Wisdom, courage, fortitude, and humility—these are the four virtues of Native American Billy Mills, a U.S. track and field champion in the 10,000 meters. They are also the foundational values upon which Coach David Marrington builds his team, and it has shown in competition.

The virtues of fortitude and courage really came through this season as CR track had to fight through tough meets against reformed Bensalem and Pennsbury teams, beating them by 2 and 20 points, respectively. Despite numerous injuries, the team went undefeated for a third consecutive year. However, at the Suburban One Leagues, the team had to embrace a virtue they hadn’t encountered often: humility.

Bensalem won the SOL championship by 7 points over Council Rock North for the first time since 1987. "[It was] heartbreaking, especially since we beat them during the regular season," said co-captain Forrest Kentwell. However, most of the journey was still fair weather.

CR North went on to Districts and placed 10^th out of 45 teams, sending runners Mac Emery, James Zingarini and Paul Wahlman to states. While there, Paul placed 3^rd in the 300m hurdles by running a time of 37.8 seconds and finished 7^th in the 110 high hurdles with a time of 14.9 seconds.

When asked how he felt about his final performance as a North student, he replied, "Delicious! I was really excited to have done so well this season."

James Zingarini placed 6^th in the state with a 4:19 mile and Mac was 12^th in the 3200m with a time of 9:31. Luckily, both of them will be back next year.

Coach Marrington was extremely proud of his team’s effort and dedication. "They all had a great year," he said. "We came close to breaking several school records."

Although the team suffered a tough defeat initially, our athletes pushed through the pain for an excellent finish. Billy Mills would be smiling.