It’s been a milestone week for Panther track and field.
For the past five years, Franklin’s most successful team have competed as nomads, winning two state titles without ever hosting a home meet. Following the construction of new facilites at Macon Middle School, on April 19 they finally broke in their new digs.
“It was the first time in a long time we got done early with a track meet and got to just go home instead of riding the bus for three hours,” said head coach Matt Harlfinger. “First and foremost, I’m just appreciative for all the athletes, volunteers, parents, our administration and everyone that played a role in pulling this thing together. The event itself really went off without a hitch, and I’m just hoping for next year to bring in some more schools and kind of grow that thing as we go.”
With just a handful of other WNC athletes in attendance, Saturday’s meet ended a decades-long wait for the program. For much of the past 20 years, the tracks at both MMS and Franklin High School have been plagued by consistent issues, including exposed asphalt at MMS and drainage issues at FHS. In 2020, the FHS track was deemed unfit to host meets, leaving both Panther teams without a permanent home. Despite this, they’ve been among the state’s best 3A programs, earning men’s indoor and outdoor state titles in 2023 and five straight top-five finishes by the women.
Last year, the Macon County Board of Commissioners enacted plans to rebuild both facilities, but staffing issues, payment snafus and unsuitable soil beneath the track delayed the MMS project’s initial October completion date. When work began on the new FHS stadium in December, the Panthers moved their equipment to MMS, only to be told the new facilites weren’t yet ready. For the next few months the team was forced to practice in whatever venue they could find.
With the new MMS facilities now complete, including a six-lane polyurethane track and areas for shot put, discus, high jump, long jump, triple jump and pole vault, Saturday’s meet served as a showcase for the home team.
“It looks like both of our teams have taken another step forward, which, this time of year, if we’re continuing to show progress, that’s a really good sign,” said Harlfinger. “Other teams in the region may look better than us on paper, but some of them really had big March and early-April marks and have kind of tapered off, whereas we continue to kind of trend for progress, which has been really good.”
In a sport whose season revolves around the regional and state meets, teams hope to turn in their best performances late in the season. Less than two weeks from the Mountain Seven Conference meet April 30, several Panthers impressed before their home fans.
“One of the standout performances for the meet for me was Michelle Ortega in the 400-meter dash,” saidHarlfinger. “She realized the night before that she was the only girl entered in the race, and she said, ‘Do you think I could race the boys?’ I said, ‘Sure,’ and sure enough, she beat some of the boys in the 400, and she ran almost two seconds faster than she’d ever run before in her life, so that was really cool. She’s really developed into a good 400-meter runner, and a really good all-around sprinter.”
“On the boys side, Chad Engel was the top performer for us again, for the second meet in a row. He actually ran the second-fastest time in school history in the 110 hurdles and the fourth-fastest time in the 300 hurdles, and he was somebody that was not in the top 10 coming into this meet. He has just completely come out of nowhere, and he is just killing it.”
In addition to Ortega, Engel and several other athletes, Saturday’s meet was also a milestone for senior thrower Charley Seagle, who has attended every state meet, both indoor and outdoor, since her freshman year, and is ranked as one of the state’s top female shot putters.
Amid the uncertainty over the team’s facilities this January, Seagle sent an open letter to various county officials asking for a speedy resolution for herself and her teammates. After signing with Mars Hill University April 9, the senior expressed optimism for the team’s prospects this championship season.
“I think our team is stacked in all areas – sprints, jumps, throws, and even on the boys’ side we are crazy-stacked,” she said. “I guess that’s the word – stacked. I have so much confidence in all of us, without a shadow of a doubt. It’s going to be a hard team to beat.”