Another week, another successful meet for Franklin’s track and field team.
In a three-team meet at Charles Owen High School May 21 against Owen and Avery County, Panther track and field dominated team point totals in both men’s and women’s events. The biggest story of the day, however, was a record-setting mile run by track standout Dylan Garcia.
“We were just kind of seeing what she could do, and Coach [Jim] Byrd pretty much said ‘Let’s see how you do, and if you get this one you can skip the 800 and the 4x400’ that she was supposed to run after that,” said Ward. “Her splits [timed checkpoints] were decent, but in that last lap, she just went all in. She crossed the finish line and was like ‘Now I’m dying!’”
In running the 1600-meter in a mere five minutes and seven seconds, Garcia broke a Franklin High School record set by Corie Fuchs in 1995. While breaking the 26-year-old record was certainly a milestone, it’s one observers have almost come to expect from Garcia . After Friday’s run, the senior is now the owner of three FHS records, having already etched her name next to the all-time 3,200-meter and 5,000-meter cross country marks.
In addition to the senior’s record-breaking mile, another female track star also impressed at Friday’s meet.
“Hannah Angel PR’ed [posted a personal record] in the triple jump,” said Ward. “she got 34 feet and 9 inches, and I’d have to pull up the other meets, but I want to say that’s a PR for her by about eight or nine inches. She was pretty thrilled with that, and that pretty much started her meet, so that was a good way to start things. She won that event and won the high jump as well with five feet. … In the 300 hurdles, she also PR’ed, and she and Anna Tastinger qualified for Regionals.”
With the help of superb afternoons from both Garcia and Angel, Franklin’s women’s team cruised to an easy victory on the day, posting 230 points to Owen’s 98 and Avery’s 62. On the boys’ side, the meet was even more lopsided, with Franklin’s men posting 274 points to Avery’s 62 and Owen’s 60. In addition to the track events and hurdles, FHS posted a strong showing in the meet’s field events as well.
“Philo, our senior, threw shots, and won the shot put with a 40-foot, 5-inch throw. That was pretty cool, and I know he was happy. He’s a big, funny, goofy guy, but when he gets out there, he takes the shot put pretty seriously. … Renee Younce won in the girl’s shot put with a PR of 29 feet, 6 inches, and she qualified for Regionals with that throw, so she is thrilled with that. She’s been working hard to get that PR.”
After Friday’s meet, seven Panthers were ranked in the top 12 2A athletes in their events statewide by the track and field website MileSplit.