The Franklin area’s swim and dive teams are preparing for the postseason.
Upon returning from Christmas break, Franklin High School and Macon Early College entered the home stretch, with just two full meets left this regular season. At contests in Waynesville and Franklin, the Panthers and Foxes readied for their conference and regional meets.
On Jan. 9, both teams traveled to the Waynesville Recreation Center for a six-team meet with Pisgah, Tuscola, Smoky Mountain and Christ School. There Lana Walker and Kenna Keyworth won events for Franklin, claiming the girls 200-yard freestyle and 100 butterfly, respectively. Walker also placed second in the 100 breaststroke, while Keyworth placed second in the 200 medley.
Cadee Breedlove also impressed for the Panther girls, taking second in the 100 fly and third in the 200 free. AnnMarie Hinton placed third in both the 50 and 500 free. Dalila Canzone finished third in the 100 breast, while Emma Ballard took fourth in both the 50 and 100 free.
Walker, Keyworth and Canzone were also a force in the relay events, helping Breedlove win the 200 medley and 200 free, and joining Hinton to take home the 400 free. As a team Franklin’s girls scored 354 points, good for second place just behind Smoky’s 365.
Gavin Alverson and Dusty Fraites led the way for Franklin’s boys, claiming the 100 fly and 500 free, respectively. Fraites also placed third in the 100 backstroke, while Alverson finished fourth in the 50 free.
Jonah Brant nearly earned a win of his own, placing second in the 100 breast and 100 free. Malik Walker finished second in the 100 fly, while Thatcher Daniels placed third in the 200 free.
Daniels and Walker also impressed in the relay events, helping Fraites and Alverson win the 400 free, Brant and Alverson place second in the 200 medley, and Brant and Fraites place second in the 200 free. As a team the Panther boys earned 246 points, good for third behind Christ School (338) and Smoky (254). Overall both Panther teams scored an even 600, good for second just behind Smoky with 619.
Alyse Remery and Eleanor Kessler led the way for MEC, placing second in the girls 500 and 200 free, respectively. Kessler also placed third in the 100 back, while Remery placed fifth.
Lydia Kennedy placed third in the 200 medley and fourth in the 100 breast, while Anna Sharpe placed fourth in the 500 free. In relay events, the foursome placed second in the 200 free and third in the 400 free. As a team they earned 183 points, good for third behind Franklin.
The next night all three teams returned to Franklin Health and Fitness for a small four-team meet with Smoky and Tri-County Early College. There, Keyworth and Canzone both won multiple events for Franklin, with Keyworth claiming the 100 fly and 200 medley, and Canzone claiming the 100 breast and 200 free. Walker took home the 50 free, while Hinton won the 100 free.
In the relay events Franklin’s girls earned another clean sweep, winning the 200 medley (Breedlove, Walker, Ballard, Olivia Rinker), 200 free (Keyworth, Ballard, Walker, Canzone) and 400 free (Keyworth, Hinton, Walker, Canzone). As a team they earned 162 points, this time beating Smoky (103) out for first.
Franklin’s boys also boasted two multi-event winners, including Daniels in the 100 back and 200 medley, and Malik Walker in the 100 fly and 200 free. Brant won the 100 breast, while Fraites claimed the 500 free. Alverson placed second in the 100 fly and 200 medley.
Brant, Daniels, Walker and Alverson also won the 200 and 400 free relays. As a team the Panther boys earned 115 points, good for second behind Smoky (147). Both Panther teams scored 277 combined, good for first just ahead of Smoky’s 250.
Kessler earned MEC’s only win of the day, taking home the 100 back and placing sixth in the 50 free. Remery placed second in the 100 breast and third in the 200 free. Kennedy placed third in the 100 fly and fifth in the 100 back, while Sharpe placed fifth in the 200 free and sixth in the 100 free.
The foursome placed second in both the 200 free and 200 medley relays. As a team they earned 70 points, good for third behind Smoky.
After the home meet in Franklin, both teams prepared for their respective postseasons. On Jan. 20, the Panthers traveled to the Jackson County Aquatic Center in Cullowhee for the Mountain Eight Conference Championship meet. From there they’ll prepare for the 5A West Regionals at the Greensboro Aquatic Center Jan. 29-30.
In their first year swimming for MEC, the Foxes have competed as probationary members of the 1A/2A Smoky Mountain Conference, which will not hold a championship meet. Qualified 1A/2A/3A swimmers will travel to the Mecklenburg Aquatic Center in Charlotte for their own regional meet Jan. 31. Nearing the end of the Foxes’ inaugural season, the team’s talisman said the change has been a double-edged sword.
“It’s been fun to have our own MEC team and have that team spirit, and our principal [Caleb Parham] has been really into it as well,” said Remery after Saturday’s meet. “But on the other hand, times are faster in 1A than in 5A, and I’m definitely missing out on not being able to be with the Franklin team, because we would have been able to get to state, and I’m probably not going to be able to do that this year.”
Through much of MEC’s first 15 years, the school did not participate in interscholastic athletics, preferring for students to focus on their five-year college dual-enrollment curriculum. In December 2021, the county Board of Education allowed MEC athletes, including Remery, to compete for Franklin.
However, ahead of last year’s quadrennial N.C. High School Athletic Association realignment, officials feared that including MEC students in Franklin’s enrollment would push the Panthers into a higher classification, forcing them to compete against larger schools. In summer 2024, the BOE again barred MEC athletes from competing for Franklin, opening the door for the Foxes to field their first-ever teams.
While the change gave local sports fans a new set of teams to root for and kept FHS in a lower classification, it also hurt certain teams such as Panther swim and dive, who have sorely missed Remery and her Fox teammates this winter. Still training with their Panther counterparts under head coaches Dwain and Dina Picou, Remery said all three teams feel like one unit nevertheless.
“We are technically competing separately, but it still feels like we’re competing together, because we still cheer for each other and support each other, and we go out to eat after and ride the bus together.”