but I’m excited to see what the next couple years bring – we’ve got big stuff in store.”
Although the team lost several talented seniors to graduation this spring, underclassmen like DuChemin, Smith and fellow runner Rylee Cassada should keep the Panthers in contention for years to come.