By Bobby Narang
For most of last week, Nicolas Dovalovsky thought he might miss one of the biggest cross country runs of the season.
The Neuqua Valley High School senior struggled with his sleep due to chest pains, putting in doubt his ability to compete at a high level for Friday’s Naperville Twilight Invitational at Naperville North.
“I had a really crappy week, in terms of sleep,” he said. “I couldn’t sleep…I didn’t know what to expect in the race.”
But Dovalovsky managed to overcome a tough week, plus a slow start to capture the boys varsity championship in a time of 14 minutes, 44 seconds to barely beat out St. Charles East’s Micah Wilson, 14:46.
With three runners finishing in the top five, the Saints rode an impressive team performance to win the team championship with 60 points. Neuqua Valley, 73; Wheaton North, 118; Naperville North, 118; Naperville Central, 137; and Waubonsie Valley, 145, were in the top six in the 13-team race.
Dovalovsky said he was excited to finish a tough week with a memorable ending. The annual event had a different feel without spectators in the crowd or lined up on the track due to the restrictions stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.
But Dovalovsky was happy to be simply running in a competitive race.
“Micah took charge of the race at the start, which was awesome,” Dovalovsky said. “My big challenge was stick around him and be able to finish it. This was my first real race of the year…At one point, I wasn’t thinking, I was focused and just wanted to finish the race, but I closed it out, so it doesn’t matter how I started.”
Meanwhile, Wilson said he plans on using his strong showing to push him in the postseason.
“It was fun to run this course, just under the lights and compete with Dovalovsky,” Wilson said. “That was my best competition of the year. It was an amazing race. He’s an amazing runner. It was really cool with the lights and music. The course was flat, which was awesome. I felt fantastic the first two miles, but I fell off the last mile.”
• In the girls run, Batavia junior Katrina Schlenker used a winning time of 17:09 to defeat Naperville North’s Maggie Gamboa, 17:13, and Wheaton Warrenville South’s Samantha Poglitsch, 17:23.
Schlenker gave credit to Poglitsch, a University of Illinois recruit, for playing a minor role in her successful career.
Schlenker said she met Poglitsch after the completion of her preliminary heat at the 1600-meter run at the Class 3A State track meet in her freshman year. She finished fifth in her preliminary heat to miss the cut to the finals the next day.
“I was a little freshman, and was so frustrated because I thought I would be up there with Katelynne Hart (of Glenbard West) and I didn’t even make it to the finals,” Schlenker said. “I was so upset and was crying. Sam saw it and came up to me right after the race. She was so encouraging. She’s like a big sister to me. She’s so kind and supportive. She told me not to worry, to keep working hard. It made me feel so much better. She was there, even though she was not on my team.
“This (first place) means a lot to win this race. My sophomore year was a struggle. I feel like I’m coming back. I’ve had a lot of hard times over the years, so this was an awesome experience.”
Naperville North finished with 19 points to claim the team championship, to beat out St. Charles East, 66; Benet Academy, 70; Wheaton Warrenville South, 105; and Neuqua Valley, 111.