October 30, 2017 at 1:13 p.m.
A bittersweet farewell
Franson, 11th, narrowly misses podium at state cross country meet
A bittersweet farewell
On one hand, Franson had just scored her career-best finish at the state meet, 11th overall in a field of 150 runners. On the other hand, she finished one spot shy of her goal - a top-10 finish and a spot on the state podium - and her high school running career had just come to an end.
"Both happiness and sadness," Franson said, struggling to fight back tears and put her emotions into words. "It's just hard because I worked so hard the last four years. I knew it had to come to an end."
Franson crossed the line in 19 minutes, 47.66 seconds, just 6.75 seconds behind 10th-place finisher Jordan Koepke of Martin Luther High School.
What made the moment extra poignant is that, following a rocky start, Franson had her goal within grasp near the finish of the race.
"We saw her maybe 800-ish (meters from the finish) or so and she was in that 10-spot running great," coach M.J. Laggis said. "We thought she had it, but that girl (Koepke) was right on her and she finished 11th.
Lost in the shuffle following a torrid start, Franson found herself running around 20th early in the going. She moved up to 14th at the mile-mark, after covering the opening third of the race in 6:02.
"I thought I had a really fast start, but I know girls wanted to get toward the front and I was pushed back a little bit," Franson said. "I guess it was a good thing because it made me get to the front more and pushed me to go at it a little harder."
Franson worked her way to the front of the chase pack in the second mile, running in 11th as the field passed the spectators near the finish line for the first time. She went 6:32 over the second mile and covered the final mile-plus in 7:15.
"I just wanted to stay with a couple of girls who were passing girls too. I knew that I just wanted to stay behind someone's heels that I could work with and pace myself with," Franson said of her strategy over the last half of the race.
"She just kept climbing," Laggis said. "I was really happy with her trajectory in the race, just getting faster and faster and faster. She climbed up in that top 10 and finished right around there. What a fighter. When things got a little bit rough there in the beginning she was poised and relaxed and kept on climbing. It was a very, very good run."
The time was not Franson's fastest at state. She went 19:39 as a freshman when she placed 49th in the Division 1 field. It was, however, her best finish - up three spots from last year's 14th-place run in the D2 race.
"Even though I wasn't on the podium, I thought I had a really good race," she said.
Franson stayed in the finishing chute for a few minutes following the race as she collected her breath and her thoughts. She met with teammates before leaving the chute where she was greeted with hugs by Laggis, assistant coach Brittany Haakenson and her family.
"I'm really going to miss everything that came with the sport," she said. "But I know next year hopefully I'll be running in college, so it's not quite the end yet."
Franson has made a few college visits during the season - including a stop at Division III St. Thomas University in the Twin Cities last month after she ran the Roy Griak Invitational. Franson has yet to commit to a school.
Laggis said the day was bittersweet for him as well.
"This state meet has been a blast to be at as a coach," he said. "She gave us a chance to be here and (is) just a great competitor. As excited as we are to have been here three times, it's sad to know that she's gone. She's done now. She's going to go on to bigger and better and she's going to run in college and we're awfully happy about that. We're excited to follow her progress and we've got to go about trying to get more kids here in the next years."
Franson leaves RHS with three state meet appearances, one Great Northern Conference championship and three runner-up finishes in the GNC.
"Her legacy is not only being a good runner, but being a hard worker," Laggis said. "That means more to me than the (results). If there's anything young athletes can find from her - I don't care if you're (playing) basketball or football or hockey or what - when you look at her, you see what happens when hard work meets opportunity. That's exactly what she is. She's a great role model for all the kids in our high school."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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