HIGHLAND | For Zack Miczalek, it was the "Nightmare before Christmas."

"At first it didn't seem real," he said. "It was like a bad dream, and I just wanted to wake up."

Last December, Miczalek was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma, a form of skin cancer that had spread from the right side of his face to his lymph nodes located near his mandible.

"I was scared," Zack said.

So was his family.

"It was discovered while he was down there (in DeKalb)," said Zack's father, Steve Miczalek, who lives in Highland, where Zack and older sister Jill spent much of their childhood before moving to DeKalb with their mother, Laura, when their parents divorced.

"It's unusual for someone being so young to get (squamous cell carcinoma)," Steve said of his 13-year-old son. "It didn't seem real for us, either."

Treatment included a 12-hour surgery at Loyola University Hospital to remove the lesion.

"They took a little muscle out of my leg to replace the part they removed from my face," Zack said. "I still have a little permanent smile on that side."

After the surgery, Zack had to endure radiation treatment that targeted the affected lymph nodes.

"It makes you tired and your mouth dry," Zack said of procedure that required him to wear a custom-made protective mask to shield other parts of his face and upper body.

"They let you keep the mask," he said.

During his recovery, Zack, who had never played school sports before, was influence by his best friend, Addison Millhorn, to go out for the Huntley Middle School track team.

"I didn't run that much before," Zack said. "Skateboarding was my favorite activity."

At the IESA State Track Meet held May 22-23 in East Peoria, Zack, Addison and Huntley teammates Justin Love and Mario Gardner took fourth in the 400-meter relay in the Class AA Seventh-Grade Boys division with a time of 54 seconds.

"Running track helped me deal with this," said Zack, who also ran the 800 for Huntley. "Most of my teammates and my coach (Joan Solano) knew what I was going through, but they didn't treat me differently.

"I plan to go out again next year, but I don't know about cross country."