Panther cross country has started their year with a win.
On Saturday, Aug. 23, the team traveled to Jackson Park in Hendersonville for the WNC Carnival, the area’s largest kickoff meet of the season. With several strong finishes including first place from their senior talisman, Franklin’s female distance runners seemed to be in midseason form.
“The girls did really well. Amy [Mendoza Lopez] won the Invitational, with [Franklin’s other top] girls really close behind her, so that was pretty cool,” said head coach Melissa Ward of the second-fastest of three races throughout the morning. “Morgan [Cress] was eighth and Abigail [Pope] was ninth, so we had three in the top 10. We won the meet overall as far as the Invitational portion, so that was really cool – I think everybody enjoyed that.”
With times of 21:24.96, 22:37.15 and 22:48.82 respectively, Mendoza Lopez, Cress and Pope formed the top trio in the 60-person race, with Mindi Holbrooks hot on Pope’s heels in 12th (23:10.34) and Breanna Pendergrass placing 36th (24:36.40). As a team the numerical values of Franklin’s five finishes (1+8+9+12+36) equaled 66, the race’s lowest score. On the boys side a young Panther squad gained valuable experience for later in the season.
“It was a debut for the young ones – the freshmen, Zeke [Moffitt] and Timmy [Bishop], and as far as the boys we got a few PRs,” said Ward, referring to the commonly-used acronym for personal records. “Evan [Pyles] dropped quite a bit from his last year’s PR, and our summer training definitely has paid off in that aspect. There weren’t enough boys to score as a team – there have to be five, and we had only four ... but I think we would have done OK. Overall it was just kind of getting them more race-ready, so it was a good experience.”
With times of 19:45.90 and 19:57.60, Pyles and Ken Modlin placed 32rd and 37th out of 136 respectively, followed by freshman Jase Rogers (55th, 20:36.60) and Bishop (82nd, 21:55.60). For Franklin’s less-experienced runners, a three-kilometer race provided a more manageable first step.
“We sent the freshmen – and Michelle [Ortega] and Anna [Timan], who are more on the sprinter end of things, – out for the 3K, with Zeke [Moffitt] as well,” said Ward of Franklin’s newer distance runners and sprinters still building endurance. “Abby [Timan] actually finished second overall in that one, followed by Lana [Walker] and Michelle. Lana and Michelle were fourth and fifth ... and they won the 3K as a team as well. So, it was a pretty fun day overall I think, to really show that the hard work they’ve been doing is really starting to pay off. They needed that to really prove, ‘Hey, we’re doing this for a reason.’”
With times of 12:42.20, 12:45.99 and 13:06.55, Abigail Timan, Walker and Ortega formed the 3K race’s top trio, followed closely by Anna Timan (12th, 13:55.71) and Molly Radecki (14th, 13:59.81). Because three of the top 13 finishers ran as individuals and didn’t count toward team scoring, Franklin’s total (1+3+4+10+11) added up to just 29, far outpacing second-place T.C. Roberson (59).
With two team wins on the girls side and encouraging results from the boys, Franklin turned in a successful day at Jackson Park. With a strong mix of top veterans and up-and-comers, Ward said both teams have laid the groundwork for an excellent year.
“On the boys side, they tackled it like it wasn’t really their first race ... On the girls side, it was almost like they could do it in their sleep,” said Ward of Mendoza Lopez, Cress, Pope and Holbrooks, who are all outpacing each other’s best times from this point last year. “Those top four girls are very talented, and they handled it really well. Even with the stress before and everything, they went out with the strategy of packing together and then taking off halfway through, and they did a really good job.”