GREENSBORO — Saturday marked a special, bittersweet day not only for the four seniors that ended their high school careers, but also for Southside track coach Andrea Quinerly.

Joe Myers, Zikajah Crawford, Andrea Waters and Kinyara Daniels represented the Seahawks for the last time when they traveled to compete in the 1-A state championships at North Carolina A&T. Quinerly came to Southside four years ago, so this was the first senior class he coached since they were freshman.

Myers and Crawford excelled right out of the gate. Both made it to the state championship as freshman, and they only got better from there. The same can be said of Daniels, who made it to the final weekend thrice in her career. Waters didn’t participate all four years, but she ended her Southside tenure as a two-time state-championship qualifier.

“It’s special when you come right in and build a relationship when you’re new at the school. They were new at the school, too,” Quinerly said. “You develop a relationship with them and you get a natural bond. It was a special group for me.”

Even four years ago, Quinerly had an idea that this group would be something different. He knew what Myers and Crawford were capable of before their freshman track season even rolled around. Quinerly also works as the football team’s defensive coordinator. He wanted Myers and Crawford working with his defense during all three of their first years at Southside.

“I think they’re naturally gifted. They’re fast,” he said. “They’re two athletes. It’s a matter of coaching them up. They play a lot of sports. Getting them in shape, running, weight room — all that good stuff. It’s a matter of toning up what they’re already been given.”

So, of course they’ve become better athletes as they’ve grown up. Crawford and Myers have done some plain old growing up under Quinerly’s tutelage, too.

“I’ve seen them mature a little bit. A little bit,” Quinerly chuckled. “Each year, you see them get a little more focused. They become better leaders each year. They’ve grown as people. Mostly their focus level has gotten better each year.”

Leadership is the greatest common factor between these four standout seniors, and all four of them lead in different ways. Crawford and Waters are quieter by nature, but their actions speak for them.

“Andrea, sometimes, lacks some confidence. Sometimes you have to build her up,” Quinerly said of his all-star shot-put competitor. “… Andrea, I would say, leads by example. She’s quiet like a gentle giant. She gets the job done.”

Myers and Daniels tend to be more vocal. Quinerly said that Myers can be much more of a jokester than Daniels, who he says has also matured plenty over her time in Southside’s teal and navy.

“She does volleyball and she’s done track all four years. She loves track,” Quinerly said. “The biggest growth I’ve seen in Kin’yara has been her dedication to it. She gets on me a lot about the other girls and how I do things. If she doesn’t think it’s right, she’ll let me know. She’s very outspoken.”

As the high school years tend to be, these four seniors have grown a lot as Southside student-athletes. Quinerly, too, has learned plenty about himself as a coach during his first four years with the Seahawks.

“I think I’ve grown, I would say, as far as patience goes,” Quinerly said. “My patience sometimes gets thin, and it still does sometimes, but patience would be the biggest growth since I’ve been at Southside.”