Nashua North's Nasir Perry is one of the state's top hurdlers.

NASHUA – His world spiralling all around him, grades tumbling, nobody at Nashua North High School gave up on Nasir Perry.

Not his track coaches. Or the folks at home. Most of all, Perry refused to surrender.

“I techinically (ran track) freshman year, but I failed off the team. I was fooling around in school. I have ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). I chose not to take my medicine. I didn’t like how I felt when I was on it,” said Perry. “Everybody, all of them (believed).”

Four years later, that rocky freshman road is simply a bad memory.

Perry has already been accepted at three colleges – Regis, Plymouth State and SNHU – and his eye-popping work on the track has him talking to coaches at UMass Amherst.

In a nutshell, he is one of those special success stories, the kind that has Titans boys track head coach Art Kobs beaming.

“He’s just a great kid who found some tough times in school,” said Kobs. “He had a mental growth spurt, better late than never. He’s really worked hard at it, both in school and in track.”

Competing is something Perry cherishes. When things went sour, he missed track and he missed it bad.

“I got my act together. I grew up,” Perry said. “I realized I was on the brink of failing. Track is very important to me. I love running track. I can’t not be on the team again because I wasn’t keeping up with my school work.”

Track forced him to address the issues. It also helped keep him structured. As much as the team needed Perry, he needed it. And, ultimately, with the ball in his court, Perry attacked the problem.

“I’ve gotten better. I know when the right time to focus is,” he said. “As time went on, I learned. I knew when it was time to settle down. When I have projects or a lot of homework, that’s when I’d sit down, take my medicine and crank out the work.”

Saturday afternoon, Perry ripped off a season-best 7.64-second clocking in the 55 hurdles in a meet at Phillips Exeter. He is clearly coming on strong, and Perry is setting the expectations pretty high.

“Division 1 state champ,” he said. “I love the competition, running against fast competitors who push me to go past the limit.”

Perry has track in his blood. His dad, Reginald, ran for Belmont (Mass.) High School. So when the opportunity arose to give it a try, Nasir, who has named for the rapper “Nas,” leaped – or in his case, hurdled.

“We all thought it would be fun to try track in middle school (Nashua Catholic). I developed an immediate liking to the sport,” Perry said.

And now Perry is looking to put an exclamation on this reclamation product of his high school career.

Last spring, Perry was third in the 110 hurdles and fourth in the 300 hurdles outdoors at the state meet. This time around, he isn’t about to settle.

Did You Know?

Along with being a devoted track athlete, North’s Nasir Perry is a black belt in the martial art of Tae Kwon Do.

“My dad was an instructor. He brought me to the studio when I was 4-years-old,” said Perry. “The flexibility I got from Tae Kwon Do helps a lot in track, especially for the hurdles.”

Perry notes that being a black belt has its advantages. He isn’t about to flaunt it, though.

“I mind my own business. People know I’m a black belt so that’s enough to get them to second-guess themselves,” he said. “It just comes up. I’m not much of a braggard. I don’t like to talk about my self, but the word just spread through other people. They know.”

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