Harvard-bound Autumne Franklin placed second at Thursday's Penn Relays.
Photo by Ken Inness
Autumne Franklin doesn't meet the prototype. She'll usually stand at the starting blocks looking ahead, not paying much attention to her right, to her left. Take a quick span across the starting line and you'll see the head of one runner, then another, and another, and then a blank. Nothing. An open space. It's tiny Franklin surrounded by the tall, angular limbs each of her opponents possess, the girls that are much taller than she is.
To the
McDonogh (Owings Mills, Md.) senior, it doesn't matter.
All that matters is that she wins.
Franklin just defies a healthy dose of nature's laws each time she does. Franklin is rather diminiutive by the high standards she competes in the 400-meter hurdles. While most elite high school 400-meter hurdlers are 5-foot-9 to 6-foot, Franklin motors on and succeeds at 5-foot-4 — and loves it.
Franklin placed second in a great showdown Thursday in the 400-meter hurdles against Old Mill's (Millersville, MD) Alexis Franklin at the 2012 Penn Relays on a cloudy afternoon at Franklin Field. Alexis crossed the finish line in 59.7 seconds, just before Autumne (59.9).
But it's the gumption and zeal that pushes Autumne that makes her so special. The Harvard-bound hurdler wasn't a natural when she began doing the hurdles in seventh grade. Though there was something there, that rare spark that grabbed the attention of McDonogh coach Alrick Munroe when he first saw her.
"Autumne wasn't very good when she started, but she was willing to do anything I asked," Munroe said. "She's really worked at it. I didn't become aware of her until she came to one of my summer camps before her freshman year. Whatever I asked her to do, she was willing to do. It took her some time before she became very good. She worked at it. She worked hard, and she still does. We threw her in at the Penn Relays her sophomore year, and each year she's gotten progressively better."
At the high level Franklin competes, however, she does face a distinct disadvantage.
"Autumne is almost perfect when she runs, because she has to be," Munroe said. "I remember one time when we took Autumne to a national meet her freshman year and everyone was wondering who the little girl was. The girls she runs against at the national level are much taller than her. Why Autumne is special is her level of discipline. We focus on attacking the hurdles, and she's very efficient in the technical aspects of the event. Because there are long-strided hurdlers, Autumne will change her lead leg about five, six hurdles into the 400."
Franklin herself recalls those early days when she would get beat. Her target in those rec meets was the same girl, "the girl in red." The irony is the girl in red that motivated Franklin is now her best friend, McDonogh teammate and Virginia-bound Jessica Caldwell.
"We would run against each other and I would always win, but I remember one meet when Autumne got out of the blocks faster than I did and reached the first hurdle before me," Caldwell recalled. "I caught up to her and past her, but that was it. She caught up and past me, and since then, she was there. Autumne is very determined, and I think that's the reason why she's so good. She doesn't like to get beat."
Nor deterred. Thanks to Caldwell.
"I didn't get discouraged, I kept coming back and losing to Jessica," Autumne said, with a laugh. "I didn't know her then, I just knew her as ‘the girl in red.' Then the summer going to Coach Munroe's camp was a little intimidating at first, because I didn't know what the 400 hurdles were. I know the girls I go against are a lot taller than me, but I really don't think about my height.
"These girls I face are huge. I guess it is motivating because physically I am at a disadvantage, I might be the underdog in their minds. It's all about strength and training. The hurdles are a challenge. It's artful, with a twist."
And it's about Franklin's superior mental edge.
"I don't like not being the best, that's what drives me," Franklin said.
Though there may be a smaller, underlying factor that pushes Autumne Franklin. She was raised by her mother, Clover Franklin, when her father, Spotsey Taylor, was killed Autumne was just over three years old. Autumne, regrettably, was just a baby and doesn't remember much about her father.
You want a deeper idea what truly ignites Autumne — it may be simply a mother's love and the will power never to let her down.
"My mother raised me by herself," Autumne said. "My mom is my everything,she has been, and she always will be."
