Panther track and field is entering the home stretch.
One week after taking on many of the region’s best teams in Seneca, South Carolina, on April 13 Franklin traveled to Rabun Gap for a more intimate affair. In a dual-team meet with the Eagles several Panthers impressed, including the reigning 3A Men’s Most Outstanding Performer.
“Elijah Cochran broke two school records,” said head coach Matt Harlfinger of the meet in Georgia. “He had the 110 [meter] record already from last year ... but he broke his own school record by half a second. In the 200 he ran 22.32, which broke the school record there. So we’re really excited for that, and we’re starting to get into the time of the outdoor season where it’s important to be trending in the right direction.”
In breaking his own school record in the 110 hurdles and former temmate Luis Torres’s mark in the 200 dash, Cochran turned in the type of day fans have come to expect from the senior. He now owns individual school records in the 110-meter hurdles, 200-meter dash, 55-meter dash, 55-meter hurdles, long jump, 300-meter dash and 300-meter hurdles across both indoor and outdoor seasons, and helped Franklin to another in the 4x100-meter relay. In that event, Franklin seeks to improve their time even further.
“We do have our sights set on a couple [more] records; one of which is the boys [4x100-meter] record that we set last year,” said Harlfinger. “This weekend we ran the third-fastest time in school history, and we were just three tenths of a second off the school record. With this group we’ve not spent a lot of time focusing on the four-by-one, so we kind of pieced together a relay team and were pretty pleased with the time they were able to run. ... We ran a 43.82, and the school record is 43.53.”
Despite practicing the event on a limited basis to this point, Cochran, Brayden Hervey, Braxton Deal and Justin Rodriguez turned in a state-meet-worthy time, nearly breaking last year’s school-record time set by Cochran, Deal, Jason Mesa and Cal Drake. In addition to the four-by-one, another member of the relay team continued an excellent individual season.
“Braxton Deal was another one – in the boys high jump he cleared 6’2”,” said Harlfinger of the veteran senior. “He moved into the top 10 in the boys high jump, and he’s tied for eighth right now [in FHS history]. Another freshman we have that’s been doing really well is Josiah Sheldon – he’s a hurdler, and he snuck out of there with a couple good personal records. ... Josiah ran 17.90 this weekend in the 110 hurdles, which is not gonna put him on the ranking list or in the state record book or anything, but in terms of trying to judge potential, he’s three seconds faster than Elijah was as a freshman.”
While Cochran is likely the best male athlete in 3A, Franklin won’t compete for a state title without a full team, of which Deal and Sheldon make up critical parts. On the women’s side, Franklin should have more than enough depth to make a run.
“A young lady that’s really been doing a good job for us is Anna Timan. She’s just a freshman and she won the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash, and actually ran the 10th-fastest time in school history in the 200 with 27.23.,” said Harlfinger. “We kind of circled her name coming out of middle school and knew that she was gonna be with us. She actually opted to train with us during the summer with our summer lifting program through MoveMore Fitness, and right away the first week we said, ‘Man, she’s gonna be a good one.’ She’s part of that really stellar freshman class that I brag on a lot.”
Between Timan and a host of others, Franklin boasts one of the top groups of freshman girls in the state. In addition to starring for Panther JV soccer, another freshman has also impressed in the sprint events.
“Another freshman girl, Bailey Callahan ran with us during the indoor season, and she’s on the soccer team so we don’t see her a whole lot at practice,” said Harlfinger. “She ran 1:07 in the 400, which for a freshman girl is fantastic, especially one that’s not really doing traditional track training. Again, our freshman girls are just killing it. You can throw Morgan Cress in the mix, Audrey Pressley, Kamden Reis and a handful of others. They’re a really special group of girls, and if we can just keep them together for four years they’re gonna do some really special things.”
Sports editor’s note: After an incredible indoor season for Panther track and field, Elijah Cochran was recently named a finalist for Boys Runner of the Year by the statewide sports news outlet HighSchoolOT. The senior, who earned the Men’s Most Outstanding Performer award at the 3A state meet in February, has been entered in a public vote along with four other finalists to declare a winner. To vote for Cochran from now until 11:59 p.m. April 21, visit highschoolot.com/honors. Voters may cast one ballot per day until that time.