The Spotlight Shines Bright on Reluctant Basketball Star

It’s not often in athletics today that you can find an athlete that shies away from being the center of attention, especially when said player is the most dominant competitor on his or her team. But such is the case with College of Wooster junior Carly Loehrke, who, despite her best efforts, has planted herself squarely in the spotlight by playing at a first-team all-conference level.

Growing up in western Michigan, Loehrke was more tomboy than Barbie girl. Along with her two best friends, both boys, and her brother Nathan, she was heavily involved with sports, and none more important to her than basketball.

Loehrke started her hoop dreams early, playing nearly every day on a rim in her backyard that her dad had erected, and attending summer camps from the time she was in third grade. Her father, Mark, a successful doctor in Kalamazoo, was her basketball coach all the way to sixth grade, while her mother, Judy, an aspiring artist, served as her soccer coach for about the same period.

By the time Loehrke reached seventh grade, her brother was making a name for himself. As a freshman on the basketball team at Mattawan High School, Nathan quickly made a move from the jayvee squad to join the varsity halfway through the season, where he stayed the rest of his career. At 6’10”, the elder Loehrke finished his four years as the Wildcats’ all-time leader in rebounds and blocked shots, ranked second in points scored all-time, and was named Mattawan’s Senior of the Year. Nathan went on to receive a full scholarship to continue his hoops career at The College of William and Mary, an NCAA Division I school in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

So when the younger Loehrke cracked the high school ranks, she had some high expectations to live up to. She started out on the jayvee squad and worked her way up the ranks to varsity by the end of the season. The team did well that year, making a run in the state tournament and giving Loehrke a wealth of experience, despite being just a freshman.

She became a starter the following year and held the spot for most of the rest of her high school tenure. At one point, however, she was given a wake-up call.

“During my junior season, with about 10 games left, my coach pulled my starting position,” said Loehrke. “He didn’t come out and say I wasn’t working hard enough, but he said all five starters were going to have to work to keep their spots and the other four all remained starters. I earned it back by the last game. It was one of the best things my coach ever did for me.”

Loehrke capped off her senior year by helping the Wildcats to a 22-2 record and the district and regional championships in 2003, earning first-team all-league and honorable mention all-state along the way.

As her high school career started winding down, she began to think about college and the different paths she could follow. Loehrke had two things on her mind during the decision process.

“I wanted to get away from my hometown area. I wanted to start anew and establish a name for myself, instead of being classified as Mark Loehrke’s daughter or Nate Loehrke’s sister.”
“I knew I wanted to play basketball and that was a huge motivating factor,” she added.
She had it narrowed down to four schools midway through her senior year, including Division I Sacred Heart University in Connecticut and three Division III schools: Ithaca College in New York, Kalamazoo College in Michigan, and Wooster.

After “horrific” experiences during overnight stays at the first three, Loehrke wasn’t too keen on coming to Wooster and being disappointed again, but she stuck through it and found herself a new home.

“I had a great time,” said Loehrke about her stay at Wooster. “The people I met were nice and genuine … it was a lot like being at home.”

As a first-year Scot, Loehrke found herself on the court with a group of experienced players, and probably would not have started at the outset. However, all-conference forward Alexis Louttit went down with an injury at the beginning of the year and the former Wildcat was thrust into a starting position heading into the season-opening Nan Nichols Classic.

Loehrke took everyone by surprise, including Wooster head coach Lisa Campanell Komara, as she came out and earned Most Valuable Player honors after leading the Scots to the tourney championship for the first time since 1996.

“She dominated at the Nan Nichols Tournament her freshman year,” commented Komara. “Nobody knew how to defend her. She just came off the bench and took the game over.”

The lefty came out and connected on her very first shot, a right-handed layup, and her confidence picked up from there as she racked up 31 points and 16 rebounds combined in wins over Thiel College (66-49) and Westminster (Pa.) College (65-57).

Those types of numbers have been pretty common in Wooster games over the last three seasons as the now junior has averaged 12.6 points and 7.7 rebounds over 77 games played. Loehrke has led the squad in scoring 44 times and rebounding 49, while tallying double-figure point totals in almost 80 percent (76.6) of the games she has played in.

While the six-footer has thrived individually, the Scots, unfortunately, have struggled through a series of injuries to other key players over the last three years and have won 29 of 76 games (.382) and finished no better than sixth in the North Coast Athletic Conference. Coming from a successful high school program, the change in success was hard to take for Loehrke.
“Losing is not something I’m used to,” she noted.

This season, more than any other, was a test to her adversity. Four potential starters were lost before and during the season for various reasons, leaving Loehrke and fellow junior Maria Gonzalez with an ever-changing rotation of young, and inexperienced players.

“This year was as hard a year as I’ve dealt with since I’ve been here,” she commented. “But, the senior class will be strong in skill and leadership qualities next year and the freshmen are now court tested.”

“I honestly feel like we could be a good team if we can stay injury free,” adds Loehrke, who needs just 31 points to reach 1000 for her career. “If we have a year where we have minimal injuries, we could be a good team. We have talented players. We just haven’t put it together, yet.”

Loehrke has stuck through the rough times and it’s beginning to pay dividends. This past season, even though Wooster went 7-19 overall, she became the first Scot since 1997-98 to garner first-team All-NCAC honors after averaging 13.7 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.
Even though she doesn’t necessarily want it, the spotlight is swinging Loehrke’s way. Every Wooster opponent preps its defense to guard her in the post, says Komara, and yet the junior finds a way to succeed, whether it’s by finding a teammate open on the perimeter or taking it to the hoop herself.

“She’s a very unselfish player, but she’s accepted this year that things are going to revolve around her,” said her coach.

“We all want to see this program win with her here and she will do whatever it takes to get that done for her and us. It’s always a good thing to see when your top player has that type of respect. There’s nothing about her that says I’m a superstar personality wise,” added Komara.

An excellent student as well, Loehrke was tabbed Academic All-District Third Team this past winter. She carries a 3.65 GPA as a communication sciences and disorders major and has been named to the Dean’s List in four of the past five semesters.

As a first-year, Loehrke filled out an information sheet for the Office of Sports Information and underneath the career goals/future plans category, she listed “spread smiles around the world.” Sure enough, this is just about what she plans to do as she intends to join the Peace Corps for two years following graduation in the spring of 2007.

“It will be a good experience and character builder. You’re helping other people, but you end up getting help as well,” commented Loehrke.

When she returns from her journey around the world, she plans to seek a career as an audiologist, likely returning to her home state of Michigan to do her grad work. Once again, her main reason is to help people.

With her dad being a successful doctor, her mom a talented artist, and her brother a star basketball player, Loehrke has still managed to come out of the shadows and make a name for herself in an unique and aspiring way. She may have avoided the spotlight before, but now the light shines bright on the future of this Scot star, both on and off the basketball court.

By Corey Jewart