CHOCOWINITY — Southside’s depth was on display as the Seahawk and Lady Seahawk track teams claimed the 1-A Coastal Plains Conference championships this past Wednesday. Both squads topped the standings, despite having only a handful of first-place finishes between the two.

For the boys, Southside’s most dominant event was the triple jump. Ronald Dennis earned the league crown in the event while Luke Matthews and Taiwon Ebron finished second and third, respectively.

Jonquil Haywood finished first in the 800-meter run. Southside also got a pair of top relay finishes in the 4-by-200 and 4-by-800.

That was it for the gold medals for the Seahawks, but they had plenty of others finish in the top three in various events. Zikijah Crawford and Joe Myers got silver and bronze, respectively, in the 100-meter dash. Dennis and Kyle Hill both placed in the top three 110-meter hurdles. Noah Trogdon and Aiden Kelly picked up valuable points in a discuss throw that Northside’s Patrick Pepple ran away with. The same goes for Teddy Minor, Brandon Sullivan and Kelly in the shot put, which Pepple also dominated.

“It was truly a team win,” coach Andrea Quinerly said. “It was our depth more than anything. We were able to field every event with consistency.”

It wasn’t just a team win for the boys. Their female counterparts won their title in a similar fashion. Eminey Redmond topped the long jump, Nytazia Wishop won the 300-meter hurdles and the 4-by-400 relay team finished first. Those marked the only Lady Seahawk top finishes.

The girls, a younger group than the boys, also got numerous top-three finishes. Jacquline Wood and Na’keya Johnson placed second and third, respectively, in the 200-meter dash. Redmond and Johnson earned hardware in the 400-meter dash. Sindy Chavez finished third in the 800-meter run. Andrea Waters got a silver in shot put, and Redmond got one in the triple jump.

“It was a good, even effort. A lot of girls ran all the way through, threw all the way through,” Quinerly said. “They filled in second through sixth. We were able to overcome teams that got a lot of first places.”

With two titles under their belts, Southside now sets its sights on the 1-A eastern regional. Winning the conference was a goal outlined months ago, but there’s still a lot left to accomplish.

The boys were well represented at last year’s state championship. They have plenty of postseason experience. The Lady Seahawks, on the other hand, are younger and don’t have that same experience. Even so, both groups have been operating as one team.

“This year, I’m coaching the guys and the girls pretty much,” Quinerly said, noting that this success wouldn’t be possible without his assistants. “We’re one team. They have a lot of communication between them. If one team finished bad, we felt like both of us did.”