Riverhead underclassmen distance runners setting a new pace

When looking up and down the distance runner records at Riverhead High School, you see names like Luke Coulter, Eric Cunha, and, most recently, Christopher Jones. These are benchmarks that Riverhead track and field coach Tyler Lobenhofer constantly drills into his current runners.

They walk past it every day on the big board.

Lobenhofer, a distance runner himself when he attended Ward Melville High School, has been committed to building the distance program at Riverhead since he joined the staff five years ago, and the work is starting to pay off.

The fact that Jones was able to break some of those long-time records gives hope to some of those new runners on the come-up. Among those are some sophomores and freshmen that Lobenhofer thinks have what it takes to challenge those records if they continue their trajectory.

“In my first season at Riverhead, my fastest miler was around 5:50, which is terrible,” Lobenhofer said. “Jones was running 4:30s last year. I have 10th graders running 4:50s right now. We only had nine boys running and maybe three girls back then. We couldn’t even put together a relay team. Now I think distance is the biggest strength of our team.”

On Saturday, Jan. 11, Lobenhofer decided on only putting together a 4×800-meter relay team for the Section XI freshman/sophomore championships, instead of having everyone race individual events. He wanted everyone fresh to show exactly what this group was able to do. The quartet of Grady Moore, Kevin Velasquez, Braylin Florian Sanchez and Antonny Juela Munoz took to the track at Suffolk Community College in Brentwood and set the lanes on fire. 

They finished third in all of Suffolk County with a time of 9:17 — just a few seconds away from finishing second. Commack took the crown, pacing Riverhead by 15 seconds, and Northport finished second.

“They were all so dejected after finishing third,” Lobenhofer recounts. “I’m like, third is a fantastic finish. It’s an incredible moment for the program, but they didn’t want to hear it. They have that fire, that need to be better, and that’s exactly what’s going to bring them to new heights.”

That fire bled over to Sunday as the team went back to racing individual events at The Nike Track & Field Center at The Armory. Personal records were set up and down the roster. Moore set his personal record in the 800-meter. Juela Munoz set his record in the 1000-meter. Florian Sanchez reached his best personal mark in the 600-meter and 800. Velasquez hit a PR in the 800 and the 1000.

Two more sophomores posted best times in Franklin Sebastian (the 1600-meter and the 800) and Wesley Banegas (the 800).

“This shows that they’re doing all the right things,” Lobenhofer said. “They’re training the right way. They’re eating the right way. They’re stretching the right way. Our program is designed for our athletes to peak right now, and because of this group’s discipline, it’s happening.”

Because Lobenhofer had the luxury of coaching Jones through all of his years, he’s able to look at his progression from freshman to senior year to give his younger runners something to compare against. Moore, for instance, is already running a 4:55 mile as a sophomore, whereas Jones’ best time his sophomore year was 5:06. Juela Munoz got clocked doing a 1000-meter leg in a relay at 2:45. Jones’ best 1000 as a sophomore was 2:58. Velasquez, only a freshman, already runs a 5:15 mile. Jones was a 5:50 mile runner as a freshman. 

“It’s good to do comparisons because Chris Jones was one of the most decorated runners to come out of Riverhead,” Lobenhofer said. “But everyone in the running space knows the amount of work it takes to get your time down year after year. It takes a lot of training, absolute dedication and razor-sharp discipline.”

Because these underclassmen’s times are so close to each other, it’s only going to force them to push the limits.

“We’re always in competition,” Lobenhofer said. “This is the best group of underclassmen I’ve had here at Riverhead. The future of the distance running program is bright. We’re really excited to see how far this group can go. This is only the beginning.”