Cross country: Gamboa, Mendrys lead Naperville North girls at regional

Maggie Gamboa and Audrey Mendrys did not have the advantage Saturday that a solid pack of runners would provide.

But they did have each other.

The two Naperville North teammates set the pace in the first of six races at the Class 3A Oswego East Regional, and the rest of the Huskies followed suit.

Gamboa and Mendrys were the first two finishers in the flight of teams' two fastest runners, and Naperville North went on to win its 10th straight regional championship.

"I think it went pretty well," said Gamboa, who pulled away from Mendrys in the last mile to take first place overall in 17 minutes, 50.9 seconds. "It was windy and it was just Audrey and I out there so we had no one really to block the wind, so that took a little bit of a toll on us. But other than that I thought it was really a good race."

The regional divided both the girls and boys fields into three separate flights to meet COVID-19 restrictions on participant levels, with two runners from each school in each race. The individual finishes, though, were combined together from the three flights.

Naperville North had the five fastest times at the meet, with Gamboa followed by Campbell Petersen (17:56.0), Mendrys (18:00.4), Sophie Golobitsh (18:10.2) and Lucy Westlake (18:14.1). The top five teams - Naperville North (15 points), Oswego East (75), Oswego (85), Neuqua Valley (105) and Naperville Central (116) all advanced their teams to sectionals.

Gamboa and Mendrys quickly separated themselves from their next closest pursuer, Audra Soderlind of Oswego.

"We were pushing each other," Gamboa said. "It was so much different without the rest of the team. We rely on each other to keep focused and keep each other in check."

Mendrys said they didn't necessarily intend to go out together, but it worked out well for both of them.

"We worked really well together and I know Maggie really pushed me throughout the whole race," Mendrys said. "It was a pretty successful race overall. We never go in with a hard plan but at the same time we use each other throughout the race to get better."

Naperville North, four-time defending Class 3A state champion, won't get the opportunity to defend its state title this year. But the Huskies will get the chance to compete in a unique venue next Saturday, as they are headed to the Whitney Young Sectional.

"We've been kind of rotating on a lot of the same courses this year, so it will be fun to experience something a little bit different," Mendrys said.

Naperville North swept regional titles, with its boys team just edging Neuqua Valley 63-64, with Waubonsie Valley (94), Naperville Central (95) and Oswego (101) also advancing to sectionals.

In the boys race of teams' top runners, Neuqua Valley senior Nicolas Dovalovsky won going away in 15:02.0, with Naperville Central's Arthur Graham a distant second (15:09.8). Julian Head of Naperville North was third (15:22.1), Aidan Stone of Neuqua Valley fourth (15:27.3) and Brandon Kamp of Naperville Central fifth (15:31.6).

Dovalovsky, sporting sunglasses on a crisp sunny day, was cool and in control.

"I knew I had a good shot at winning this," Dovalovsky said. "I was just staying in control the whole time and cruising to a win."

He didn't care much for the cold, not that it was noticeable.

"I don't really do well in the cold, I'm just getting used to that right now," Dovalovsky said. "Once you get running you feel the wind more. It was nothing that was too awful, just going out and enjoying the race."

Dovalovsky would have preferred to be pushed a little harder, though.

"It's always easier to run in a pack but this year I've been trying to work on running solo," he said. "I've never been known as someone good at time trials or running by myself. I'm a competitor. If there's people up with me I'll compete with them."