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Don Franklin continues to rebuild cross country at Kennett
KENNETT, Mo. - Two years ago, Kennett was struggling to build a cross country team due to low participation.
Don Franklin stepped in as head coach with one goal. He wanted to keep the program alive.
Now, Franklin is returning for his second season as the head cross country coach. In only his second season, he said he has seen a lot of growth and improvement in his young team.
“Last year we started with freshmen,” Franklin said. “It was my first year so there was a big learning curve, especially for me, but the thing I am most optimistic about is maturity.”
Franklin has increased in numbers over the summer. After having eight runners on his roster last year, this season he has 11.
Along with the newcomers, he is returning all of his sophomore athletes who competed as freshmen in 2023.
With such a younger roster, he looks to his returning sophomores as leaders for this distance squad.
“Part of the maturity thing showed this summer,” Franklin said. “I had summer workouts this year and my returning runners were there every day. It was a commitment and I think that’s a big deal because then that kinda sets the tone going right into the season.”
Sophomore Dylan Yates will be one of the top returners for the Indians this season.
In his freshman campaign, Yates recorded a 19:36 5k which is the second fastest time ever by any freshman at Kennett High School.
Yates said the summer has helped me gain more confidence heading into his second year.
“The summer was rough but I can tell the difference,” Yates said. “Last I was rough but this year I am better. I got in the rhythm of what we do and how all of this works.”
Yates' time as a freshman also puts him seventh all time in school history according to Athletic.net. Yates is one of the only freshmen to break the top 10 All Time list at Kennett High School, along with his fellow sophomore teammate Kade Anderson.
Anderson ran a 20:11 5k which ranked him as 10th all time currently. Anderson’s time follows right behind Yates as the third fastest freshman in school history.
Franklin said he will rely on athletes such as Yates and Anderson to lead this team. Not only at cross country meets and at practice, but in everyday life as they continue to build character. He is relying on them to help this program to continue to grow.
“That first year, it was a tough sell,” Franklin said. “I mean, you’re asking kids that have never done this before to step up and run. So I knew early on that the kids I had were the kind of kids I wanted. I knew they were tough, I knew they could be committed and I was happy with that core group. So now it will turn into a natural progression. They set the tone, they keep our standards and show ‘this is how we work.’”
Franklin said he wants to build a championship type team in the future, but more than this he wants to build a team of strong character.
For Franklin, he knew it had to start with finding the right kids to join his team.
“This season we added two freshmen,” Franklin said. “No mistake about it, I’d love to have 20 freshmen, but I want the right freshmen. Regardless of where you’re at and your conditioning or your journey as a runner, how can I improve on that and how can you help us keep those standards.”
One addition is freshman Crafton Binkard.
Binkard, as a three sport athlete, joined the cross country team to stay in shape for his basketball and baseball seasons in the winter and spring.
For him, the team has made the transition to high school easier and enjoyable.
“It’s fun running with these guys,” Binkard said. “It took a lot to get in shape, but I worked hard to keep up with them. They were all pretty good.”
Along with the addition of two freshmen, Franklin recruited Avery Payne to represent the girls cross country team this fall. According to Athletic.net with , Payne is the first female cross country runner since 2017.
His goal is to eventually have a full girls roster to score at meets. He said Payne was the perfect runner to start the process of building the girls team.
“We haven’t had a female runner,” Franklin said. “To me, that is probably one of the things I’ve been really happy about. I want a whole roster of female runners and I think we will eventually, but I’d rather grow slow than grow wrong. I could not ask for a better person to start that process than Avery Payne. She’s been here all summer, she’s not intimidated, there’s never a negative word and she fits right in.”
Last year was experimental for the Indians, as it was a start up season for Franklin and his young team. However, the team still chased success.
The same goals are still set for this year.
Yates and Anderson are looking to improve on their times from last season while Binkard hopes to set a good mark as a freshman. For them, self improvement is everything. However, so is winning districts and qualifying for the state championships.
Franklin teaches his runners to run their own races and try and beat their own personal records.
“I would be lying if I said I was confident we’re gonna go out there and we’re gonna win our district,” Franklin said. “But I’d also be lying if I said that wasn’t what we wanted to do. That’s our goal and that’s what we train for. If we don’t do well, we will see you next year. That's the benefit of having such a young group. We’ll reload and go at it again next year.”