Contributed report
YEATESVILLE  — The Lady Panthers competed against nineteen schools in the Eastern Regional 1-A meet last Saturday at Manteo High School and placed second. Emerging from the Coastal Plains Conference as the third-place finishers (Pamlico 1st and Lejeune 2nd) the meet before, the Panthers were able to continue their strong season.
The top 10 finishers at the meet were”: 1st Ocracoke, 2nd Northside, 3rd Pamlico, 4th Cape Hatteras, 5th Lejeune, 6th Kipp Pride, 7th Granville Central, 8th Riverside, 9th South Creek, 10th Louisburg.
The Northside Lady Panthers approached this race like every race they had ran all season, with determination and no regrets. NHS senior Hope Robinson gave to the team nothing
short of 100 percent perfection. Finishing as the lead runner for the Panthers, Robinson’s goal was to establish a new personal best time (24:00). This goal was accomplished as she crossed the finish line at 23:25.
Savannah Bunn, coming on the team mid-season, brought a boost of energy, which would
assist in sealing the deal at regionals. Bunn had been able to achieve a personal best
time of 25:22 during the season, but was determined to improve upon this record. Leaving nothing to regret, Bunn gave an outstanding performance and achieved new personal best time of 23:48.
The Lady Panthers gave a sense of teamwork as they pulled together towards one common goal to win. Shana Taylor (9th Grade) was able to remove 35 seconds off her time finishing at (24:38). Brandi Jordan (12 Grade) took 29 seconds off the clock (25:42).  Allison Waters (10th Grade) took a big leap in time shaving off 1:55 her time of 25:41.  Eliza Bowen (12 Grade) had the greatest improvement by removing 2:18 (27:17). Aleah Brinn (9th Grade), returning back to action due to a personal injury, managed to finish within seven seconds off her PR (27:53).
Holden Newman (9th Grade) came home to Northside as the fourth-place finisher out of 84 male runners. Newman had previously received the Coastal Plains Runner of the Year award and all conference winner for the season. Holden will advance to the state championship this weekend at Beeson’s Park in Kernersville. The 1A men’s race begins at 10:30 a.m. followed by the Women’s race at 11:30 a.m.