Time off gives Loeffel boost

Huntley's Marcus Popenfoose throws the discus during the finals Thursday on Day 1 of the McHenry County Track and Field Meet at Crystal Lake Central. Popenfoose won the discus and the shot put. (Catalin Abagiu - cabagiu@nwherald.com)

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CRYSTAL LAKE – Cary-Grove junior Carly Loeffel took five months off in the fall and did not compete in the high jump during the indoor track and field season.

She feels much better for it.

Loeffel won the high jump Thursday at the McHenry County Track and Field Meet, edging McHenry’s Ashley Conway, the defending champion on fewer misses, to help the Trojans take the lead after completion of field events. Both jumpers cleared 5 feet, 4 inches.

The meet concludes today, starting at 5 p.m., with finals in all the running events at Crystal Lake Central’s Owen Metcalf Field. C-G has 38 points, with McHenry (29), Prairie Ridge (28) and Huntley (24) next in line in the girls scoring.

Loeffel had a frustrating end to her sophomore season with stress fractures in her left (takeoff) leg. She struggled to clear 5-0 by the end of the season.

“I wasn’t getting better, so I got checked out again in the fall,” Loeffel said. “My doctor had me not running for five months. Then, I finally could run. Then, I finally could start jumping. But I definitely think it helped me not high jumping in the indoor season.”

Loeffel feels fresh and beat Conway, who finished fourth in the Class 3A high jump at last year’s IHSA Girls Track and Field State Meet.

“[Conway] is a great athlete,” Loeffel said. “It’s exciting to have such great competition.”

Loeffel missed once at 5-4; Conway missed twice.

Conway repeated as long jump champion (17-9), and Huntley’s Amy Fanella repeated as triple jump champion (36-1). Prairie Ridge’s Taylor Humm won the discus (116-8) and shot put (35-11).

Huntley’s Marcus Popenfoose repeated as a champion in the boys discus (190-7) and shot put (56-111⁄2). McHenry’s Carey Nolan won the triple jump, and the Warriors’ Brandon Swanson and Jake Howe racked up 22 points in the discus and shot put to put the defending boys champions in first with 51 points.

McHenry’s Corey Szamlewski cleared 14-41⁄4 in the pole vault to eclipse the 2007 meet record of Crystal Lake South’s Brock McAnally (14-4). Szamlewski didn’t realize until he was on the bus home he had the record to himself, he thought he had only tied it.

Crystal Lake Central (35), Huntley (331⁄2) and Richmond-Burton (22) were next in line with team points.