The Panther women’s track and field team is the Mountain Seven Conference Champion.
On Tuesday, April 30 the team traveled to North Henderson to kick off their postseason with the M7C title meet. Ahead of the 3A West Regional at A.C. Reynolds May 11, both men’s and women’s teams earned top-two finishes in the conference.
“The girls nailed it – they did such a good job. We had 12 conference champions, and there’s only 18 events,” said head coach Matt Harlfinger. “Audrey Pressley was probably our brightest star there; she was our Field Event MVP. ... She won the long jump and the triple jump, she was on the Conference Champion [4x100-meter relay] team, and she got fourth in the hundred-meter dash.”
Led by an incredible day from Pressley, the Panthers blew their conference foes out of the water, beating second-place West Henderson 258-5-180. In addition to their star freshman, several other Panther women also turned in strong meets.
“Hope Smith ran 58.91 in the [400-meter dash], and she was the Conference Champion and number three all-time in school history,” said Harlfinger. “Rylee Cassada also had a big PR in the 400; she finished third and moved to ninth all-time [in school history]. Amy Mendoza Lopez won the 800 with a personal record, and Morgan Cress won the mile and the two-mile for us. Amy was in those events as well, and she finished second in the one- and the two-mile.”
Between these and other athletes like Laura Covarrubias, who qualified in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles in her first meet back from injury, Franklin’s women have a real chance to win this Saturday’s regional. On the men’s side, the Panthers fell by a single point to West Henderson, 187-186.
“Justin Rodriguez won the 400 with a massive, massive race. He ran 49.33, which is third-best all-time and over a second faster than he’d ever run before,” said Harlfinger. “Logan Russo won the 800, Aaron Jennings won the pole vault and Braxton Deal won the triple Jump. Braxton was also named the Field Event MVP for getting first in the triple jump, fourth in the high jump and fifth in the long jump.”