This fall has been extremely exciting for Niles North sports. The football team is quickly advancing through the playoffs, the boys soccer team made school history, and the girls tennis team had an outstanding season. To add onto all of the buzz, the cross country team is sending two athletes, Martin Barr and Conor Perrault, to the state meet in Peoria, Illinois on Saturday, Nov. 7.

It has been an exciting year for the entire team. They placed second at conference, allowing them to advance to the regional meet, where they came in fourth. Next came sectionals, where Barr and Perrault qualified for the state meet. The team came in tenth overall at the sectional finals. The coach, Dave Shafron, is very pleased with the season and is eager to see how Barr and Perrault fare at the state level.

“I’m happy for Conor and Martin who are not only running for themselves, but running for our whole team,” Shafron said.

Neither Barr or Perrault have competed at the state level for cross country, but they are both are thrilled. Barr is a senior, and has been running on the team for four years. He made it to state during the track season last year. Perrault is only a sophomore, and he has been on the team for two years. This will be his first time at a state meet.

“Going into the state meet I’m really excited and know that I’m ready to run very well. I qualified in Track last year and I was just happy to be there, but now I know what the environment is like and I’m ready to go. Having Conor with me is also great, he’s only a Sophomore and he’s going to do big things in the next couple of years,” Barr said.

Hopefully these two vikings dominate this Saturday to close out the fall season.

Top Image by Jim Teague