The regular season is at an end for Panther cross country.
On Wednesday, Oct. 11, Melissa Ward’s team traveled to the Canton Sports Complex for the Mountaineer Invitational hosted by Tuscola. In their last chance to scout five of their six conference rivals before the Mountain Seven Championship Oct. 17, Franklin placed first on the men’s side and second on the women’s.
“It wasn’t too bad. It’s a tougher course; the kids have been dreading it all season, basically,” said Ward of the trip to Canton. “It was good for them. Several of them agreed it wasn’t as hard this year, so that’s a good sign for where they’re at conditioning-wise. I felt that way a little bit about our previous course last week – that’s always been known as a tougher course, and they took it really well.”
Between the Mountaineer Invite and the Pre-Conference meet in Hendersonville Oct. 4, the Panthers have run well on difficult courses the past two weeks. While few runners set personal records at the nine-team meet in Canton, Franklin’s boys easily outpaced their opponents, claiming five of the top seven spots.
“It definitely isn’t a PR course, but more of a PR against what they did last year,” said Ward of gauging her veterans’ times. “The top guys didn’t have any top competition again, so we took it as a little bit tougher tempo [a training run at a slightly slower pace than a runner’s PR]. Obviously, they had to work a little harder than last week because of the tougher course, and I had them push the pace just a little, but not really racing it because there was no competition. Matheson [Post]’s job was to stay with [Logan Russo and Barrett Stork], and he handled that well. He really worked hard, and the guys were definitely a little more tired than they were last week.”
As has become the norm this season, Franklin’s top three men impressed once again, with Russo placing first (17:28.69), Stork placing second (17:58.82) and Post placing third (18:19.25) out of 51 runners. Hot on the trio’s heels in fifth was junior Cooper Tyler (18:58.90), followed closely in seventh by fellow junior Dane Hooper (19:13.22).
Junior David Rogers was the next Panther across the line, placing 21st in 21:56.83. After Rogers, sophomore Jonas Phillips and junior Daniel Pope finished less than a second apart, placing 28th and 29th in 22:35.25 and 22:35.53, respectively. Junior Adam Rogers placed 39th in 23:45.70, while freshman Hayden Swayngim rounded out the Panther card with a 32:21.46.
As a team, Franklin was clearly the class of the meet, earning 18 points to far outpace second-place Smoky Mountain’s 57. On the women’s side however, the Panthers faced more stiff competition.
“On the girls side we had Amy [Mendoza Lopez] with the two Tuscola girls that she beat last week, and they passed her, which is OK,” said Ward. “It was their home course, so they know it a little bit better. She had to push herself and maintain her pace, because right behind her were two more Tuscola girls, so they had a decent team out there. She worked hard, and Mindi also came in behind that second set of girls on Tuscola’s team, and she definitely pushed herself as well. It was really good speed work going into next week at conference, and I know those Tuscola girls are trying to take it back.”
Running amid a “pack” of Tuscola’s top four girls, Mendoza Lopez looked sharp on the Mounties’ home course, placing third in 21:40.93. Soon after, Franklin watched a pack of their own cross the line, with sophomore Mindi Holbrooks (22:32.02), promising freshman Morgan Cress (23:04.91) and sophomore Abigail Pope (23:05.37) placing sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively.
Close behind Pope was freshman Breanna Pendergrass, who finished 12th with a 24:30.40. After Pendergrass, Lilly (25:18.43) and Rylee (25:34.14) Cassada placed back-to-back in 17th and 18th, followed closely by Briseida Tlahuice-Flores in 20th (26:13.02). 11 more Panthers would cross the line in the field of 57, led by freshman Anna Timan in 26th with a 26:56.93.
As a team, Franklin earned 36 points, finishing second to Tuscola’s 22 but far ahead of third-place Pisgah’s 96. They may have even tougher competition at the conference meet with the addition of powerhouse West Henderson, who did not attend the Mountaineer Invite.
“On the girls side, things look pretty good for us to go against Tuscola,” said Ward of the Mountain Seven Championship at Jackson Park in Hendersonville. “I don’t feel like West’s girls are really in our way right now, but they may have a couple injured that I haven’t seen yet. On the boys side, West has a few boys that have been out, and I don’t know if they’re preserving them or if they’re injured, so we’ve got to see what they really bring to the table. If they do show up, it will be good competition for our guys, and they need it. I think we’ll stack up pretty well; we just have to see who actually shows up on those teams.”
Panther cross country traveled to Jackson Park in Hendersonville for the Mountain Seven Championship after press time Oct. 17. The Press will report on that meet’s results in next week’s edition.