NILES, Illinois — The Northridge varsity cross country team captured the program's 10th IHSA regional championship Saturday morning, running away from the pack in a competitive meet in Elgin.

The Knights were yet again impressive in the win, finishing with a low score of 32. Northridge finished above several respected Chicagoland area competitors such as Montini, Johnsburg, Timothy Christian, Westmont and ISL foe North Shore Country Day.

The Knights individual performances were outstanding. The maroon and gold saw an incredible six runners finish in the top-10. John Masaka continued his stellar season with a 3rd place finish overall (16:31.09). In 5th place was Peter Kipp, who bested his 2023 regional time by 9 seconds (16:32.03). Following Kipp was a flurry of Knights, who each finished in consecutive spots, places 7th-10th. James Barder, Joshua Allen, Blake Quinley and Ryan Holler all finished off the effort for Northridge, easily capturing the title.

"This course was one of the tougher ones in all the regionals," head coach Julian Murphy said following the win. "It is a very hilly course that changes terrain often. You'll run on a grass surface for just over half the time, and then wood chipped trail with a splash of asphalt running mixed in. The last two weeks we did a couple of hilly workouts on some south suburban trails in preparation for this race. The boys ran well in executing a couple group running strategies. We're looking forward to an even more competitive sectional meet next week."

Northridge athletic director Will Rey had this to say on the win:

"Another impressively strong performance by our runners. It's inspiring to see our guys competing so hard. On to Sectionals - Go Knights!" 

With the regional title win, the Knights advance to compete in the IHSA sectional meet in Lisle on Saturday, Nov. 2 — with a potential second-straight trip to State on the line.