Varsity Cross Country, formed in 1973 by Brother Paul Cawthorne, S.J., is currently in its 52nd season at Loyola Blakefield. The team enters the 2024 season with a new look. Graduating 4 of the top 5 runners in the program, the varsity team is hoping to rebuild quickly. Juniors Liam Stappert and Patrick Bradley will lead the way followed by a rapidly improving group of veteran runners to include Seniors Nick LaGreca, Matt Lingenfelter, and Danny Sentz. Sophomores Auggie Brown and Jacob Tsakalos may also find their way into the top 7 as the season progresses.
Head Coach Jose Albornoz is now in his 40th year with the program. In his time at Loyola, Coach Albornoz’s teams have won 18 MIAA/MSA championships -and are the defending A Conference Dual Meet Champs- to bring the program's total championships to 19 since its inception. In 2020, Coach Albornoz was named Varsity Sports Network Co-Coach of the Decade (2010-2019) with Josh Alcombright (Severna Park). Coach Albornoz was named The Baltimore Sun Metro Coach of the Year (1989) and Baltimore County Coach of the Year (1997, 2003 and 2005) in previous seasons.
While all athletes, including novices, are welcome, highly motivated athletes should prepare for the upcoming season by logging summer mileage. Students prepared for the fall will be able to handle 25 miles per week to begin the season at August tryouts. Students should be able to handle a pace from 7 to 7:30 minutes per mile. Varsity candidates will be able to handle 40+ miles per week at 6 to 6:45 per mile pace. Varsity and JV run in the MIAA 'A' Conference at a distance of 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) each race.
In addition to cross country, Loyola offers opportunities in Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field. Students may try out for the team after being cut from other sports. The cross country team welcomes those athletes at any time in the weeks following final cuts. All students are encouraged to consider the running programs at Loyola.
