Sports
Vikings Sports Roundup: Spring Sports Prepare for Postseason
Softball and baseball among teams heading into extra innings in state playoff competitions.
Boys Track and Field: . The Vikings qualified five individuals for this week’s state championships in Charleston and won the overall team championship.
The all-around effort was led by Devonier Casey, who qualified for the state meet in three individual events. The senior won the 400-meter (48.67 seconds), triple jump (45 feet) and took third in the 200-meter with a qualifying time of 22.24.
Zheng Fang took second in the 110-meter hurdles (14.56) and later won the 300-meter hurdles (39.21). Kosta Papazoglou, 3,200-meter;, Montreal Sykes, triple jump; and Ethan Velasquez, pole vault, also extended their season by taking second place in their respective events.
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Girls Track and Field: Neither of Niles North’s two state qualifiers made it past the preliminaries at last weekend’s state championships. With a starting height of 9 feet, junior Annemarie Reid recorded no height in the pole vault. Her sectional mark was 8 feet, 9 inches. Junior Kiana Foreman ran 59.93 in 400-meter, half a second faster than the time she posted at the sectional meet.
Baseball: The Vikings struggled in the Central Suburban League (CSL) last week, losing all three of its conference games. Niles North lost a pair of games to Deerfield, including a 10-0 defeat in five innings on May 16. The Vikings also fell to Niles West 7-3 on May 19.
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Fortunately, the Vikings played a couple of nonconference opponents to help boost their confidence heading into the playoffs. Adam Warda was 2-for-2 with a home run and four RBIs in the Vikings’ 14-0 win against Sullivan in five innings. Joe Markus pitched a complete-game five-hitter with nine strikeouts to help Niles North beat Gordon Tech, 5-3.
Niles North faces Von Steuben at home on Thursday afternoon in the regional semifinal to start the playoffs.
Soccer: Niles North’s season ended in the regional finals with a 3-1 loss to Maine South on Friday. The Vikings are still looking for the school’s first-ever regional championship in girls soccer.
Before the loss to Maine South, Niles North defeated Northside 2-0 in the regional semifinals. Caitlin Nikitow and Camila Marquez both scored in the second half for the Vikings’ two goals.
Boys Tennis: Sophomore Dave Bacalla qualified for the state tournament in singles for the second year in a row last weekend. Bacalla took third in the singles division, defeating Loyola Academy’s Anthony Arocho 6-4, 6-2, to advance into the semifinals and guarantee his spot in the state championship.
Bacalla fell to New Trier's defending state singles champion Robert Stineman 6-0, 6-3 in the semifinals before defeating Loyola’s Lawson Barter 6-1, 6-3 in the third-place game.
Softball: Niles North won two of its last three regular season games heading into the postseason. Brittany Sanchez went 3-for-3 and pitcher Keiko Sugihara allowed only four hits in the Vikings’ 3-2 win against Hersey.
Niles North beat Evanston 12-5 before it lost to Montini 11-0 in five innings. The Vikings start postseason play against host Evanston in the regional semifinals on Wednesday.