In the “challenging” 2020 cross country (XC) season, Head Coach Melissa Ward started her tenure at Franklin High School (FHS). Now in her fifth season, Ward has seen her share of success. Similar to 2020, but for different reasons – namely Hurricane Helene’s impact on area events, 2024 presented unforeseen challenges to the XC program, but it persevered.
“It’s been a good season. The boys’ team did better than expected throughout the season as we were working with only two returners from last year’s team. We were able to add on newcomers and still have them perform well with little experience,” Ward opined.
Following the regular season and the Mountain Seven Conference meet, FHS XC entered the 3A West Regionals at Salisbury, N.C., with high hopes.
“I anticipated the girls’ team to qualify for State but we were outperformed. The girls in the West region are extremely competitive. However, having two girls and one boy qualify for State (for individual races) is a blessing for their hard work and dedication,” said Ward.
Going into the State Championship meet, the coach kept expectations realistic, in conjunction with how the overall season progressed.
“We planned to come out of State with a placement better than what we are ranked going in,” expressed Ward.
The meet took place at Kernersville, N.C., Nov. 2, but without enough runners to field an entire team (five), Ward defined her main objective as “improving individual rankings.” Senior Matheson Post entered the meet ranked at 150th in the N.C. 3A division and finished at 121st. Similarly, sophomore Morgan Cress improved from 60thplace to 22nd, and junior Amy Mendoza-Lopez finished ranked at 45th place, up from 88th entering the meet.
Regardless of the overall record, Ward relayed that her favorite part of the season was the same as always – bonding with her team and creating a family-like environment with one another. She also pointed out some individuals who have demonstrated sustained performance.
Matheson, who has excelled in all three XC and track programs at FHS for three years, was once again an outstanding contributor.
“On top of being my number one XC guy this season, he has been All-Conference [in XC] twice, All-Conference for indoor and outdoor track, and All-Region and state-ranked in the 4×800 meter; national champion on the 4x800m indoor, as well as a member of two N.C. state champion teams!” exclaimed Ward.
In addition to those athletic accomplishments, Matheson also maintained a 4.35 grade point average.
Ward added that Tristan Gibbs “showed up his senior year and was our second runner on the team lineup at each race.”
Senior David Rogers made huge progress this year in hitting a personal record at almost every competition.
“He was highly driven and determined to improve for his senior year. This will transfer over to the track seasons very well,” said Ward.
Indoor track season starts in mid-November followed by outdoor track and field in the spring.
MMS XC finishes top three in BRAC
Second-year Macon Middle School (MMS) Cross Country Coach Lindsay Wright understands winning and losing, which are all many observers take away from school athletic events. But she also appreciates what goes into results of meets and final scores.
“What I find the most rewarding is getting to step into a mentor role for these tweens and teenagers. It’s such a delicate, emotionally-driven age, so a lot of what I do as a coach is listen and interact with them,” said Wright.
Her XC program wrapped up its 2024 season in late October with a Blue Ridge Athletic Conference (BRAC) meet Oct. 22 at East Flat Rock Middle School. There, the MMS boys’ team placed second and the girls, third, out of the 10 teams competing. Individually, sophomore Jake Modlin placed second in the two-mile run. The trio of eighth graders Bri Dezarn, Lana Walker, and Abigail Timan placed 10-12th, respectively in the same race.
Compared to FHS, the MMS XC program, comprised of seventh and eighth graders, typically has a lighter schedule. This year, both programs participated in seven total events each. One other difference is the middle school limit is two miles for a race, whereby FHS XC runs 3.1 miles.
Wright expressed appreciation for both students and the parents supporting them.
“My favorite part of this year’s season was seeing the progress each athlete made, both physically and mentally; every single athlete decreased their meet time significantly.”
She added, “I’m always surprised by how much parents step up to help and encourage. We hosted our first home meet at the middle school in September and I could not have pulled it off without the help of parents. We were also able to raise almost $200 with our concession stand and this money was used towards our post-season party.”
With another season under her belt, Wright offered a positive look toward 2025.
“We had quite a few seventh graders this year, so I’m eager to continue pouring into the existing athletes as well as welcoming new ones.”
Tennis update
FHS tennis makes third round at State. The latest FHS women’s tennis season ended Oct. 28 at East Lincoln with a hard-fought loss to the Lady Mustangs. The Lady Panthers made it all the way to the third round of the N.C. State tournament. Four senior players finished their FHS tennis careers that evening: Abigail Angel, Caroline Deal, Kate Phillips, and Maci Stork. That group accomplished three M7C championships and a Final Four state placement during their FHS tennis tenures. The remaining top six players for the 2024 team were juniors Clara Stork and Marlee Barnes.