MOUNT BAKER - With a new state of the art track, the girls on the Franklin High School track team can't be any more proud to be running as Quakers. With a team of 10 girls, where only four of the 10 athletes are upperclassman, head coach Tony Franklin has set the expectation of getting as many athletes to the conference meet this season.
"The team is young and inexperienced this year, but they are feisty," Franklin said. "We are way ahead of where we are than we thought."
This is the team's first year conditioning and practicing on the new track. In previous years, the track was in such poor condition the athletes would be concerned with a foot landing into a ditch and twisting an ankle.
"The new track has given the kids a new sense of pride," Franklin said.
Although the girls on the Franklin track team face some stiff competition from athletes in other rival schools such as Rainer Beach and Garfield, the coaches at all three high schools have turned this rivalry into a way to help the athletes compete and excel in a positive environment.
"We don't have a rivalry where it is to kill the other team at all costs," said Franklin. "We have broken down the stereotypes and barriers of how we can't be friends and still be competitive at the same time."
According to Franklin, this change all began with the friendly gesture of Robert Gary, principal and one of the assistant track coaches at Rainer Beach High School. When Franklin's practice facility was in terrible condition, coach Gary invited the girls of Franklin to practice on Rainer Beach's turf before the new track opened.
In addition, between the Franklin, Rainier Beach and Garfield track programs, the coaches have developed a network where they can come together and share knowledge on certain techniques about which a coach may not be an expert on a particular running or field event.
"If we can help you, we can and we will," coach Franklin asserted.
This is Coach Franklin's fourth year as the head coach at Franklin. Alongside him is assistant coach Jack Craig. Craig is known to be one of the best hurdle coaches on the West Coast.
"He brings an expertise that is hard to come by," Franklin said.
Although the athletes on the team are very young this year, Gabrielle Holman and Katoya Kinsey, two freshmen in the Franklin track program, are very excited about the progress the team has made this year. According to Holman and Kinsey, Franklin will be sending three freshmen, including both of them, to the 4A King County Conference Championship this season.
"We can't be but tired after practice. If you're not tired after practice then you didn't work hard enough," said Kinsey about her team's preparations for the championships.
Not only do the Quakers work hard on the track, they are also very focused off the track. The girls are required to attend study hall before every practice. At the beginning of the season, coach Franklin set a goal for the overall team's cumulative grade point average to be at least at a 3.0. The girls' most recent progress reports show that the team's current, cumulative grade point average is 3.2.
Coach Franklin's philosophy on school is "If you don't go to study hall, you don't run." Franklin believes that running on a high school track team can be a stepping stone to help the girls get into college.
For Minerva Humphrie, it was important that her granddaughter, Danita, chose a high school that had a strong track and academic program when exploring their options during her last year in middle school. Although many coaches expressed interest in wanting Danita to run in their program, "We chose Franklin because of Coach Franklin," said Minerva. "He was truly concerned with her academics." With the end of her freshman year rapidly approaching, Danita's grades have improved by a whole grade point average this year.
"Danita absolutely respects Coach Franklin," said Humphrie.
During coach Franklin's tenure, he has trained numerous athletes to continue their running careers at the collegiate level. He is so dedicated in seeing his athletes succeed on and off the track that his monthly long-distance phone bill is high, for he still keeps in touch with many of his former athletes.
In some instances, his former athletes have decided to focus solely on their education during their time in college. Coach Franklin's motto is, "winning isn't the important thing, its wanting to win and taking those things that you need to win that matter." He stresses this ideology to his athletes and hopes that not only will they apply this idea on the track, but in their everyday lives as well.
Beacon Hill writer Alice Liang may be reached via editor@sdistrictjournal.com.
[[In-content Ad]]
