Panther track and field look more and more like state title contenders.
After three weeks off for Christmas, the team resumed its season on the first week of the year, traveling to Lynchburg, Virginia, for one of the biggest meets on the east coast. At the Liberty University Premier Invitational Jan. 6, Franklin locked horns with roughly 800 elite athletes from around the country, qualifying in more events for the 3A State Meet Feb. 10.
“I know we talk about Elijah Cochran a lot, but he tore it up,” said men’s head coach Matt Harlfinger of the senior talisman. “He qualified for the state meet in two new events he’s not yet qualified in: the 55-meter dash and the 300-meter dash. He posted the number one time in 3A in the 300, and actually he’s currently top 40 in the United States. I think he ran like the number 39 time in the country, so he tore it up.”
With a 35.09-second 300-meter dash and a 6.50-second 55-meter dash, Cochran placed fourth and fifth in both events, respectively, breaking school records in the process. In addition to Cochran, several other Panthers impressed at the meet.
“Hope Smith hit a qualifying mark in the 300 as well ... and that was the first time this season either one of them had run it,” said Harlfinger. “Adam Rogers tied the school record in the pole vault – he cleared 14 feet and tied Blake Cassada’s record from last year. Logan Russo broke his own school record in the 1,000-meter run ... so, we walked out of there with five new school records and three new state qualifying marks. I think that brings our grand total up to 40.”
Still with four meets left this regular season, Franklin has already surpassed last year’s mark of 37 qualifying performances, and boast two of the largest state meet contingents in 3A. As the reigning Men’s State Champions and women’s runners-up, the team looks quite ready to compete for more state titles next month.
“We’ve hit 20 marks on the boys side and 20 on the girls side, so I’m pretty pleased with the balance that we’ve got,” said Harlfinger. “We’re still trailing Dudley on the girls side and Croatan on the boys side in qualifying marks, but I’m really pleased with where we’re at right now. Last year, we hit 19 marks on the boys side and 18 on the girls, so we’re a little bit ahead of where we were last year ... We still feel like we’ve got about four more on the girls side that we can hit, and probably two more on the boys side, so if we can get everybody to the show, we’re gonna be tough to beat.”
While statewide stars like Cochran and Smith have rightfully grabbed headlines this year, the true strength of Franklin’s state title bids lies in its number of scoring opportunities. With top 3A talent up and down the roster, it will require a complete team effort to beat the Panthers in Winston-Salem.
“Just coming out of Liberty we hit 22 new personal records, and I’m not gonna run down the gauntlet of everybody there, but one kid maybe just worth mentioning is David Rogers,” said Harlfinger. “He’s a kid that I don’t get a chance to talk a lot about, but he had a fantastic track meet. He PR’ed [set a personal record] in the pole vault by a foot and cleared 12’6”, so we now have three boys [David Rogers, Adam Rogers and Aaron Jennings] ranked in the top eight in the state in the pole vault, which was a really powerful event for us last year. ... David came back in the 300 and set a personal record by about 2 seconds, and then he ran a leg for us in the [4x200-meter relay]and turned in our fastest split [leg].”
After former senior Blake Cassada and current senior Boston Stringer won both men’s and women’s indoor state titles last year, Franklin seems to have picked up right where it left off in the pole vault. On the girls side, Harlfinger said Rogers’ efforts were matched by a veteran Panther senior.
“On the girls side, somebody we don’t really get a chance to talk a lot about is Rylee Cassada,” he said. “I don’t really know what got into her, but she was setting PRs left and right. She ran really well for us in the 55-meter dash and posted a PR for her and the fifth-fastest time in school history. Then she came back in the 300 and ran about 3 seconds faster than she’s ever run before, which is so hard to do, and ran the sixth-fastest time in school history there. On the four-by-two she ran a solid leg for us, so I was just really impressed with those two.”
With several athletes who would be clear stars on most other teams, Rogers and Cassada’s relative anonymity is a testament to Franklin’s strength. With more chances to score at the state meet than they had in 2023, Harlfinger says he’s been encouraged by his squad so far.
“Especially with the season that Elijah’s having, it’s so easy just to sit here and talk about everything he’s doing, but we’ve got so many other good kids to brag on,” he said. “[We’ve got] Logan Russo and Barrett Stork and the pole vault crew on the boys side, and then you look at the girls and Charley Seagle is ranked top-three in the state in the shot put. We returned basically our whole four-by-two team [Smith, Laura Covarrubias, Michelle Ortega and Isabelle Duchemin] that won the state meet last year on the girls side, so we’re in a good spot right now.”
Following the massive meet at Liberty, Panther athletes have just four more chances to qualify for the state meet, starting with a trip to Cherokee Jan. 10. With more big meets at Polk County and the state meet venue fast approaching, the team will be hard at work over the next month.
“The Liberty meet was a good test, and the next time we go to Winston-Salem will be another big one,” said Harlfinger of Franklin’s Jan. 20 trip to the JDL Fast Track to scope out the state meet venue. “Then we’ll get into our conference meet, which is kind of a two-in-one deal. They’re doing the Western North Carolina Championships, so it’s all the 1A, 2A, 3A and 4A schools from Asheville and west. It’s probably gonna be like 30 schools, so that’ll be a really good opportunity for us.”