Historic day: Northside boys, girls qualify for states, Harding cruises to boys’ win

Published 11:17 pm Saturday, October 26, 2024

By Jason O. Boyd

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YEATESVILLE, N.C. — It was a near-perfect day for the Northside cross country program … definitely record-breaking.

Not only did senior Andrew Harding cruise to another victory, Northside captured second place in the boys and girls meet at the Class 1-A East Regional on Saturday at Northside. That means the entire team will not only be cheering each other on but will also be competing at the state championships on Nov. 2 at the Ivey M. Redmon Sports Complex in Kernersville.

It was quite the performance for a program that had not had that kind of success over the past few years. With talent and a young boys and girls team, it likely will start a trend that will continue into next season.

“They give, and they give, and they give, and they give, and they push through pain, and they work hard, and they are respectful in the classroom, out of the classroom,” Northside coach Casey Schulte said. “I am so proud of them.

“I know I say that a lot, but I really am proud of our team as a whole, of the parents getting behind and supporting us as a team, and I told you my goal was to bring running back at Northside, and I think we’re starting to move in that direction.”

Lejeune easily won both meets, placing most of its runners in the top 10. Northside, in the Coastal Plains Conference with the Devil Pups, made its mark with Harding’s winning time, solid runs by Northside’s boys, and consistency by Northside’s girls.

In addition to Harding’s 16:11 time — nearly a full minute ahead of Lejeune’s Jude Keller (17:01) — Northside had finishes by Avery Roberson (10th, 18:56), Luke Mirabella (11th, 19:07), William Arce (13th, 19:29) and Blake Wainwright (20th, 20:06). Other runners for Northside who did not factor in the team score were Colten Smith (21st, 20:25) and Benjamin Hux (24th, 20:47).

After Lejeune (20) and Northside (55), the other two teams to qualify for states were Pamlico County (76) — another CPC team — and Northeast Carolina Preparatory (93).

Harding, a master of the Northside course, didn’t need to run his fastest race and, instead, picked the right time to pull away. He was in close pursuit with Lejeune’s Keller and Matthew Barbabella, who placed third, after the first turn. He led by eight seconds over Keller after the second turn then turned on the jets to win the meet by 50 seconds.

“Yeah, that was definitely the plan,” Harding said. “Just staying with the other guys for most of the race and then just to push the pace at the end. Stay a little conservative leading in the states.”

For the Northside girls, Trinity Modlin led the way with an 11th-place finish in 25:38). She was quickly followed by teammates Emrie Scott (12th, 25:57), Ava Hedgepeth (13th, 26:07) and Bailey Singleton (15th, 26:59). Just outside of the team score were Emma Boyd (16th, 27:25), Kinsey White (18th, 29:18) and Cora Beth Asby (23rd, 30:52).

Lejeune (17) and Northside (67) will be joined at states by Northeast Carolina Preparatory (77) and Pamlico County (82).

“I was a little shocked, to be honest,” Hedgepeth said. “I didn’t expect us to get second, but yeah, I’m proud of us. And I didn’t know how many people we had in front of us, but it ended up working out for us. And we did the best we could, and it’s all that mattered.”

One of Schulte’s goals early in the season was to have Northside’s girls pass Pamlico County at the regionals.

“It’s amazing. I don’t really think we were expecting to get second today,” Boyd said. “We kind of weren’t … we were thinking about placing third, but second is amazing.

“But I’m just, again, I’m so thankful for the team. I’m thankful for Mrs. Schulte, she’s worked so hard for us. And I’m most thankful for the Lord, who’s got us through it all.”

It’ll be a fun week of preparation for the states with Harding aiming for a state title and the rest of the team looking to perform well.

“We worked so hard this whole season to get there,” Schulte said. “And I’m just so thankful that the whole team worked together. I’m really proud of us, girls and boys.”

Click here to see full results from Saturday’s race.

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