Panther track and field are 5A state runners-up.
As two of the state’s best teams throughout the year, on Feb. 18 Franklin’s boys and girls squads both traveled to Winston-Salem for the 5A state meet. With top performances across the track, they returned home with two second-place finishes.
“We gave it a good shot,” said head coach Matt Harlfinger. “On the boys’ side, Jay M. Robinson were just too strong. They brought a lot of seniors, and we probably had the youngest boys team there, which is really exciting for the future. I think Jay M. Robinson scored 78 points, give or take, and I think 64 of those points came from their seniors.”
Having placed 27th at last year’s 3A winter state meet, Franklin seemed headed for another rebuilding year, with a talented but inexperienced group of boys. Led by a dynamic duo of sprinters, the Panthers exceeded all preseason expectations.
“[Junior Ken Modlin] didn’t lead it bell to bell, but he made a move when he was supposed to make a move, and when he made that move he never let up. He just ran away from everybody,” Harlfinger said of Modlin’s win in the men’s 500-meter dash.
“Reid [Laseter] was also in that race and finished third, and we had him come back to run the 300 pretty shortly thereafter. That’s a really tough double – I mean, the 500 and the 300 might be the hardest double out there. ... He was good with that, and he actually found himself in third place in both races.”
With three different podium finishes as individuals, Modlin and Laseter turned in banner days. In the 4x200- and 4x400-meter relays, the pair also helped Franklin to lightning-fast times.
“The boys four-by-two team were in first place going into the anchor leg, and J.M. Robinson – and this is no exaggeration – they have one of the fastest kids in the country on their team,” said Harlfinger. “He won the 55-meter dash, he won the 300, and then he anchored their four-by-two and four-by-four teams, and there was just nothing we could do with that. And so we were in first place there for a second on the four-by-two and ended up breaking our school record, so that was the fastest we’ve ever run. That was Gabe Harrison, Reid, Ken Modlin and Siler Kinsland, who we put on the anchor leg, and those boys did just such a good job. Really proud of what they were able to do there.”
“And then on the four-by-four team we got third place, and Jonas Phillips led the way there. He’s one of our seniors, and Jonas had a great day in the hurdles. He actually ran the second fastest time in school history in the hurdles, and he was able to make the finals and score for us.”
With third-place finishes in the four-by-two and four-by-four, Franklin’s boys were one of the meet’s best sprint teams, finishing second to Jay M. Robinson 78-46. On the girls’ side, Franklin’s distance talisman also turned in a banner day.
“Amy [Mendoza Lopez] went through it. If we felt like Reid had a tough double-run in the 500 and the 300, Amy ran the four-by-eight, she ran the mile, the 1,000, and then came back and ran the 2-mile,” said Harlfinger. “It’s very rare that a distance runner will do the triple, where they run the mile, the 1,000 and the 2-mile, and it’s even more rare that they do it successfully.”
“On the four-by-eight she split a 2:18, which was a lot faster than we initially felt like she was going to have to run. ... 30 minutes later she’s got to run the mile and she runs a 5:12, within one second of her lifetime best and one second of our school record. And then she comes back 30 minutes later and runs a 3:03 in the 1,000, which I think is the third-fastest time she’s ever run. And then 20 minutes later she had to run the two-mile, and she ran an 11:33, which is one second off her lifetime best.”
Running more than three miles in total, Mendoza Lopez put on a near-impossible display, earning two fifth-place finishes, a second and a third. Elsewhere on the roster, several other Panthers also pulled double duty.
“Michelle Ortega finished fourth in the 55, she finished second in the 300, and then she was on our four-by-two and four-by-four teams that also finished third,” said Harlfinger. “And then somebody like Mindy Holbrooks, another senior, she ran the four-by-eight, the four-by-two, the 500-meter, and the four-by-four. Our senior girls understood the mission, and they bought into it. We’re just lucky to have the kids that we’ve got right now.”
“Anna Timan was another one; she did the 55 hurdles and had a lifetime best, she did the triple jump and had a lifetime best, she ran the four-by-two and ran faster than she’s ever run before in her life. And then she was also on our four-by-four team that got third place, and she had an awesome split there, too. Her sister, Abby Timan, who’s just a freshman, she was in the two-mile and ran a 10-second lifetime PR [personal record], of 11:56. ... Morgan Cress in the mile ran a lifetime best, and that was a tough race.”
Finishing just behind North Lincoln 82-74, Franklin’s girls nearly captured a state title. As two of the meet’s top two teams on both the boys’ and girls’ sides, Franklin earned the right to nominate one athlete from each squad for the 5A Sportsmanship Award.
“As coaches we went in and picked Reid Laseter to receive that award, because he has been just a first-class student athlete and a first-class teammate,” said Harlfinger. “He’s a kid that we know that we can depend on every day to do the things that we’re asking him to do. He’s a yes-sir, no-sir kind of kid. He respects his teammates, he respects his coaches, and we just said that there’s not a person on the team that probably deserves it better than Reid right now. ... Amy won that award in similar fashion.”