MYRTLE BEACH – For Myrtle Beach High track coach Vince Peeples, the past month and a half has resembled a story created in Hollywood, but this time life imitated art.
Photo credit: Thomas McLeroy for scrunners.com
On April 9, the Seahawks’ E.J. Goings was admitted to the hospital with acute pancreatitis. Five weeks later, the senior track standout won the state championship in the boys’ 800-meter run, doing it in a personal best of 1:56.46.
Video: Goings after 800 win
Peeples said he watched the 800 alongside E.J.’s mother and father from the stands at Spring Valley High.
“When he got about to the 250 mark, he just made his move going into the turn and it was incredible,” said Peeples, who has coached E.J. since eighth grade. “It was like watching a movie. His mother had tears in her eyes and his dad was watching him with a lot of pride and they were just faithful that things turned out the way they did.”
E.J. spent five days of his Spring break at MU...