One of the biggest meets of the year is in the books for Panther track and field.
Over Franklin’s Spring Break holiday April 5, those who remained in town traveled to A.C. Reynolds for the annual Blue Ridge Classic. Versus more than two dozen teams from three different states, the Panthers battled elite competition.
“The Blue Ridge Classic is a big track meet – it attracts teams from all over,” said head coach Matt Harlfinger of the trip to Asheville. “We’ve been to bigger track meets in terms of sheer volume of athletes, but in terms of quality this was probably the highest-quality meet we’ll go to outside of the state meet.”
With top teams from North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, Saturday provided valuable experience ahead of the 3A State Championship next month. There a Panther senior impressed in a long-awaited return from injury.
“Adam Rogers was the event champion in the pole vault, which was great for him – this was kind of a welcome-home party for him,” said Harlfinger. “He was ready to go back in November, and we get to the very first track meet and on his very first jump he strains his quad. We probably rushed him back too soon, or maybe he was just excited, and then he reinjured it, so it’s just been this uphill climb for him trying to deal with this injury. ... He got the event win and jumped 13’6”, which is pretty close to his personal record. He’s just now kind of getting back into shape, so the sky’s the limit for him.”
“Justus Bradford also won the high jump, and tied her personal best of 5’2”. She was one that was on Spring Break, and she called me the night before and said, ‘Coach, I don’t know if I’ll make it to the meet tomorrow.’ ... She got it worked out and got home at 3 o’clock in the morning, and went and won the high jump. On the girls side, for somebody that was maybe gonna miss the track meet, she was actually our highest point-scorer. She won the high jump, I think she finished fifth in the pole vault and she scored in the 300 hurdles as well, so she actually had a fantastic day for somebody that had maybe four hours of sleep.”
With first-place finishes from Rogers in the men’s pole vault and Bradford in the women’s high jump, Franklin matched top competition from across the southeast. With other top performances across both rosters, both Panther teams were among the meet’s best.
“Along with Justus, Izzy Shope finished third in the high jump, tying her outdoor PR of five feet. ... David Rogers, Adam’s brother, finished second in the pole vault, and Josiah Mascorro I believe finished fifth. ... Matheson Post was third in the 800, which was a real high-quality event, and he was able to find his way to the podium. [With] Bray Dezarn in the 300 hurdles and Anna Timan in the girls 100, those were all of our individuals that found the podium. ... Overall, we finished third on the girls side and fourth on the boys side.”
Following the meet at Reynolds, the team prepared for a trip to Rabun Gap April 12.