DES MOINES - Stephanie Jenks left her mark on the Drake Relays again this year by defending her crowns in the 3000 and 1500 meter runs, spiked by an all-time state best in the 3000 Thursday.

Now she's set her sights on conquering an elite international field in Mexico and possibly China in the triathlon, one of the most grueling athletic events in the world.

The Linn-Mar sophomore did not break any records Saturday at Drake, but she did capture the 1500 with the third-fastest time in state history in 4 minutes, 28.72 seconds.

It's news now when Jenks does NOT break any records, and she missed the meet record in the 1500 by 42-hundredths of a second and missed the state mark by 2.33 seconds.

"Other than that," she said of the results, "I'm pretty happy with my race."

Jenks broke the state mark in the 3000 in 9:26.87 on Thursday, finished second in the 800 in 2:11.65 on Friday and captured the 1500 on Saturday, giving her four titles at Drake in two years.

She leaves Wednesday morning for Monterrey, Mexico to compete Friday in the 2014 Monterrey PATCO Triathlon American YOG Qualifier. If she finishes in the top two in Mexico, she'll qualify for a world event in China this August.

"I don't know any Chinese," she joked. "I do know some Spanish, so I can get by in Mexico."

Jenks is one of the top triathletes in the country, able to finish a 750 meter swim, a 20 kilometer bike ride and a 5 kilometer run in about an hour. She likes a good challenge, which is why she wanted to break the state records in the 3000 and the 1500 within the space of three days at Drake.

"I'm up for any challenge," she said. "Ask me to do something, and I'll do it to the best of my ability."

Jenks has been training for the triathlon all winter and spring. She often practices all three disciplines - swimming, running and biking - in the same day, in addition to competing in track meets for Linn-Mar and excelling in school.

"I'll get up at 5 and go to swim practice. Then go to school. Then I have track practice," she remarked. "And then I'll go back to swim practice if it's a Tuesday or Thursday. If it's Monday, Wednesday or Friday, I bike in the morning and then I go to school."

She also finds time to maintain a 4.0 GPA.

Jenks blew the competition away in the 3000 Thursday, winning by more than 33 seconds. Saturday's race in the 1500 was a mini-version of the 3000, as she took command early and and won by more than five seconds. Kaley Ciluffo of Pleasant Valley placed second in 4:34.00.

The Jefferson High School girls collected their third silver medal at Drake by finishing a tight second in the 4x100 relay in 48.26 seconds with Lucy Schneekloth, Abbie Ranschau, Morgan Meese and Jasmine Blue sharing the baton. Davenport Assumption won the race in 48.14 seconds, just 12-hundredths of a second ahead of the J-Hawks.

The Linn-Mar girls finished fourth in the 4x400 relay in 4:00.83 with Hanna Saville, Kennedy Japenga, Rachel Perry and Amber Decker doing the honors.

Jefferson had the fifth-fastest qualifying time in the prelims of the shuttle hurdle relay, but only the top four teams advanced to the finals.