Xavier Chlebowski had a very successful running career in high school, running the 800 meter dash with a time of 2:01.5, a mile time of 4:46.8 and a 400 meter dash time of 53.7 seconds. Xavier took his talents to Roanoke, receiving a scholarship from the Maroons. Xavier is majoring in Business and Marketing in the sales department. The move from North Hunterdon, New Jersey to Salem, Virginia is a huge jump, and Xavier didn’t hold back discussing any of it.
How has the transition from High School to College sports been for you?
“Going from North (Hunterdon) to Roanoke for running has been amazing, definitely the easiest thing about college so far. The team is great and do a lot of team bonding.”
What is the hardest part about being a student-athlete?
“I’d say the hardest part about being a student athlete is sleep. You have classes that take most of the day depending on your schedule. The practice and homework. Then you go to bed pretty late after all that, and of course you want to have fun also, so that takes time. So sleep isn’t really there for you but you make time.”
What runs through your mind while running?
“I usually think of how my day went so far or what’s going to happen later in the day. After a couple of miles, it’s just no thought process, it’s just running with wind going against your face.”
While jogging on your own time, what’s your favorite genre of music to listen to?
“I usually don’t listen to music while running, I feel like it puts me off my game. But when I do I listen to 80’s rock and sometimes early 2000’s pop.”
Do you think listening to music at meets is a competitive advantage?
“I do actually, I believe that if you have music playing it takes ur mind off the race so you don’t think of the pain as much and everything going on around you. So I think it is a disadvantage, but nothing too seriously that should change the results drastically”
When was the first time you were referred to as “X”?
“First time someone called me X was when we had a little meeting for North Hunterdon Cross Country and Coach Higgings does a little arm motion making an X sign and going “Swoooshhhh X!” Then there on out it became my thing.”
What are your goals for your college athletic career as well as your career after college?
“My goals after college are to obviously keep up the running and probably join a local club and still race. One day I do want to be able to run a marathon around two hours and thirty or so minutes. My goal for college is to finally reach my peak of running! I want to be able to run close to a 1:50 or under that for the 800 which shouldn’t be unrealistic with the way training has been. And to obviously be one of the top runners on the team with a school record under my belt. Now with all being said I still have to focus on my studies. Student comes before athlete. So I’m studying business so I have a decent amount of classes, one being economics, so I study between classes and sometimes on my way to practice. It’s been working out and it shows. I’d say if you make a schedule for yourself and stick with it, you’ll be set!”
Xavier Chlebowski looks to set a school record at Roanoke, not a small feat in the slightest. Chlebowksi also looks to be the X-factor on a stacked Roanoke team while also keeping up with his academics. Myself and The Dyspatch wish him luck on his career and thank him for a wonderful interview.
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