Loeffel leaps to state title

Cary-Grove's Carly Loeffel clears the bar on her way to a Class 3A state high jump title during Saturday's finals of the IHSA Track and Field State Meet in Charleston. She cleared 5 feet, 8 inches to take first place. (Clark Brooks - For the Northwest Herald)

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CHARLESTON – Cary-Grove’s Carly Loeffel spent two years waiting, working and wondering when she would hit 5 feet, 8 inches again in the high jump.

Loeffel’s diligence paid off at the ideal time.

The Trojans’ senior, who entered the IHSA Girls Track and Field State Meet as the top seed in the Class 3A high jump, cleared 5-8 to become the first girls track state champion in school history. Loeffel actually sealed the title when she made 5-7 on her first attempt, then she also made 5-8 on her first jump.

Loeffel was a big part of a banner day for McHenry County-area athletes. Woodstock senior Kayla Beattie ran the fastest times in state history in the Class 2A 3,200- and 1,600-meter runs. Marengo’s Katie Adams was runner-up to Beattie in the 1,600, and Crystal Lake South’s Marianne Collard took second in the Class 3A 1,600.

Jacobs’ Allie Virgilio took third in the Class 3A triple jump, and Hampshire’s Cassie Kruse had two third-place finishes in the Class 2A 800 meters and on the Whip-Purs’ 4x800 relay team with Paige Membrano, Autumn Chomenko and Liz Sicheri.

Marengo had other strong performances from Allison Rogutich and Shawney Damisch and scored 27 team points to tie for sixth.

“It was like that the whole season for me,” Loeffel said. “Everything was feeling good. It’s like a big collaboration. As soon as this ended last year [when she tied for fifth at 5-4] I knew I could have gone higher. I started working out in July this time, and I worked a lot more on my form.”

Loeffel will attend Notre Dame and compete in the heptathlon. Earlier in the day, the sky was slightly overcast, but the clouds lifted and the sun came out just as the Class 3A jumpers warmed up. Loeffel appreciated some favorable weather in which to jump after such a cold and windy spring.

C-G’s Lauren Scott took third in the Class AA 400 in 2003, which was the Trojans’ previous highest state finish.

“[Loeffel] really understands herself in the high jump,” C-G coach Mark Anderson said. “This is a perfect way for her to end her career. She’s a real student of the event. She’s worked hard for a lot of years.”

Anderson wanted a 1-2 finish for the Fox Valley Conference, but McHenry’s Ashley Conway made 5-5 and finished fifth. Loeffel and Conway have battled back and forth for four years. It was Conway’s fourth state high-jump medal.

In Class 2A, Adams knew her 1,600 was a race for second with Beattie far ahead of everyone, and ran 5:06.54 for second.

“I’m really happy with that,” Adams said. “[Peoria Notre Dame’s Molly Dahlquist] was going my pace, but in the middle I thought she was fading, so I took off there.”

Adams, Damisch and Rogutich all had personal-best marks in their events in Saturday’s finals. Damisch fell across the finish line in the 300 low hurdles for a time of 44.79 seconds to take third ahead of Champaign Central’s Samoné Thompson (44.80).

“I didn’t want to get fourth,” Damisch said of her late surge. “It was really a good race. I gave it everything I had.”

Rogutich went 37-6 in the triple jump and ran 15.37 seconds in the 100 high hurdles to grab two fourth-place medals. She had to leave the triple jump to run the hurdles, but the time frame worked to her advantage.

“On my last jump I was still warmed up from running the hurdles, and I still had the adrenaline,” Rogutich said. “My goal was at least 37 [feet], and I got more than that.”

Collard ran a faster time in last year’s Class 3A 1,600 and took fourth. Her second-place finish was her best and her third time placing at state.

“I gave it my all – it was my last high school race,” Collard said. “I just wanted to hang on with the front pack. I didn’t get a [personal best], but I wasn’t running for time, I was running for a place. I’m so happy with the outcome.”