A multiple state champion, speculation about her college plans took center stage after winning. As is her style, she waited to announce those plans more than a week after the state tournament concluded.

Loftus decided on Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md. Her parents are doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, and her mother is a Johns Hopkins graduate. Loftus had opportunities to play college tennis at a Division I school (Johns Hopkins competes at the Division III level), but playing at the highest level of tennis in college simply didn’t align with her long-term goal of becoming a doctor.

For Loftus, an academic superstar in the classroom, the selection of an elite medical school like Johns Hopkins was a no-brainer. She isn’t ready to abandon tennis quite yet, but committing to a DI program while preparing for the rigors of medical school didn’t mesh.

“Ten years from now, I see myself graduated from Johns Hopkins University, working in the medical field, and probably playing in an adult tennis league,” she said.