Another Franklin High School senior has signed an offer from a college program.
In little more than a year on the FHS track team, Anna Tastinger has quickly gone from beginner to nationally sought-after talent. The latest in a string of Panther athletes to take their talents to the college level, Tastinger will compete for the Montreat Cavaliers next year.
“I’m very excited,” said Tastinger. “[It] has definitely been my number one choice, just because of how Montreat is. I’m very strong in my faith and it’s a godly school, and I’m really excited just to go there and grow in my faith and grow as an athlete. They have a very good program … Honestly, when I first went to the school, I knew it was the school for me.”
At a ceremony in the Drake Enterprises Gym Sunday, Jan. 10, a few dozen friends and family gathered to congratulate Tastinger on signing with the Christian college. While the senior’s signing is not a surprise given her skills on the track, her success in earning a scholarship was not always a foregone conclusion.
“I’ve actually only been on the track team since my junior year, so I’ve only been running for one season,” she said. “It’s kind of exciting for me to be able to say that I’m going to a college … I danced for 13 years of my life, and I decided that I just didn’t want to do that anymore. I’ve always ran for fun, but it really became real when Coach Jay [Brooks, former FHS track coach] came up to me said ‘I want you to hurdle’ because I’m really flexible. I was like, ‘Okay, I’ll try it,’ and then I fell in love with it.”
After just one year on the FHS cross country team and roughly one year of track and field, Tastinger has come a long way. This fall the senior will join a cross country/track and field powerhouse that has sent its women’s cross country, men’s cross country, and men’s track teams to NAIA national championships in the past two years. Also on the list of Montreat’s assets is Tastinger’s friend and fellow track standout Dylan Garcia, who signed with the Cavaliers’ cross country team last month. Much like Garcia, Tastinger will likely have a big role for the Cavaliers.
“They’ve already sent me some workouts to do just to get used to what their program is like, but mostly I’ll go down there and they’ll start me me out in July,” she said. “Just a lot of weightlifting training to get me stronger and built up for next year. And they have me doing some speed stuff of course, because they’re recruiting for sprinting and jumping … They’re probably going to end up making me do hurdles, and I’ll do the 100 hurdles and the 400 [hurdles], and then they want me to do long jump, triple jump, and possibly high-jump. And they’ll want me to do the 800 [meter run].”
At Sunday’s gathering, several former coaches, friends, and family members got up to speak about the senior’s character and work ethic, including former FHS Track and Field Coach Jay Brooks. Although Brooks coached Tastinger for a relatively short amount of time, he said she has the tools for success no matter how much experience she has.
“Any time any of these kids get to sign, it’s a blessing,” said Brooks. “We’ve been truly blessed here in our track program and in our school. We knew this senior class was coming, and they’re strong enough to deal with all the stuff that’s been thrown at them. Some wouldn’t have been, but these kids have been great … What everyone said describes her fully - her perseverance and her work ethic. [It’s] ‘Oh, OK, that didn’t work out? Well I’m just going to work harder.’ She’s been great, and I wish her nothing but the best, and I appreciate all she’s done for our program and our school.”
As Tastinger received well-wishers after inking her official offer, her mother, Julie, and her father, John stood by as Anna took pictures with various combinations of friends and relatives. While an athlete earning a scholarship to such a successful track and field program is unusual after so short a career, Anna’s parents said it hadn’t come as a shock.
“We’re feeling overwhelmed. It’s amazing,” said John. “It’s one of those things where I knew with her work ethic she could meet any goal. She tries extremely hard at whatever she does, and I’m extremely proud to be her dad.”
“As a parent sometimes you like to take credit for some things they do, but not with Anna,” said Julie, laughing. “She really initiated this. I would have never let her stop dancing, but she switched gears on us, started running track, fell in love, knew she wanted to do it in college, and was prepared to do it walking on. God had other plans, and he worked that out for her … She’s very deserving, not because she’s my child, but because of her own work ethic and desire to succeed.”