Panther track and field are among WNC’s best teams.
After opening their outdoor season in Toccoa, Georgia, March 1, on March 8 the Panthers traveled to Cullowhee for the WNC Kickoff Invitational. Versus 14 other area schools at Western Carolina University, Franklin proved why they’re the class of the region.
“We were able to win both sides pretty handily,” said head coach Matt Harlfinger of the men’s and women’s competition. “I think the strength of our team is just our depth and our talent. We were able to score two or three kids in each event, and we’ve just got so much quality right now on both sides. We’ve got a really good team from top to bottom.”
With a large majority of teams from west of Asheville in attendance, Franklin cruised to victory in overall scoring, beating Swain 183-119.5 on the men’s side and 209-105.5 on the women’s. In nearly doubling the second-place team’s score, the Panthers boasted an embarrassment of riches on the women’s side.
“Amy Mendoza Lopez beat her PR [personal record] by 30 seconds in the two-mile, which moved her up to fourth all-time on our school record list,” said Harlfinger. “I think she was ninth coming into yesterday and had a big PR, and also PR’ed in the [800-meter run]. She’s sixth all-time [in the 800-meter] … Rylee Cassada had a big PR with a 1:02.83 and has moved up into the top 10 in the 400, and then the girls [4x100-meter relay] team moved into second place all-time. They should break the school record this year in the four-by-one, which is a record that we set last year with Isabelle [Duchemin].”
Despite losing Duchemin to graduation last spring and multiple awkward baton handoffs Thursday, Franklin’s 4x100 team has barely broken stride. Finishing three tenths of a second off their own school record of 49.43 and beating their bronze-medal time (49.81) from last year’s 3A state meet, Michelle Ortega, Laura Covarrubias and Hope Smith have a promising new teammate.
“We’ve got a freshman, Anna Timan, on the anchor leg, and she kind of earned that spot through the indoor season,” said Harlfinger. “We were really impressed with her work ethic, and she showed up every day and worked hard. … We’re able to do some things and get creative with our lineups because we’ve got so much quality. We could put together a girls four-by-one right now that’s just freshmen that could push for the school record. We’ve got some really good freshmen girls, and so the future is really bright, especially on that girls side.”
Between Timan, Morgan Cress, Audrey Pressley, Kamden Reis and others, Franklin likely boasts one of 3A’s best groups of freshmen girls. On the boys side, several newcomers also impressed in Cullowhee.
“Ken Modlin ran on the four-by-four last night and split 53.16, which, to have a freshman that can run a 53 …,” said Harlfinger. “I figured he was gonna be more of a 100/200 specialist, and he might have shot himself in the foot because nobody really wants to run the 400, but he’s one of the fastest guys we’ve got. … Our boys 4x200 team ran really well – I think we ran almost 10 seconds faster than we did last week, and they really ran about four seconds faster than I thought they could. I think we ran a 1:33 last night with Jason Mesa, Zach Call, Jonas Phillips and Justin Rodriguez.”
With Modlin, Rodriguez, Phillips and other underclassmen playing major roles, Franklin’s men’s team should also have plenty of talent for years to come. After helping place among the top four teams at last year’s state meet in the 4x200 and 4x400 relays, Rodriguez continues to impress in his sophomore season.
“Justin, for two track meets in a row has done awesome. He was able to come right back after the [4x200]and ran the 400 and won it, and the way that he was running was just so relaxed that I thought he wasn’t even trying,” said Harlfinger. “He crossed the finish line and within 10 seconds we’re having a conversation, so that tells me that his fitness level right now is through the roof. … Another one that stood out was Braylen Dezarn had a big personal record in the 300 hurdles, which moved him up into the top 10 all-time in school history. He was playing basketball and basketball kind of rolls into track season, so we really didn’t see him until about the third week of the season.”
Less than two weeks after the end of basketball season, Dezarn was already making waves at Thursday’s meet, winning the 300 hurdles with a personal-record 42.96 and placing third in the 110 hurdles with a 17.42. After handily winning the WNC Kickoff, the Panthers turned their attention to a busy week ahead.
“The Montreat one, I don’t know how we’ll do, but we’re gonna give some of our younger kids a chance to show us what they can do,” said Harlfinger of the meet at Montreat College March 15. “We do have a group next weekend that’s gonna compete at the Adidas Indoor National meet in Virginia Beach. We’re gonna send a [4x800] team on the boys and girls side; I think Boston [Stringer] is gonna go in the pole vault; and Adam [Rogers], David [Rogers] and Aaron [Jennings] are gonna go in the pole vault. … This meet [at Montreat] and the next meet at Rabun Gap will give us a really good opportunity to evaluate this new crop of kids, and that will help us down the road as we start to position ourselves towards championship season just knowing what we’ve got in the stable.”