Panther track and field may still be thawing out.
After completion of the new Macon Middle School track this spring, on Dec. 3 they hosted their first home winter meet in more than five years, welcoming 11 other teams from across WNC. Despite frigid weather, Franklin turned in some red-hot performances.
“We had a couple standouts,” said coach Matt Harlfinger. “An area that we did really well in, and one that I don’t usually talk a ton about – and it’s not on purpose, it’s just not the event that I cover, so maybe I just need to do a better job watching it more closely – was the throwers. Brady Norman, for the first time in his life broke 40 feet. That’s a milestone mark in the throws and it’s something he’s been chasing for a while, so I was real proud of that. And sometimes with those mental barriers it’s like, ‘Alright, you just threw 40 feet,’ you’ve got that monkey off your back and now he’s going to go throw like 45 feet.”
“And then on the girl’s side, Meliah Mason in her first track meet ever threw I think the fourth-best mark in school history for indoor track, 33 feet even. She’s been fun to have around, she’s playing basketball right now … but you throw her in the mix with Ella Raby and Tatem Vanhook and Lily Tux, and we’ve got a really solid group of girl throwers. Actually, all four of them so far this year have thrown in the top 10 for school history.”
With four top-10 throws by the girls and an eighth-place throw on the boys side from Norman, Franklin’s shot putters, coached by Ryan Danehy, are already nearing school records. In the sprints and middle distance races, several other Panthers also impressed.
“Jenna Holden ran really well for us in the 55 hurdles – she ran the eighth-best time in school history and PR’ed [set a personal record] by over a second,” said Harlfinger. “And then she came back in the 500-meter run and ran the 10th-best time we’ve ever had, so she had a good day. She’s done so well with practice this year … she’s one of the best athletes we have on the team, and she’s one that we’ve kind of plug-and-played with the high jump, long jump, hurdles, sprints and the middle distance. … She’s starting to kind of figure this thing out, and I think she could have a really productive next two years as a junior and senior.”
“Ken Modlin and Reid Laseter ran really well in the 500. We took third and fourth in the race overall, but Ken posted the number two time for the state in 5A right behind Reid. Reid ran the number one time in the state at our first meet, and he kind of got boxed in [at MMS]. It kind of took him out of the race early and he just had too much to do on the back end to catch up, but right now we’ve got the number one and number two times on the ranking list in the 500 for the 5A classification with Ken and Reid, so we’re excited about that.”
With top performances across the track, both Panther teams cruised to easy overall wins, outscoring Robbinsville’s boys 155-65 and Pisgah’s girls 200-84. Harlfinger credited both teams for not phoning in their races despite the cold and the foregone nature of their wins, as well as the FHS Athletic Booster Club and more than two dozen volunteers for running the meet. But while hosting a meet presents several financial and logistical obstacles, one Panther senior appreciated staying close to home.
“I like it – I can just go home right after this, my house is not that far,” said Michelle Ortega, who placed first in both the 55- (7.54 seconds) and 500-meter (1:20.96) dashes.
Early in her illustrious career, Ortega and her teammates were forced to travel for every meet, spending hours before and after each one riding a bus. Now with suitable facilities at MMS, she believes the team can use the extra time to their advantage.
“I think so – I believe it,” she said on whether Franklin’s girls can finally capture a long-elusive state title, having finished sixth or better at the last six state meets between winter and spring dating back to 2023. In this year’s N.C. High School Athletic Association realignment, the NCHSAA divided its four former classifications into eight, roughly halving the number of schools in each. Having moved from the old 3A which had more than 100 teams, to the newly-created 5A with less than 60, Ortega believes this is the year Franklin can break through.
“We’ve been working and training hard all summer, and we’re 5A now so there’s less schools – it’s less competitive.”