Girls state track meet: Robertson duo best friends and big rivals

Pancho Morris | The New Mexican

5/15/2008 - 5/16/08

Be honest, Julie and Marin. When the other is on approach, do you secretly wish for her to miss?

Once the laughter subsides, the truth surfaces between the Las Vegas Robertson High School classmates, teammates, close friends, state champions.

"Sometimes, I even say it out loud," Julie Franken says. "My teammates will say, 'That's mean.' I know, but I can't help it.

"It's like, 'Please miss it!' Then afterward it's, 'Good job!'

Marin Schweigert opts for diplomacy.

Initially.

"I can't really explain it," she says. "We're both happy for each other. We don't go around bragging about it to each other. We don't really talk about me winning state or her winning state."

Schweigert, though, comes clean.

Finally.

"Sometimes, yeah," she says of rooting for Franken's demise.

Look, when a state championship in the high jump is at stake, as it will be today, the first day of the Class AAA Girls State Track and Field State Championships, even BFFs (best friends forever) since third grade at Los Niños Elementary School need separation.

"It's pretty tough," Franken says. "You want to hate your competition, but you can't because it's your best friend.

"It's nice when we're not high jumping. During competition, it's harder to still be cool with everything. We still talk to each other. Maybe that's not good for me, but it works for her."

Schweigert's view doesn't differ.

"We're always laughing and we can always talk to each other about anything," she says. "But we're competitive. We both want the same thing. We both want to win. We'll talk a little, but not much. But we're both happy for each other."

It's true.

Rewind to last year's state meet. Franken went out at 5 feet. Schweigert won at 5-4. Franken was one of the first to Schweigert, reaching her with arms and heart open.

"She had a hard year, but she's someone that I knew could win it," Franken says. "It was good to see one of my friends succeed. I was more happy for her than I was disappointed for myself."

Schweigert fractured her hip as a freshman. It was still a pain last season. So much so that all she did was jump. This season, she's qualified in the 300 hurdles and likely will run two relays.

"She's fast enough to be on the 400 relay, and she's running really strong 200s," Benny Ortiz, Robertson head coach, says of Schweigert. "She's really, really come along."

Franken's found her stride, too.

"She ran her best quarter at district," Ortiz says, "and she has one of the top times in the 100 hurdles."

Franken is seeded third in the hurdles behind Jordan Miller of St. Michael's and Tabitha Sportsman of Ruidoso. Not bad for someone whose heart belongs to volleyball, another trait she shares with Schweigert.

"I didn't really want to be there," Franken says of the early meets. "I wasn't giving 100 percent. I was only running what they told me to. Now, I have a different mentality."

Credit, Jeffrey Franken, her older brother.

"He got in a bad car accident and he was paralyzed for a while," Franken says. "He was a really good athlete, very promising until the accident. I had a really good talk with him and it changed my attitude."

The internal struggles had no impact on her high jump. Schweigert, though, did.

Schweigert finished the regular season undefeated. Not just against Franken, but the rest of the competition the two faced. Twice, they tied for first. Twice, Schweigert won the coin flip.

The District 2AAA championships featured a different ending, with Franken winning and Schweigert finishing second. Neither was at her best, which this season is 5-4 and is 5 inches higher than the next best jump in AAA this season.

"That day wasn't a very good jumping day for either of us, especially me," Schweigert says. "Every time I would go over the bar, I would kick it with my legs."

Franken, the daughter of Alan and Kathy Franken, has the height advantage, standing 5-101/2 to Schweigert's 5-7. Schweigert, the daughter of Daniel and Wendy Schweigert, has the better bend over the bar and the better form. Their shin splits, and their desire, are dead-heats.

After winning state as an eighth-grader, shin splits and a stress fracture in her left foot kept Franken out of track as a freshman. Both agree: Injuries won't untie the championship knot, which stands 1-1.

So, who gets the bookend?

"Every track meet this year, she's won," Franken says. "It was the other way around last year. I beat her every time, except district and state. Hopefully, that means I get the state track championship this year."

If only it were that easy. Schweigert has yet to reach her goal.

"My goal this year was to clear 5-7," she says. "I haven't even attempted it. So I'd like to clear at least 5-5 at state."

Schweigert is setting the bar high, higher than either has cleared. And if it reaches that height, and only one remains, one thing is certain.

The other will be secretly saying:

"Make it!"

Honest.