Boys NNXC made North proud Saturday, Nov.2nd, at the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Sectional Championships, considered the strongest sectional in the state. The team finished in tenth place overall exceeding all expected rankings with six out of seven runners earning a new personal best.
Out of a total of 126 runners from 18 schools, senior Benjamin Popernik finished 61st with a time of 16:02. Juniors Nebil Mohamad and Dhruvil Patel were even earlier to cross the finish line. Mohamad earned 45th place with a time of 15:50, and Patel earned 22nd place with a time of 15:30, just four seconds away from qualifying for State.
“It’s all the reason more to train harder so I can take another shot at qualifying,” Patel said. “Next year is going to be exciting. As of right now, we are looking really strong for next year hoping to win conference and get some guys downstate.”
Finishing top ten at sectionals was the perfect ending to the certainly difficult path this season brought the boys. “It’s sad to know I won’t be running another cross country meet in high school,” senior Benjamin Popernik said. “It was bittersweet last meet.”
Boys NNXC proved yet again to be a powerful pack of runners this season, going the extra mile in order to sprint past the hardships and come out on top. “I’m a proud coach today. Dan Horyn would have been thrilled to see how these guys came together and ran at their best at the right time. Today was tough not being able to share this with him,” Coach Dave Shafron said.
Congratulations on a wonderful season “bois.” We can’t wait to see what next year will bring you.
P.S. The team will be selling NNXC hats just in time for the upcoming winter months! Purchases can be made using the link below.
https://docs.google.com/a/siu.edu/forms/d/1Hn_JYPvmlbeRkVgAYAWncXYWA0IA0th0HdvrQ3esfTc/view form
Go Vikings!
