1- Track claims 3A state titles
As long as records are kept for N.C. high school sports, 2023 will be known as the year of Panther track.
Entering the Indoor State Championships in Winston-Salem this past February, Franklin generally wasn’t mentioned among the 3A pre-meet favorites. With men’s state titles, both indoor and outdoor, and two top-three finishes from the women, Matt Harlfinger and Melissa Ward’s teams took the track and field world by storm.
By way of nine different top-five finishes, the Panther men earned Franklin’s first-ever indoor state title. The Panther women would have tied Dudley for first, until a disqualification in the final event gave the Greensboro team an extra point.
The Panther men avenged their teammates’ loss a few months later, beating out Dudley for their first outdoor state title since 1995. The Panther women placed third overall. Both Panther teams are among the early favorites for the indoor state meet next month.
2- Tennis extends dominant run
After an unbeaten regular season and their first-ever trip to the Dual Team State Semifinals, Panther women’s tennis set a high bar in 2022.
While Heather Bell’s team would have been forgiven for falling short of their previous year’s success, instead they extended the greatest run in program history, turning in their second-straight unbeaten season and second-straight trip to the 3A state semis.
In addition to Dual Team play, the Panthers have also impressed as individuals, starting with Alyssa Smith and Kate Phillips’ trip to the 2022 state semis in doubles. At this year’s 3A West Regional Tourney, Laura Holland/Lydia Holland and Logan Guynn/Maci Stork met in an All-Panther final, where the Hollands bested their teammates for Franklin’s second-straight regional title.
After an incredible past two years, the Panthers seem poised to continue their success, with top players set to return next year in Phillips, Abigail Angel and Maci Stork.
3- Another great year for MMS
It’s been a stellar two years for Macon Middle School.
After earning Blue Ridge Athletic Conference titles in four out of five fall sports in 2022, the Panthers started the new year with a bang, adding men’s and women’s basketball, softball and baseball to the list this spring. Over the 2022-23 school year, MMS’s “non-
Olympic” sports (volleyball, soccer, football, basketball, baseball and softball) compiled a near-impossible 113-7 record, including a 102-4 record in the BRAC. In addition to the eight conference titles, the school racked up seven tournament championships.
In just their third year under athletic director Zach Tallent, the Panthers picked up right where they left off this fall, winning
BRAC titles in football, volleyball, men’s soccer and men’s swimming. Football and volleyball went undefeated in the process and won their BRAC title games in blowouts, while men’s soccer beat Polk in an epic 10-round penalty shootout.
4- Cheer places at Nationals
2023 was likely the greatest year in the history of Panther cheer and dance.
On Jan. 27, the Panthers traveled to Raleigh for the N.C. Cheer Coaches’ Association State Competition, winning a state title in the Small Varsity Traditional Division. With the state title win, they punched their tickets to what head coach Lynn Baker called “the Super Bowl of cheerleading competitions,” the Universal Cheerleaders’ Association National High School Championships in Orlando. In Franklin’s first-ever trip to the UCA Nationals, the team turned in a near-flawless routine, advancing to the National Semifinals in their division and placing 15th out of 43 teams.
The Panthers have continued their success this fall, placing second in their Traditional divisions at both the UCA Regional and the N.C. High School Athletic Association Invitational. They’ll return to Nationals to compete in both categories this February.
5- Little League teams compete at state
2023 was a year to remember for Macon County’s Little League baseball and softball teams.
For the past few years, the county has represented District 5 in several Little League State Tournaments, fielding some of N.C.’s finest baseball and softball teams aged 7-12. This July Franklin’s 12U baseball team had home-field advantage, hosting a weekend-long State Tournament on their home field at Parker Meadows.
While the 12U Majors lost both of their games, other Franklin squads advanced deep into their own state tourneys, led by the 8U softball All-Stars. In routing their first four opponents, the team advanced to the state semifinals, facing opponents from communities triple and quadruple their size.
Franklin’s 8U baseball All-Stars also competed in their own state tourney, winning their first game but losing the second. In Game 3 of the pool play round, the team nearly advanced to the winner’s bracket, but fell in a 7-6 heartbreak to Person County.
6- Wrestlers sweep 1st Women’s Regional
In a historic year for women’s high school wrestling around the state, three Panthers helped blaze a trail for generations to come.
At the first-ever Women’s West Regional at North Henderson last January, seniors Abby Carpenter, Jasmin Valencia and Stephanie Ortiz put Franklin on the map. With tournament titles from Valencia and Carpenter and a fourth-place finish from Ortiz, all three advanced to the state’s first-ever Women’s Wrestling State Championship.
Near Winston-Salem Feb. 1, Valencia and Carpenter both won matches in their weight classes, advancing to the Consolation Quarterfinals before ending their state tournament runs. Carpenter finished her regular season with a 32-1 record, likely the best in FHS history by any wrestler, male or female. The N.C. High School Athletic Association sanctioned women’s wrestling as an official sport for the 2023-24 school year.
7- Cross country earns top-10 state finishes
Counting the indoor and outdoor track and field seasons, Franklin’s distance runners placed highly at three state title meets this year.
For the past four years, seniors Logan Russo and Barrett Stork have been one of the best 1-2 punches in the state, placing 17th and 24th, respectively at the 2022 state meet. This year they ended their Panther careers on a high note, leading teammates Matheson Post, Dane Hooper, Cooper Tyler, David Rogers and Jonas Phillips to a ninth-place finish in 3A.
What Franklin’s girls lacked in veteran savvy, they more than made up for with young talent, led by a 13th-place finish at the state meet by freshman Morgan Cress. Along with senior Rylee Cassada, underclassmen Amy Mendoza Lopez, Abigail Pope, Mindi Holbrooks, Breanna Pendergrass and Briseida Tlahuice-Flores also helped Franklin place seventh overall, and should be contenders for years to come under head coach Melissa Ward.
8- Woodward places 29th at Mont Blanc
Franklin’s homegrown ultramarathoner continued climbing the world rankings in 2023.
For the past few years, Franklin native Canyon Woodward has traveled the world in search of its toughest trail races, traversing hundreds of miles of difficult terrain versus some of the world’s best distance trail runners. In 2022, the FHS grad competed for the first time at the Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc, a 106-mile race through the European Alps that serves as the sport’s most prestigious event.
Despite coming down with a cold the day before, he placed 48th overall out of roughly 2,800 entrants. He had been ranked 90th overall entering the race.
In November, Woodward returned to France for his second crack at the UTMB, battling 10,000 meters of positive elevation gain to place 29th overall. Finishing in just under 24 hours at 23:56, he shaved more than an hour off his previous year’s time, and hopes to someday place in the top 10.
9- Evans joins world’s best strongmen
Another Franklin native reached the highest echelon of his sport this year.
Since graduating from FHS as an All-State football offensive lineman, Thomas Evans has been a busy man, starring for the University of Richmond (Virginia) and trying out for multiple NFL teams. Since retiring from the gridiron, he has competed in the national strongman circuit, seeking out the country’s toughest competitive weighlifting events.
In 2023, Evans took part in some of the sport’s most prestigious competitions, placing fifth at the Arnold Strongman Classic and sixth at the Shaw Classic. As a reserve for World’s Strongest Man, he received a call just days before the event asking him to compete as one of the top 30 strongmen in the world.
There, Evans acquitted himself well, placing first overall in the log ladder by lifting five logs ranging from 275-400 lbs. over his head in less than 39 seconds. He hopes to compete at World’s Strongest Man again next year.
10- Volleyball wins conference titles
Panther volleyball had a banner year in 2023.
With a deep and talented roster, Bekah Brooks’ varsity team played a near-flawless regular season, losing just seven total sets en route to a 21-1 record. With an 11-1 record in the Mountain Seven, they earned their first conference title since tying Hendersonville in 2020, and their first outright conference title since 2011. Senior McCall Sanders and juniors Kyrah Bowles, Cali Queen, McKayla Sanders and Ryan Green earned All-Conference honors, with Emma Ledford and Jocelyn Rios earning Honorable Mentions.
The JV Panthers also impressed under head coach Cindy Christie this season, accruing the Mountain Seven’s best regular season record at 20-1. In beating tournament host Smoky Mountain in the Conference Semifinal and season-long rival Pisgah in the Final, the JV Panthers secured their own M7 title.
Between varsity and JV conference championships and a 17-0 season from MMS under head coach Brooke Watson, Panther volleyball should be a powerhouse for years to come.