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Stoeffler claims Tolland's second straight state steeplechase title

kyle maher, journal inquirer, manchester, conn.
·4 min read

Jun. 16—NEW BRITAIN — Jackson Cayward hung a 3,000-meter steeplechase state title banner in the Tolland High gymnasium in 2021.

Twelve months later, the Eagles athletic department will have to create space for another banner after Luke Stoeffler won the program's second consecutive title in the boys event Wednesday.

The senior crossed the finish line in 9:27.40 to win the event by more than 20 seconds at Veterans Stadium.

"I watched Jackson win it and I thought to myself, 'Maybe I can do that next year if all goes well,' " said Stoeffler, who will run cross country and track at the University of Buffalo beginning next fall. "I want to leave an impact at Tolland, and (Wednesday) and this postseason in general has helped with that. I'm just glad I can get my name in the books as part of this really good team."

Hall's Walker Beverly (9:47.48) took second. Newtown's Soheib Dissa (10:06.26) placed third.

Manchester's Mirza Barlas (11:08.27) notched a 13th place finish.

Stoeffler took the title in the 3,200 and finished fourth in the 1,600 at the CCC East championships before winning both events at the Class M state meet.

He finished third in the 3,200 at the State Open and fifth in the event at the New England Championships.

"This is the season where it's finally all going right for me," Stoeffler said. "I haven't really gotten hurt at all, nothing has gone wrong in my training. I've been racing well the past month or so and I'm very happy with it."

Stoeffler, who was running in heat two, surged ahead of Beverly and to the front of the field in the backstretch of the first lap and led the rest of the way.

He increased his advantage to 14 seconds after five laps and 20 seconds after six laps and crossed the finish line 20.08 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor.

"Walker is a fantastic distance runner in his own right, so Luke knew he was running against a really tough opponent," Tolland coach Brandon Elliott said. "And he also had in his mind what pace he wanted to run. So he put those two things together and ended up running a great race. He ran a really efficient race and that helped him pull away as the race went on."

Stoeffler will represent Tolland for the final time at the New Balance National Championships this weekend at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He will compete in the 2,000 Steeplechase Saturday at 8:28 a.m.

After that, Stoeffler will spend the summer following the training program designed for him by the Buffalo coaching staff.

He will report to campus in early August to begin new student orientation and participate in the cross country program's preseason workouts.

"I really like the school and the coaches," Stoeffler said. "I can't wait to get there and get started."

Fitch's Ryan Dunning took the title in the 2,000 steeplechase in 6:42.46. Danbury's Ryan Pereira (6:57.76) finished second and Bolton's Mason Fox (6:58.73) placed third.

State championship medals are not awarded in the event.

Somers' Gabriel D'Amour (7:20.06) finished 10th and Tolland's Dillon Stoeffler (7:25.97) took 15th.

"I'm pretty pleased with coming in third," Fox said. "It was kind of a test of how well my endurance training has been going and I held up pretty well."

3,000 Meter Steeplechase

Boys

At Willow Brook Park in New Britain

1. Luke Stoeffler (Tolland), 9:27.40; 2. Walker Beverly (Hall), 9:47.48; 3. Soheib Dissa (Newtown), 10:06.26; 4. Christian Zawislack (Greenwich), 10:12.67; 5. Joshua Lesniak (Xavier), 10:17.14; 6. Brayden Bayek (Rocky Hill), 10:23.34; 7. Christian Menounos (Woodstock Academy), 10:36.91; 8. Tyler Caron (Cheshire), 10:43.53; 9. Caleb Freeman (Haddam-Killingworth), 10:48.06; 10. Andrew Hedges (Haddam-Killingworth), 10:51.73; 11. Jackson Boulter (Hall), 10:57.89; 12. Daniel DiTunno (Rocky Hill), 10:58.45; 13. Mirza Barlas (Manchester), 11:08.27; 14. Matthias Galban (Joel Barlow), 11:15.98; 15. Drew Nafis (Southington), 11:19.95.

For daily updates on high school sports in JI's coverage area, follow Kyle Maher on Twitter: @KyleBMaher, Facebook: Kyle Maher, and Instagram: @KyleBMaher.