Panther track and field are the top program overall in the 3A West.
After placing first on the women’s side and second on the men’s at the Mountain Seven Conference Championships April 30, on May 11 Franklin traveled to A.C. Reynolds for the 3A West Regional meet. With a regional title from the women and a runners-up finish from the men, both teams staked their claims as two of the best statewide ahead of the 3A State Championship May 18.
“Our girls team won the regional kind of going away with it,” said head coach Matt Harlfinger of the trip to Asheville. “We did enough on the girls side with individuals and relays qualifying for the state meet that we built a pretty good team for Saturday. I think our girls will have a legitimate shot, maybe not at the title, but to do some really special things. I would say for sure we’re a top-three team going in with a chance to win the team title.”
As the sole qualifying event for this weekend’s 3A State Championship at North Carolina A&T in Greensboro, Saturday’s 3A West Regional was Franklin’s most important meet to this point. Led by a school-record time in the women’s 4x200-meter relay, the Panthers advanced in 15 different events.
“[As] probably the brightest spot on the girls’ side, we broke the 4x200 record. We actually set the school record last year with a 1:46.52 ... and we broke it by two seconds,” said Harlfinger. “That was Michelle Ortega, Hope Smith, Laura Covarrubias and Anna Timan. We’ll run those same four at the state meet, and they could run even faster. We actually botched a couple handoffs, and if we can just iron that out they could run 1:43, which, there are some boys teams that aren’t running that fast.”
With a school-record time and a second-place finish, the women’s 4x200 team led an incredible day in the relays, including third-place finishes in the 4x100 and 4x400 and a second-place finish in the 4x800. Less than two weeks after committing to the College of Charleston, the Panther women’s pole vault star also staked a claim as one of 3A’s best.
“Boston Stringer is gonna go in as the favorite,” said Harlfinger of the senior’s first-place, 11’ 6” vault. “Two of the girls from the other regions didn’t compete, and so there’s two girls right now in the state that have cleared 11 feet pretty consistently. She’s one of them, and the other girl came out of the Mideast Region, I believe. She only cleared 10 feet at the regional, and Boston cleared 11’ 6”.”
Between Stringer and her male teammates Aaron Jennings (2nd), Aaron Dewhurst (3rd) and Adam Rogers (5th), Franklin’s pole vaulters were clearly the class of the 3A West on Saturday. While Stringer has been one of the state’s best single-event specialists, a pair of other Panthers have been among its most versatile.
“Audrey Pressley qualified in four events, and one of them was the 4x400. Laura qualified for three events but we will run her on the 4x400, so those two athletes will do four events for us at the state meet,” said Harlfinger. “As a freshman, Audrey Pressley has come in and made an immediate impact in the trajectory of where this program can go. She’s not only one of the best athletes on our team, she’s one of the best athletes in the state.”
While close observers knew Covarrubias would be one of 3A’s best athletes again this year, Pressley has burst onto the scene on a major way, immediately becoming one of the team’s best sprinters and jumpers. As part of an incredibly talented group of freshmen girls including Timan, Morgan Cress, Kamden Reis and others, Pressley should be a force for the Panther women for years to come.
Overall the Panther women advanced in 15 different events and earned 114.5 points at Saturday’s regional, far outpacing second-place North Buncombe’s 78. On the men’s side, Franklin also turned in several of the day’s top results.
“On the boys side we’re gonna have the opportunity to win some individual state championships,” said Harlfinger. “Logan Russo won the boys 4x800, and he split [recorded a time on an individual relay leg] 1:54.4 to pull us back into first place. He had a big deficit, and he split what would be a school record and what would be the number one time in the state this year. He ran that on the relay, but it won’t show up in the box score. He finished fifth place in the mile at the regional meet and got fifth place last year at the state meet, so he is going to run the 4x800 and then have about five hours to recover for the 800.”
Because the state meet takes place over the course of a single day, athletes – and especially distance runners – who qualify in multiple events are often at a disadvantage later in the meet due to fatigue. In the shorter distances, one of Russo’s younger teammates also impressed.
“Justin Rodriguez won the 400 for us at the regional meet, which marks the third year in a row we’ve won that event with a different athlete,” said Harlfinger. “If you think back two years ago Luis Torres was the regional champion, and last year it was Isaiah Roots. Justin is gonna go into the state meet with a chance to win the 400 because it’s gonna the very first event that he does. ... I think he’s gonna go in ranked fifth, not too far out of first, and in fact he actually split like a 48:3 on the 4x400 while tired. If he can do that in the open 400, that will probably win it.”
In placing second to West Henderson 104-84, the Panther men gave Franklin one of the most complete programs heading into the state meet. There, they’ll try to extend the school’s streak of six straight top-five finishes at state dating back to last year’s indoor meet, and capture the program’s third state title in that span. The Panthers will depart for North Carolina A&T in Greensboro after school Friday, May 18.