PINETOWN — Northside will send two representatives to compete in three events in Saturday’s 1-A track and field state championships at North Carolina A&T in Greensboro.

The two Panthers — distance runner Holden Newman and discus thrower Patrick Pepple — go in with varying degrees of experience, but plenty of promise.

Mere weeks ahead of graduation, Newman looks to close out his Northside career on a high note.

Newman ran away — literally — with two 1-A eastern-regional championships last weekend. He edged Camden County’s Dominic Brooks by less than a second in the 1,600-meter run. He took first in the 3,200-meter run when he beat Brooks by over 20 seconds.

The Panther standout has experience in the state-championship setting. He finished 12th in the 3,200-meter run as a freshman and improved to 10th as a sophomore. He’s hoping to earn hardware on his last trip to Greensboro.

Pepple, on the other hand, is only a sophomore. The Panther thrower, albeit young, also has experience on the big stage. He placed seventh in last year’s championship. All of those that finished ahead of him were either juniors or seniors.

“Originally it was something to get out of class early,” Pepple joked as he explained how he got into track and field. “It ended up being something I’m pretty good at. I noticed improvement all the time. I’d start the year at 80 feet on a throw and ended with a best of 130.”

Pepple threw nearly 120 feet at last year’s state championship. He launched the discus over 130 feet last weekend to claim the 1-A eastern-regional discus championship. It’s been a work in progress for him to get to that mark.

“I keep practicing on the follow through. That’s the biggest thing,” he said. “A lot of times, I notice I don’t always have it there. You follow through and you can notice another 10 or 15 feet added.”

While Northside would have liked to send more — and multiple Panthers narrowly missed qualifying — both Pepple and Newman have significant chances to place come Saturday.

 

More reading: Plenty of Seahawks headed to Greensboro

BEAUFORT COUNTY REPRESENTATIVES

SCHOOL        NAME                      SEED    EVENT

Southside       Andrea Waters          14       Girls shot put

Northside       Patrick Pepple           4          Boys discus throw

Southside       Eminey Redmond     3          Girls long jump

Southside       Eminey Redmond     10       Girls triple jump

Southside       Ronald Dennis           7          Boys triple jump

Southside       Ronald Dennis           13       Boys 110-meter hurdles

Southside       Nytazia Wishop         16       Girls 300-meter hurdles

Southside       Kyle Hill                      6          Boys 300-meter hurdles

Southside       Jonquil Haywood       12       Boys 800-meter run

Northside       Holden Newman       9          Boys 1,600-meter run

Northside       Holden Newman       11       Boys 3,200-meter run

Southside                                           9          Boys 4-by-800 relay

Southside                                           12       Girls 4-by-200 relay

Southside                                           13       Boys 4-by-100 relay

Southside                                           8          Girls 4-by-400 relay

Southside                                           13       Boys 4-by-400 relay