Payton Wensel has run the second-fastest time in the 400 meter dash in the Mississippi Valley Conference this year, topping all the high school girls in the Metro area and just about everybody else in the league.

That's pretty remarkable, considering she's only an eighth grader at Oak Ridge Middle School in the Linn-Mar district.

Wensel was clocked in 58.70 seconds when she won the 400 at the Mike Henderson Junior High School Girls State Track Meet in Waukon Saturday. That would be the 12th-fastest time among high school girls in the entire state, according to the IGHSAU website.

Wensel captured two other races at the state meet with impressive times, taking the 200 in 27.48 seconds and winning the 800 in 2 minutes, 25.07 seconds.

Wensel will be a freshman at Linn-Mar High School when the new school year begins.