The cross country season unfortunately came to an end on Saturday at the OHSAA regional championship meet in Troy. The weather was picture perfect and the course was quite possibly in the best shape it has ever been for this meet. The races were extremely competitive with some of the best teams and runners in the entire state, regardless of division.

The day began with the lady Wildcats taking to the course along the river and giving everything they had left. Senior Laila Black went out with the lead pack and continued to set the pace for the Wildcats. She raced hard making her way up and over the levee then back down again, giving a final kick and crossing the finish line in a time of 20:45.8. She will leave her mark on the program being the 3rd fastest runner in Franklin High School's history. Joining her on that list in 10th place all time with a brand new PR at regionals is senior Kydee Shults who came across at 21:39.2. Finishing 3rd for the wildcats was sophomore Gigi Perkins (23:01.1) who was followed by senior Bryley Wulff (24:34.8), and sophomores Brooklyn Hall (25:24.0) and Meryn Berry (25:58.6). Though she was not able to race this past weekend due to injury, senior Sienna Finton will also leave her mark on the program as the 6th fastest all time with her PR of 20:46.4). This was the most accomplished ladies team since 2008 with 4 runners making the top 15 all time list, and placing 3rd in the SWBL Southwest division. The seniors will be greatly missed next season, not just for their racing prowess, but also for their leadership and the joy they brought to the program. Excellent job ladies.

Following the ladies our men took on the regional meet next a few came away with their best performances of the entire season. Finally, starting to feel like himself, and get back to racing with a determination and mostly free of pain, senior Oliver Crosthwaite led the team finishing in a season best time of 17:21.0. Oliver leaves the program as number 5 on the all time list with a person best of 17:00.6, which he ran during his junior season. Oliver was followed by senior Tre’son Henley who made a huge leap this season. Tre was just off his personal best on Saturday with a time of 18:19. He also graduates, having moved up to number 11 on the all time top 15 list with his personal best time of 18:06.8. He was followed by senior Daniel Osborne (18:35), who finished his high school career with the 12th best time in school history of 18:11. Finishing next and setting new personal bests along the way were sophomore Kellan Dunn (19:09.3) and Junior Cherif Sore (19:21.8). Completing the scoring for our team were Junior Donovan Schuyler (19:33) and Freshman Kian Gatliff (20:54.3).

This season has been an overall huge success for the cross country program with both boys and girls teams finishing 3rd at SWBL. This is the highest combined finish since 2008, it is also the highest finish for the girls team since 2008 and the highest finish for the boys team since they last won the league title in 2023. This was also the first time in school history that both the boys and girls programs qualified to regionals in the same season. Congratulations to our graduating seniors as they leave behind a legacy of hard work, dedication and success. Once a Wildcat, Always a Wildcat!!!