Panther track and field are Mountain Eight Conference champs.
On April 30, they traveled to North Henderson for the M8 Championships, seeking their fourth straight women’s title and their second straight from the men. There both Panther teams far outscored their conference rivals, ahead of the 5A West Regional May 8.
“That's always our ultimate goal coming into the season – staying at the top of the Mountain Eight Conference – and we were able to do that on the backs of a couple of really stellar performances,” said head coach Matt Harlfinger. “Anna Timan was the MVP of the girls' side for the running events; she was first place in three events and second in another. She won the 100-meter dash, the 200-meter dash and the 300-meter hurdles, and she was second place in the 100 hurdles. She also set a new school record in the 200, which was really awesome.”
Highlighted by a 25.4-second 200-meter dash, Timan continued an incredible junior year, scoring more points than any other female M8 runner. In the field events, another Panther junior matched Timan’s efforts.
“And then also on the girls' side, Kamden Reis was named the Field Event MVP,” said Harlfinger. “She finished first place in the long jump, first place in the triple jump with the second-best performance ever in school history, and then she finished second in the high jump, which was a huge day for her.”
In beating her personal record by nearly two feet in the triple jump and placing second in the high jump despite not specializing in that event, Reis turned in perhaps the most impressive day of any Panther.
On the boys side, another Panther continued a breakout senior year.
“Jonas Phillips was named the running event MVP; he was first place in the 110-meter hurdles and the 300-meter hurdles, and then he was the anchor leg on the 4x200 team that took first place. … He also finished fourth in the 200,” said Harlfinger. “We really needed that 4x200 team to run well, because we were on the outside of the top 16 in the region. … Looking at the conference meet, I said, ‘We've got an opportunity to maybe win the four-by-two at the state meet, because we've got some really fast boys. I think for sure they'll be in medal contention, but we've got to qualify it for regionals,’ and that was a conversation we had.”
Between Phillips, Ken Modlin, Reid Laseter and others, Franklin boasts one of the state’s fastest groups of male sprinters. Entering the conference meet however, they had not recorded a top-16 time in the 5A West Region, needing a strong time at the conference meet to advance to regionals. With a first-place mark of 1:31.88, they’ll now be among the favorites at Jay M. Robinson High School in Concord.
Elsewhere around the track, Franklin earned several other first-place finishes.
“Reid Laseter won the 200, Ken Modlin won the 400, Gabe Harrison won the long jump, and Garrett Young won the shot put,” said Harlfinger. “And then we had two relays that took first place: the boys' [4x100-meter team] with Gabe Harrison, Reid Laseter, Siler Kinsland and Chase Padgett finished first, and then the 4x200 team with Jonas Phillips, Chase Padgett, Siler Kinsland, and Connor Ramey finished first. So on the boys' side we had a number of first places and All-Conference performers.”
“On the girls' side, for a team that scored 220-plus points, we only had five event champions,” Harlfinger continued. “Izzy Shope won the high jump, Adrianna Stewart won the pole vault, and Ella Raby won the shot put. To score 220 points in a track meet is pretty challenging, and to do it with only five event champions is pretty impressive – it really speaks to our depth.”
With podium finishers across the track, both Franklin squads won their team titles convincingly, with the girls routing Pisgah 220.5-147.5 and the boys defeating West Henderson 180-127. For the Panther men’s senior talisman, the result was especially sweet.
“It feels good,” said Phillips of leading his team to a conference title. “I think I could have done a lot better in the 300 hurdles, but my calves were cramping up super-bad, so I think I'll have a better shot at it at regionals. I'll have a lot more competition, too, coming through the home stretch, and it helps to have someone pushing you as well. Plus there was a pretty bad headwind as well for the 110.”
In less-than-perfect conditions, Phillips turned in a banner day for his team, giving Franklin more scoring opportunities at regionals. Having turned in by far his best season as a senior, he credited his newfound success to preparation.
“It's been fun. It's been a lot of work. I've been taking it a lot more seriously than I have in the last couple years, for sure,” he said. “Last year was my first year doing hurdles as well, so I think having that experience has been good for me, because I've kind of been working on my form a lot over the last year … lifting weights a lot, getting in the gym and just doing squats and cleans and stuff like that, and really focusing on my nutrition more than I have in the past couple of years – just eating good foods, making sure I'm recovering as well as possible, getting good sleep, drinking lots of water, stretching and stuff like that.”
Sports Editor Will Woolever can be reached at sports@thefranklinpress.com