Finding success: Northside’s boys win first CPC track title in 13 seasons

Published 10:18 am Saturday, May 3, 2025

By Jason O. Boyd

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YEATESVILLE, N.C. — There was a lot to be proud of for the Northside boys and girls track teams on Tuesday. The same could also be said for Southside’s teams, too.

CLICK HERE to see results from the CPC meet

Northside’s boys won the Coastal Plains Conference title for the first time in 13 seasons at Tuesday’s meet, which was hosted by the Panthers. The girls’ team also found success with participants qualifying for the regionals, which will be held at Northside on May 10. Southside’s boys and girls also qualified athletes for next weekend’s event.

PHOTOS: CPC track meet at Northside

It’s hard to say who was more impressed with the performances … the athletes or their coaches.

“I am so proud of our kids, both men and women,” Northside coach Casey Schulte said. “Really showed up and worked really hard today. Oh, my gosh, I can’t pick just one kiddo. I’m just so proud of them all.

“Everybody stepped up where I asked them to today. It was a hot day. And I’m just so proud.”

Northside’s boys took first in the 400-meter dash (Colten Smith, 50.20 seconds), 1,600-meter run (Andrew Harding, 4:28.58), 3,200-meter run (Harding, 9:45.63), 4×200-meter relay (1:32.77) and shot put (Z’imier Alexander, 45-feet-1 inches). For the girls, OJ Cahoon won the hign jump (5-feet-0 inches) and Chloe Black won the discus (98-9) and shot put (29-0).

“I’m just happy to be a part of the team, honestly,” said Black, who earned Female Field Athlete of the Year in the CPC. “Go Panthers. The biggest thing to me is just getting to improve and be happy and hang out with the team and stuff.

“And honestly, that’s all it’s really been. I tried it out this year, and everything’s been going great. And it’s been a blessing just to have my family there supporting me and my coaches.”

Southside’s boys and girls placed second or third in 13 events to qualify for regionals. On the girls’ side,Sonia Moore won the 400-meter dash (1:04.82), Tamia Mcneal took first in the 100-meter hurdles (17.85) and I’Kiriyah Minor (33-9) and Michelle Brown (33-5) took first and second in the triple jump.

“Having a small team and coming in knowing that we would struggle trying to compete as a team, when you come in with 12 girls and those 12 girls have got three or four events, you’re very pleased,” Southside girls coach Andrea Quinerly said. “With the number that I feel that we will take to regionals, I’m very happy, very happy with them.”

For Harding, it was another step toward winning a state title in the 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter runs. Last weekend, Harding participated in the Carolina Distance Carnival at Weddington High School in Matthews. He finished fourth with a time of 8:59.31 in the 3200-meter run, according to information from NC.Milesplit.com.

He won the Class 1A cross country title last fall, so pulling a double before he heads off to college to run for UNC Charlotte would be a thrilling way to end his high school career

“Yeah, I’m hoping at regionals I can just make it through the states,” said Harding, who captured the CPC Male Track Athlete of the Year award. “Obviously, I want to win my events, but just try to get through with the least effort possible, save for states, because I want to try to win the mile and two-mile in states. So I’m going to see if I can save as much energy as possible and go into states and try to win it.”

You can see full results from Tuesday’s meet by going to NC.milesplit.com.

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