Horton-Loftin Shines at Conference Track Meet

Ladue junior Mike Horton-Loftin was looking for a sport to particpate in during the spring.

Horton-Loftin is a fullback and linebacker on the Rams' football team and was talked into trying out for the track team by his friend, John Gaskin, before his sophomore season.

Gaskin was a thrower for the Rams. Horton-Loftin had never thrown the shot put or discus.

"I figured that you had to be pretty strong to throw that 12-pound ball," Horton-Loftin said.

But he quickly found out that there is a lot more to throwing than brute strength.

"There are a lot of guys who are a lot bigger than I am," said Horton-Loftin, who is 5-foot-8 and 205 pounds. "But being quick and explosive is just as important."

Horton-Loftin said he fell in love with the sport from the start and it showed as he not only made state in the shot put last year, but he made all-state as he finished eighth in the shot put.

The goals are even higher for Horton-Loftin this year after he began his post-season with a double win in the shot put and discus Thursday at the Suburban East Conference Meet at McCluer South-Berkeley. He had a PR in the discus with a throw of 142-10. Horton-Loftin had a throw of 49-10 in winning the shot put.

"I was really happy with my discus throw although I had kind of an off day with the shot put," said Horton-Loftin, who had a PR of 51-8 last week at Parkway South.

Horton-Loftin feels he is exactly where he wants to be with the Class 4 District 2 Meet coming up next weekend at Eureka.

"My goals are to make it to state in the discus and win state in the shot put," Horton-Loftin said. "I am going to remain humble and strive for the best at state. I like the atmosphere there and know that anything can happen at the state meet."

Ladue coach Keith Harder feels that Horton-Loftin has the potential to do some good things in Jefferson City.

"Michael is not the biggest dude around but he had that good combination of strength and quickness," Harder said. "He is a linebacker and running back in football and has real good feet. Coach (Paul) Kennedy has done a good job with him and he continues to get better."

Horton-Loftin's two wins helped the Rams to the team title in the boy's meet. That extends an impressive streak as either the Ladue boys or girls have won the Suburban East Conference Meet every year since 1993.

"We don't put a whole lot of emphasis in the conference meet but it is nice to win, especially with Normandy now in the conference," Harder said. "They are a bigger school."

Fletcher Coates had an outstanding meet for the Ram boys. He won the 200-meter dash (22.76) and also ran a leg in the champion 4x200-meter relay team which also included Jarrid McDonald, Dominique Brown and Jehu Chesson (1:30.78).

Chesson had an outstanding run in winning the 300-meter hurdles in 39.3.

The Rams also scored well in the distance events. Colin Cernik won the 1,600-meter run (4:53.80) and Cody Medler won the 3,200-meter run (10:15.70). Drew Hutchens finished second in both events.

Ladue finished with 167 points. Normandy was a competitive second with 156 points.

Harder sat out a number of his top girls, including Samantha Levin, with the district, sectional and state tournament coming up.

The Rams still excelled in the distance events as Emily Werner and Jocelyn Todd finished one-two in the 800. Werner won with a time of 2:19.47 while Todd was second in 2:29.05.

Todd won the 1,600 (5:24.20) and Ann Nelson won the 3,200 (12:11.30). Nelson also ran a leg in the victorious 4x800-meter relay team which won with a time of 10:54.48. Kate Holloway, Sydney Kitsis and Jordan Garnet also ran in the relay.

The Rams finished third as a team. Affton defended its girls team championship.

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