The outdoor season is underway for Franklin track and field.
Less than three weeks after the indoor state meet, in which they placed second among men’s 3A teams and fourth among 3A women, on Feb. 29 the powerhouse Panthers returned to action. In a seven-team meet at Stephens County High School in Toccoa, Georgia, Franklin set out on their quest for an outdoor state title.
“One of the things we wanted to do this year with our outdoor season was to take the kids to some new places,” said men’s head coach Matt Harlfinger of the trip across the state line. “It kind of shakes things up a little bit, so we’re not going to the same places every single weekend. So, the kids thought that was pretty cool, and they had a beautiful facility.”
Because few schools west of Asheville have the facilities to host home meets, area teams tend to compete against the same schools week after week. As the only team from outside Georgia in attendance, Saturday’s meet exposed the Panthers to some new opponents.
“We had some new competition, and new faces for the kids to go up against,” said Harlfinger. “The state of Georgia is also historically a better track state than North Carolina, so we got to see some really good performances from other kids. There were a couple times throughout the meet that coaches who had no idea who we were were pulling me aside and saying, ‘How many kids do you guys have at your school? You guys must be like a 6A school.’”
As the reigning outdoor men’s state champions and third-place finishers on the women’s side, the 3A Panthers can easily be confused for a much larger school. Despite the tough competition in Toccoa, Franklin made the podium in nearly every event.
“We were able to finish in first place on both sides, boys and girls, and kind of won handily,” said Harlfinger. “We had a couple athletes that posted top-10 [all-time] marks for Franklin High School. Addison Coker in the long jump and triple jump improved her standings in the all-time school ranks, and we named her the Performer of the Meet for the girls side at our team meeting because she medaled in four events. She also set personal records in the long and the triple.”
With third-place finishes in the long jump, triple jump, 100-meter hurdles and 4x100-meter relay (along with Chelsea Pelletier, Kamden Reis and Alexa Morales), Coker was perhaps the best all-around athlete at the meet. However, the junior faced stiff competition from her Panther teammates.
“Boston Stringer tied her outdoor PR from last year in the pole vault, and that’s kind of solidified her spot in the top 10 as well,” said Harlfinger. “Our girls four-by-one ran the third-fastest time in school history with Laura Covarrubias, Hope Smith, Michelle Ortega and Anna Timan. Morgan Cress and Amy Mendoza Lopez both moved into the top 10 all-time in the 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter. Elijah Cochran in the long jump moved into the top 10, and then Justin Rodriguez in the boys 400-meter dash moved up into the top 10, so we had a lot to be proud of.”
After helping Franklin’s 4x200 and 4x400-meter relays to top-four finishes at last year’s state meet, Rodriguez has continued to improve in just his second season. Between the 400-meter dash and a dramatic finish in the 4x400, the sophomore earned high honors for his performance.
“We named him our boys MVP of the track meet for his efforts,” said Harlfinger. “He won the 400, and then came back on the four-by-four and had a really respectable split. He was the anchor leg of the four-by-four, and got himself into a dogfight coming down the home stretch. He was able to out-kick a kid from Union County and we were able to win the four-by-four because of his efforts, so I’m really proud of what he was able to do there.”
With underclassmen like Rodriguez, Cress, Mendoza Lopez and others, Franklin should be set up to compete for years to come. Perhaps inspired by their older teammates’ recent state meet success, a large group of freshmen have bolstered the team’s roster this spring.
“On the girls’ side especially, we’ve added some reinforcements that can help us at the conference regional and state meets,” said Harlfinger. “Audrey Pressley is one of them, and she ran really well in the sprints and a couple of relays. ... Morgan Cress has just been outstanding as a freshman; she’s been able to help us at the state level through cross country and even scored at the indoor state meet. ... Anna Timan anchored our girls four-by-one, who like I said ran the third-fastest time in school history. ... Kamden Reis did really well in the triple jump, and I think set like a two-foot PR.”
With roughly 35 newcomers including two dozen freshmen, the Panthers boast an even larger team than normal this spring, listing nearly 80 athletes on their preseason outdoor roster. In addition to Cress, Pressley, Timan, Reis and others, several freshman boys have also made an early impact.
“Josiah Sheldon ran well in the hurdles, and Jacob Morales jumped really well in the high jump and cleared 5’8”,” said Harlfinger. “I don’t know if here recently we’ve had a freshman jump that high this early, so we’re excited to see what he can do. Hunter Morrow ran really good legs on all of his relays as well as Ken Modlin, and we’ve got two freshmen boys in the throws that we’ve been working with since the indoor season in Brady Norman and Wesley Maxson. They’ve been doing really well this year.”
Between top-line upperclassmen and talented freshmen seeing their first action, Franklin should have no shortage of talent this outdoor season. Because coaches can only teach so many athletes at a time, the team’s veteran leaders have stepped up to help carry the load.
“We’ve got such good leadership on the team,” said Harlfinger. “That upperclassmen group that’s been with us for two or three years and really know the ropes, we’ve kind of asked them, ‘Can you guys just be an extension of the coaching staff and maybe take some of these freshmen under your wing and really teach them some of the things that you’ve learned over the last couple years?’ We’ve gotten a really good response from our upperclassmen. It’s a team sport, and they’re really taking these freshmen under their wings and teaching them just like if they were a coach. So, we’re fortunate right now with such a big senior class that really cares about the team, cares about the sport and wants to see it go well for the future group.”