Cross country: Amboy-LaMoille’s Loftus leads team to state for first time in program history

OREGON – It’s been a season of firsts for the Amboy cross country team. First it was winning its own prestigious Columbus Day Invite for first time in 48 years. Now it can add a state berth in the IHSA 1A state championship.

With senior Brock Loftus taking top individual honors at the 1A Oregon Sectional, the Clippers finished third overall with 100 points, behind Rockford Christian and Riverdale. Newman and Erie-Prophetstown will also be sending full teams to Detweiller Park in Peoria next Saturday.

Loftus made up a 15-meter deficit and outkicked Riverdale’s Tommy Murray for a 16:19-16:22 win.

The first mile it was shoulder to shoulder, with Loftus hoping to upend Murray for the first time in five tries this season.

“It was my best race, especially coming on at the end to win,” Loftus said. “I have a big goal to get top 10 at state.”

Other Clippers joining Loftus in the top 10 at sectional were Kyler McNinch (17:13) in seventh and Ian Eller (17:18) in ninth. Rounding out the scoring were Charlie Dickinson in 33rd and Wyatt Lundquist in 61st.

“We came in here as freshmen and wanted to build a program,” Loftus said. “I hope this lasts. We’ve got some good freshmen.”

That build started with senior state qualifier Thomas Stamberger and coach Bob Halberg three years ago. Taking over is high school football player-turned-distance coach Mike Robinson.

“These guys ran hard and didn’t hold anything back,” Robinson said. “Two years ago, we missed by 15 points, and last year we were third at sectional, but didn’t have a state meet [because of COVID-19]. It’s going to be exciting to finally run at Detweiller.”

Newman had a steady group from 21st to 53rd place to score 158 points and take fifth comfortably. Those runners were Thomas Powers, Lucas Schaab, Lucas Simpson, Ken Boesen and Kaden Welty.

“They did what they had to do,” Newman coach Pat Warkins said. “Maybe we could have got third, but I’m happy to get back to downstate.”

From 2012 to 2018, Newman went to state seven straight times.

For the last several years, Rock Falls has finished either under the cut for state or right ahead of it. This year was no exception, as they had the hard-luck finish of seventh place with 263 points. Erie-Prophetstown took the sixth and final spot with 248.

It’s been 10 years since E-P has been to state, and that was a talking point on the way to Oregon.

“On the bus, we made mention of the 10-year anniversary,” E-P coach Tom Green said. “We said a great way to celebrate that would be to go ourselves. With such a young squad, I thought we may have been a year away.”

Sophomores Jacob Gibson and Lucas Dreisbach were 44th and 47th. Freshmen Victor Bonnell and Aiden Jepson were 51st and 73rd. The lone senior on the team, Andrew Bomleny, was 71st.

Rock Falls was led by junior Jose Gomez, who was 31st in 18:08. Senior Matthew Marcum was 38th in 18:24.

“We just didn’t get it done,” RF coach Mark Truesdell said. “I told our guys coming in it was going to be between us and E-P.”

Qualifying as an individual was Elijah House (17:54) of Bureau Valley with a 25th-place finish, and Carson Jones (17:59) of Polo taking the 10th and final spot with a 26th-place finish.

“I started slow and powered up the big hill, catching people that went out too fast,” Jones said. “It’s always been a thought in my head to make state. It will be a good experience leading into next year when I am a senior.”

The Rock Falls girls made it nine straight trips to state with fourth-place finish at 142 points, behind state favorite Winnebago (26), Seneca (123) and Mercer County (136). Leading the way was Tayli Hultin with a 20:07 on the 3-mile Park West course, good for 10th place.

“It was weird running with Winnebago,” Hultin said. “The first mile seemed slow. Then they sped up to where they’re supposed to be. Coach said it’s going to be the ‘Bago show, but use it to make you better. This was about keeping up with them.”

As if Winnebago needed any extra incentive, they had one in the death this week of hall-of-fame coach Roger Schmidt, the architect of the stellar program.

“I ran for him when I was in junior high,” Winnebago coach Joe Erb said. “The girls were running for him today.”

Following Hultin were first-year runner Hana Ford in 19th, Calin Gaulrapp in 44th, Gracie Rippy in 48th and Emily Spooner in 57th.

“The girls were a little rough today, but took care of business,” Truesdell said. “We were up and down. I was hoping for second.”

Oregon freshman Ella Dannhorn was an individual qualifier with a time of 21:09, good for 22nd overall. She is the first state qualifier from Oregon since freshman Leah Watters did it in 2017.

“I felt like I had an advantage knowing the course, but felt awful running,” Danhorn said. “Maybe that was nerves. What helped was passing people on the final hill.”

Class 2A Woodstock North Sectional

Pair of sophomores qualify for state: Sterling’s Dale Johnson and Dixon’s Emma Smith were the only locals to advance to the 2A state meet out of the Woodstock North Sectional at Emricson Park. Both earned their first trip to the season finale at Detweiller Park in Peoria.

Johnson took third in the boys race, clocking a 16:04.4 to finish behind only winner Michael Schumacher of St. Viator (15:42.1) and runner-up Yusuf Baig of Burlington Central (15:46.9).

“I felt I did good for what I had,” Johnson said about his run. “I was right behind the guy I lost to at regionals [Baig]. I thought I did pretty good. I’m excited for my first time going to state.”

Johnson has been consistent all season for the Golden Warriors, coming back strong after suffering an injury last fall.

“Last year I broke my foot running, so this has been a great season,” he said. “I haven’t broken down yet.”

The next local finisher in the boys race was Dixon’s Aaron Conderman in 52nd. Sterling’s Thomas Holcomb (66th) and Cameron Taylor (87th) also finished in the top 100. The Warriors placed 16th as a team with 342 points; Deerfield won with 55, and Sycamore grabbed the last state-qualifying spot with 203.

Dixon’s Smith took 10th overall in the girls race, covering the course in 19:04.9. Chicago Northside’s Elia Ton-That won the race in 18:05.8.

Smith was pleased with her performance.

“My goal was to get top 10 and stay with the chase pack, just to go with the people in front of me,” she said. “The course was definitely harder than most, but we all got through it. We’ve been training on hills a lot, but it was tough.”

The Duchesses have already run in a meet at Detweiller Park this season, so Smith knows what’s ahead of her. As she has done all season, she’s setting her sights high.

“My goal is top get in the top 20,” she said. “I’m just really excited.”

Dixon took 12th as a team with 304 points, while Sterling was 18th with 503. Crystal Lake South won with 100 points, and Prairie Ridge took the final qualifying spot with 148.

Dixon had three other top-100 finishers in Emily Conderman (53rd), Emily Smith (87th) and Keeley Mick (88th). Sterling’s Kylie Nicklaus (94th) and Rhylee Wade (97th) also cracked the top 100.