PINETOWN — Northside hosted a cross country meet with Bear Grass and Southside this past Wednesday.

Holden Newman of Northside proved to be the overall winner by running a blistering 19:42, over a wet, slow, and sometimes muddy course. His time was not truly indicative of how difficult it was to achieve that speed on this course.

The next two runners to finish were Northside’s Brock Marsh (20:40) and Austin Newman (20:45). Fellow Panther Henry Nimons finished in 23:40, giving a valiant effort to remain Northside’s fourth runner.

Competing for a spot to qualify for team honors was Chandler Nimons, who strengthened his position and increasing his hold on the teams fifth rank. Hunter Taylor is improving his times in a quest to become the fifth entrant for Northside.

Bear Grass placed 3 male runners in the top-10 finishers: Jacob Watkins, Joshua Wynn, and Trey Gregory all crossed the finish separated by 11 seconds. After these three runners, Bear Grass sent what appeared to be a cavalry stampede charge to the finish line. The Bears had nine of the next 11 runners.

Tyrece Jefferson for Southside, still rounding into form, finished fourth overall in 22:26. Tiring in the third mile saw him fall to a distant fourth.

The Lady Panthers occupied first and second place. Ashley Cullom registered a 28:13 time. She was followed by teammate Sarabeth Boyd, who ran a controlled 29:36. Both girls will be very competitive in the course of the season, and those times will improve immeasurably once they realize their talent.

Northsides Shana Taylor placed fifth by posting a 31:53. She showed signs of returning to her freshman form.