It was 20 years ago on February 20, 1999 that the greatest 2-mile race in Massachusetts (THE race) has become known as the Sanchez-Powell showdown. With that being said, the gun goes off. 440’s clicking off, 63, 2:08, 3:14, 4:21!!! With a half mile to go, Franklyn begins to fade off the torrid pace being set by Powell. With 440 yards to go and it doesn’t look good. With 220 yards to go Sanchez is still 4-5 seconds behind Powell. With 100 yards to go, it’s down to 2 seconds, with 2 yards to go, Franklyn pulls ahead to win in 8:49.60 to Powell’s 8:50.28! As a freshman at Georgetown he would win the USA Junior National Cross Country Championship which earned him a spot on the World Championship team. At the World Cross Country Championship held in Portugal, he would be the first American over the finish line and 28th overall. In his first college race he would finish 3rd at the Big East Cross Championships, 5th at the Mid Atlantic Regional Cross Championship, leading Georgetown to a team win. He would then go on to earn All-American honors with a 6th place finish at the NCAA Division 1 Cross Championships and was the top freshman. Franklyn Sanchez broke the American junior record in the 5k running a breath-taking 13:38.39 at Stanford. What’s really cool about this is the record he set broke the 31 year old record held by the legendary Steve Prefontaine.
Class: 1999 Inducted: 2019