John Lovik felt nervous last Sunday as he lined up for the Borderclash, a cross country race between the top high school runners in Oregon and Washington.
“It’s the most nervous I’ve ever been in a race before,” said Lovik, who was selected to run based on his performance at the state meet. “I had a tough time going up against the best guys in Oregon and Washington.”
The athletes had gathered at the Nike World Campus in Beaverton a day earlier for a tour of the facilities and the course. After an analysis of their running style and a viewing of a Steve Prefontaine video, Lovik spent most of the day watching the Oregon/Oregon State football game.
Then it was time for his participation in his own Civil War. After a cannon shot starts the race, the two teams run toward each other and meet in the middle as they head out on the remainder of the course that surrounds the Nike campus. Lovik tried to reach the middle area before too many runners converged.
“The trails were really narrow,” said Lovik. “If you didn’t move at the right time, you were stuck.”
For the race his strategy was to try to hang on and pick runners off as he got to them. That turned out to be difficult, considering the high level of competition. Out of 79 runners, Lovik finished 62nd in a time of 15:12.98. He was ninth out of the 12 other 3A Oregon competitors.
The Clash, which scores the top ten placers from each state, was won by both Washington’s boys and girls.
Overall Lovik was satisfied with his performance and just the opportunity to get to run.
“I had nothing to compare it too,” said Lovik. “I beat guys that had beaten me at state. I came out as happy as I could.”
Now Lovik will begin to prepare for his final track season in the spring. In the past, he has done a lot of swimming. But this year, based on his success in cross country, he plans on sticking with the program set up by his coach, Billy Snow.