Loftus, Clippers run down title at Coates Invite

Brock Loftus wanted to set a course record in Saturday’s Gary Coates Invitational cross country meet at Zearing Park in Princeton.

While he didn’t get the record, he won the meet by more than 26 seconds with a time of 16:25.08 and led the Amboy-LaMoille-Ohio co-op to the team title.

“Riverdale and Fieldcrest were supposed to have guys to push, and I was hoping to go for a course record, but they weren’t here today. I just wanted to get a good lead and then hold it. That was the goal today,” said Loftus, a senior from Ohio.

Teammates Ian Eller placed fourth (17:03) and Charlie Dickinson 19th (18:07.92) as the Clippers beat out Sandwich, 66-76, for top honor in the nine-full team field.

“I challenged the boys to do something special today and they did. It was a good comeback meet after a couple of tough races as a team,” ALO coach Michael Robinson said. “I challenged them to fight for every spot, and that is what they did today. Some pushed through pain and showed a toughness that makes this team extremely special.

“We did a fantastic job and brought home the hardware with four medals and five ribbons. Everyone [ran] sub 20. Couldn’t be a prouder coach.”

Loftus is pleased where he stands this point of the season.

“I’m doing really high mileage still. State track meet was so late, I really didn’t get a chance to run all summer,” Loftus said. “Right now, I’m still kind of doing some base stuff, like more high on mileage. I know when it gets late in the season, I can run really fast.”

Loftus would like to break 15 minutes and get top 10 at state this season.

“(Class) 1A, in my opinion, is the best division. 1A is definitely the most stacked right now,” he said.

LaSalle-Peru’s Ryan Hartman, Loftus’ cousin, was third, 16:58.76, and Matt Beard was seventh (17:12.64), while Bureau Valley’s Eljah House cracked the top 10 in 10th (17:27.25).

House said the Zearing Park course is not his favorite because “it makes me go fast.” Running a race with Loftus, who House said was gone by the first mile, helps show him where he needs to get to.

“It shows me what I could be doing and gives me a goal to get out there, has me give respect to people who put in a lot of work in the summer,” he said.

Other area team leaders were Bureau Valley’s Ben Roth (21st, 18:16.66), St. Bede’s Miguel Jones (22nd, 18:16.66) and Princeton’s Christian Yepsen (26th, 18:52.61) and Mack Williams (33rd, 18:52.61).

Princeton finished ninth as a team while neither Bureau Valley and St. Bede fielded enough runners to score as a team.

Morris finished with three of the top four runners and four in the top eight, including race winner Joy Dudley, to claim the girls title. The Redskins remained undefeated in the young season.

Dudley set the pace with a top time of 19:57.54 as Morris beat out Aledo Mercer County, 28-53, for team honors.

“I’m very happy with what I did. It’s a flat course and the weather’s pretty good, so I was pretty excited and I hoped to do well,” Dudley said. “The girl who came in second, she was really good. She helped push me throughout the race.”

Princeton junior Lexi Bohms was the top area finisher, placing 12th at 21:36.16. She teamed up with Hannah Muehlschlegel (30th, 23:10.55), Kiana Brokaw (59th, 25:46.13) to lead the Tigresses to a sixth place team finish (191).

Other area team leaders were Amboy’s Elly Jones (20th, 22:20.21) and Bailey Ellis (35th, 23:40.77), Bureau Valley’s Amalie Graversgaard (32nd, 23:22.95) and St. Bede’s Jaelyn Weber (34th, 23:34.86).

Note: Robinson gave his team an extra challege Saturday with the 3rd annual Clippers 9/11 challenge, giving each runner the name of an FDNY firefighter who lost their lives on 9/11 to carry with them as they ran. “Maybe those men gave our athletes a little extra strength. It was very touching to see that no one even blinked an eye when I brought it up and all rushed forward for their name,” Robinson said.