Another regular season is in the books for Panther track and field.
At the Swain County High School Invitational April 26, Franklin faced their final meet until the Mountain Seven Conference Championships, giving athletes one last chance to hone their crafts before the postseason. With some teammates sitting out Tuesday to stay fresh for the conference meet, a small group of Panthers impressed against tough competition.
The meet’s women’s pole vault featured a pair of reigning state champions in Panther sophomore Boston Stringer, who won gold at the 3A Indoor Championship this February, and 1A Indoor Champion Amelia Rogers of Swain. The event certainly lived up to its billing, with Stringer matching her 10’6” gold-medal vault but placing second to Rogers, who cleared the same height in fewer attempts.
In the 200-meter dash, freshman Michelle Ortega also impressed, finishing third in 27.23 seconds. Senior standout Isabelle Duchemin placed sixth in 28.08, also finishing fourth in the 100-meter hurdles (17.04) and seventh in the shot put (27’7.25”).
Three sophomores earned fifth-place finishes for the Panther women, including Justus Bradford in the high jump (4’6”), Aubrey Haley in the long jump (15’3”) and Addison Coker in the 100-meter hurdles (17.39). In the 800-meter, juniors Hope Smith and Rylee Cassada finished back-to-back, with Smith placing seventh in 2:40.65 and Cassada placing eighth in 2:42.58. Sophomore Alexa Morales finished sixth in the triple jump (30’4”) and eighth in the long jump (14’8.50).
The men’s pole vault also featured two state champions from Franklin and Swain, in the form of 3A Indoor gold medalist Blake Cassada and 1A Indoor gold medalist Matthew Gray. Cassada finished second to Gray with a vault of 13’0”, while junior Aaron Jennings cleared 12’6” to finish third and sophomore David Rogers cleared 11’6” to place fifth.
In the 800-meter, two Panthers earned top-10 finishes, with junior cross country standout Barrett Stork earning third in 2:02.56 and senior Aaron Ashe earning sixth in 2:08.80. Sophomore Braylen Dezarn placed seventh in both the 110-meter hurdles (17.07) and 300-meter hurdles (44.41), while fellow sophomore Talon Smith finished the 300-meter hurdles in fifth with a 43.60. Smith also placed 13th in both the high jump (5’6”) and the long jump (18’8”).
The Panther men also earned two top-10 finishes in relays, placing second in the 4x200-meter in 1:32.28 and ninth in the 4x400-meter in 3:59.50.
In team scoring, the Panthers faced tough competition from 18 other WNC and North Georgia teams. On the women’s side, Franklin earned 46.5 total points, good for eighth place out of 14. The Panther men placed seventh out of 17 with 43.
Following the Swain County High School Invitational, the teams prepared for the Mountain Seven Conference Championships, scheduled for Tuesday, May 2 at North Henderson.