By Bobby Narang
Neuqua Valley High School senior Nicolas Dovalovsky had some unfinished business Saturday.
The University of Illinois recruit is a decorated high school athletes with numerous awards and achievements, from personal to the team variety. But Dovalovsky wanted to lead Neuqua Valley to a top-three place in the Class 3A boys State track and field championships Saturday.
Two years ago, the Wildcats finished in sixth place in the State meet, but finished well behind State champion Crete-Monee. In 2018, Neuqua Valley edged Homewood-Flossmoor for the 3A State team championship with 52 points.
After missing a chance for a state championship last year because of the coronavirus pandemic, Dovalovsky and the rest of the Wildcats were motivated to capture the State championship.
“We all wanted to win State, so we knew the first race was very important to set the tone,” Dovalovsky said. “We wanted to win the 3,200 relay to get off to a good start and build momentum to win the team title. We needed those points.”
Led by a late charge from Dovalovsky on the anchor leg, the Wildcats’ team of Austin Burke, Leif Anderson, Nick Rohlwing and Dovalovsky clocked a winning time of seven minutes, 49.00 at O’Brien Stadium on the campus of Eastern Illinois University. The Wildcats relied on a collective effort to score 36 points to beat Minooka (34), Normal (33) and Edwardsville (30) for their second State team championship in the last four years. Batavia took seventh place with 24 points.
Dovalovsky’s strong final lap powered the Wildcats to 10 early points.
“Going into this race, I knew there was no other option but to win it because I really wanted it,” Dovalovsky said. “I’m super excited that I was to execute, especially since Minooka is a really good (relay). I just unleashed on that second lap. That was the most excited I’ve felt after a race, for it was such a nice way to perform because our goal was to go for the team title.”
Anderson said he overcame a bout of nerves to steady himself to run a strong second leg.
“I was so nervous before the race,” Anderson said. “This is my last race, so it’s kind of nice to end on a good note.”
Rohlwing said he knew the importance of setting up Dovalovsky in a good position, especially with Minooka (7:49.43), Sandburg (7:50.29) and York (7:52.65) all jostling for position throughout the grueling race.
“I knew I had to stay relaxed because I had been too aggressive early on in the season and had a little extra in the last 200 and Nickolas took care of the rest,” Rohlwing said. “Winning the 3,200 was huge because we wanted to set the tone for rest of the day.”
Metea Valley junior Jalen Johnson showed he’s all-State in two sports. The Northern Illinois University recruit finished third in the 110 (14.5 seconds) high hurdles and the 300 hurdles (38.57) to notch the highest placement in program history.
Still, Johnson, a wide receiver in football, expressed a tinge of disappointment on his two State races.
“I felt I couldn’t done better, but I always feel I can do better,” Johnson said. “I can do better next year. I wanted that gold in the 300, but it was great competition and can’t wait to be here again. Hopefully, next year I can win here. I came back from a bad race in the 110s, so I know I’m a resilient hurdler.”
• Hinsdale Central sophomore Daniel Watcke was one of the emerging stars from the 3A tournament. He won the 800 meters in a time of 1:54.24 and guided the Red Devils’ 1,600 relay to a State championship with a strong anchor leg (3:19.48).
“I just going to go for a ride, to be honest,” Watcke said. “That’s championship racing. I learned it from watching my sister, Emma. You just have to watch Emma run a couple of races and you know how to race.
“Just watching her race, from her freshman and sophomore year in Ohio. She was a big name, but nobody was expecting her to win the mile as a freshman. That was special watching her do that.”
• Mascoutah won the 2A State championship with 51 points. Burlington Central was fifth with 39 points and Sandwich sixth with 34.5 points.
• Harvest Christian in Elgin, captured the Class 1A State championship with 51 points.