This August, athletes and parents attended North’s first ever Meet the Team Night. The event had games, food trucks and the long-awaited reveal of the school’s new victory bell.

   The athletic director, Wes Elefritz, came up with the idea after a similar gathering was held last year. 

   Since the fall season has nearly 400 athletes, Elifritz wanted a way to give them a chance to announce their upcoming games and celebrate their teams. 

    “We have Football Friday Night as our center focus a lot of times in the fall, but we also have so many great things going on in the fall, like with the growth of girls tennis at North, boys and girls golf and all the great things happening in our soccer programs. Our numbers continue to grow every year in cross country. 

   “Just being able to celebrate the fact that great things are happening, allow every student a chance to run on that field with their teammates and celebrate being together,” Elefritz said. 

   At the event, the new victory bell was unveiled in the stadium, which teams can ring when they win a game. It was constructed with the help of North parents Barry Woods and Tim Hoover, along with former principal Jim McCann, who was the first to ring it. 

   Elifritz came up with the idea after seeing victory bells at other high schools.

   “[It’s] been a goal of mine since I got here in 2016, and it was just a matter of finding the right time and situation to be able to do it. I was blessed to have [them] go out and donate their time. It took them about three weeks to be able to complete that… It’s something that our student athletes should be able to enjoy for years,” Elifritz said. 

   Sophomore Emily Widman was one of the event’s attendees for the girls cross country team. She said she enjoyed the new event. 

   “I think it had a positive impact on North’s athletic culture. I think it shows we have school spirit, and we care about all our fall athletes,” Widman said.