It was a short and sweet pre-Christmas meet for Panther track.
On Thurdsay, Dec. 19, Franklin sent a small, elite contingent to West Henderson with one goal in mind – qualify for the state meet in the 4x400-meter relays. With blazing-fast times from both men’s and women’s teams, Franklin continued to expand their state meet contingent.
“The reason we went to that meet was becuase they were doing the four-by-four as the very first event, so we did it and came home,” said head coach Matt Harlfinger. “It went really well. The girls broke the school record – it’s our first school record that we’ve broken this year. They broke the indoor school record by three seconds, 4:09.46. ... Right now the girls have the second-fastest time in the state for 3A, and we were able to qualify.”
While the 4x400 is usually the last event run at a track meet, West Henderson traditionally holds the event first, making Thursday a perfect opportunity for Franklin to record a state-qualifying time. In addition to Michelle Ortega, Amy Mendoza Lopez, Laura Covarrubias and Anna Timan, Franklin’s boys also turned in an impressive time.
“The boys ran a 3:31.97, which was the second-fastest time we’d ever run for indoor track,” said Harlfinger. “They were within a second of breaking the school record, which I think we set at the state meet last year or two years ago. So, the boys were able to qualify as well, and right now I think they posted the third fastest time in the state for 3A. We had a lot to be proud of coming out of last night – I felt really good about how everything went. Both teams exceeded expectations.”
With their second state qualification of the night from Zachary Call, Matheson Post, David Rogers and Ken Modlin, the Panthers returned to Franklin after less than eight minutes of action. But while their school-record time is certainly a point of pride for the girls, it wasn’t even the sweetest part of the ride home.
“I don’t even know if they know they broke the school record. I told them that if they could run under 4:10 I would buy them ice cream, so that was all they cared about,” said Harlfinger. “As Anna Timan, our anchor leg, was coming down the home stretch I was calling out the times, and I said, ‘She might do it, she might not.’ She ran across the finish line and they said, ‘Are we getting ice cream?’”
With two of the top six fastest times so far in 3A, Thursday’s effort will likely earn both relay teams a spot in the event’s fastest heat at the state meet. As teams generally run faster versus equal or better competition, this small detail could make a big difference in Winston-Salem. With more than two weeks until their next meet however, keeping the team’s athletes fresh will be a challenge.
“We’re going to have practice – I don’t know where,” said Harlfinger. “We got kicked out of the high school facility yesterday, we moved all our stuff over to the middle school, and then we got over there and we were told that we weren’t allowed to use the middle school track yet, and so now we’re just kind of in limbo. [Assistant head coach Melissa Ward] and I are actually messaging back and forth right now trying to figure out a contingency plan, because the kids are not gonna know where to report to practice today at 3:30.”
With renovations already underway at the Panther Pit and the new Macon Middle School track not yet finished, the team’s practices are in a state of flux for the foreseeable future. Harlfinger said that while the Little Tennessee River Greenway has no facilities for field events, it might be a last-ditch option for the team’s runners. Nevertheless, the team will try to get work in any way they can.
“We told them last week at our Monday meeting that the teams that come out of the Christmas break stronger and faster are the ones that are truly gonna contend for a state championship,” he said. “The teams that are in a good spot right now and go on vacation for three weeks, they’re going to come back out of shape, and then they realize the state meet is in five weeks and it’s too late.”