Which sport is it today? Solon's Loveless plays them all

SOLON - Where's Derrick?

Could be the baseball diamond, might be the soccer pitch. Probably not the track or the football field, at least right now.

Definitely not home.

"I make out a schedule each week," explained Derrick Loveless. "Just to help me figure out what practices I can and can't make, what game I need to be at when and where. Since track is over, it's a lot easier."

But still really, really busy. It's hard to imagine anyone taking on more this spring/early summer than the Solon senior.

Loveless ran sprints at the recent state track meet and is an all-state baseball outfielder. An Iowa Hawkeye commitment, he'll likely get picked in next week's Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

"I guess it's not that big a deal. If I don't get drafted, I'll just go to college (for sure)," he said. "But in the back of my mind, yeah, I'm thinking about it."

You're already aware of his football prowess as a wide receiver and defensive back, a guy who came back from injury midseason to help Solon win a fourth straight state title. And if that's not enough, and it is for most kids, Loveless decided to add another sport to his resume.

Thanks to the prodding of buddy Marshall Koehn, he has decided to play soccer. Goalkeeper, no less.

He's part of a Solon club that's making its state tourney debut this weekend. The Spartans (15-2-1) play Council Bluffs St. Albert (13-7) in a Class 1A quarterfinal Thursday at noon in Des Moines. 

"Ever since our freshmen year, I told Marshall I would go out, but I never did," Loveless said. "I knew they needed a goalkeeper this year, so I thought I'd try it."

"Him and Marshall are such good friends," said Solon Coach Jeremy McMurrin said. "Marshall has always been like 'Come on, let's give it a shot' ... It's funny how it worked out. I kept hearing he was coming out, but he never did. I heard rumblings again this spring, but I told myself I wasn't going to believe it until I saw him show up for the first day of practice."

For a guy who hasn't played soccer since he was 10 and who has never played keeper, Loveless has done well. He has allowed 15 goals in 15 games, an average easy to figure out, and made 50 saves.

McMurrin said it's the traits he has shown in other sports that have served him well in soccer.

"He's such a great athlete," McMurrin said. "He has great hands, which he showed catching passes in football ... You watch him in practice, you wonder what he could have been like if he had played soccer all four years."

The Solon-St. Albert quarterfinal is one of six involving Metro and area schools Thursday. Iowa City Regina plays Nevada at noon, as it goes for its third straight 1A crown.

In Class 2A, defending champ Cedar Rapids Xavier plays Clear Creek-Amana at 2:30. At 5, Cedar Rapids Washington and Iowa City West meet in a 3A game, as do Cedar Rapids Kennedy and West Des Moines Valley.

Semifinal matches are Friday and championship/consolation matches Saturday at the Cownie Park complex.