Linn-Mar Girls Track

Jenks snaps own state mark in 3000

DES MOINES - Linn-Mar sophomore Stephanie Jenks gets a big kick out of breaking records.

The bigger, the better.

Jenks struck again Thursday morning, snapping her own state record in the 3000 meter run by more than two seconds at the Class 4A state track meet in Des Moines.

Jenks was clocked in 9 minutes, 24.67 seconds as she ran away with the race and won by more than 31 seconds, similar to her dominating performance at the Drake Relays last month.

Jenks broke her own all-time state mark of 9:26.87 and topped the meet record of 9:27.25 set by Katie Flood of Dowling Catholic in 2010.

Her next target could be the all-time national record in the 3000 of 9:08.6.

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Lions, J-Hawks shine in Marshalltown

MARSHALLTOWN - The Linn-Mar and Jefferson track teams combined for 18 gold medals at the Class 4A state qualifier coed meet in Marshalltown Thursday.

The Linn-Mar girls, led by triple-champ Stephanie Jenks, captured eight events and claimed the team championship with 179.5 points.

The Jefferson girls, always strong in the relays, won five events and finished third in the standings with 116 points.

The Linn-Mar boys, led by triple-champ Josh Evans, won five events and placed third in their team standings.

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Wensel wins 3 events at state Jr High track

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.

Jenks wins 3 titles at Valley meet

Linn-Mar sophomore Stephanie Jenks captured the 800, 1500 and 3000 meter runs by comfortable margins at the MVC Valley Division girls track meet at Kingston Stadium Thursday.

Jenks won the 800 by more than 11 seconds, the 1500 by more than 13 seconds and the 3000 by more than 24 seconds. She was named the Valley Division Athlete of the Year for her accomplishments.

Wahlert edged Linn-Mar for the team title, 154-127.5.

Rachel Perry of Linn-Mar sped to victory in the 400 in 58.93 seconds. The Lions also won the 4x800 relay with Maddie Saville, Ally Hicks, Hanna Saville and Morgan Garcia.

Prairie finished fourth in the team standings. Kenzie Soeken won the high jump, Halle Lueck took the long jump and the Hawks won the sprint medley with Hailee Montgomery, Alexa Martin, Soeken and Hannah Grimm.

Washington won two events and finished in fifth place. Kadejah Sanders took the 100 meter dash and Amara Taylor claimed the 400 hurdles.

Team Standings

1. Wahlert 154, 2. Linn-Mar 127.5, 3. Cedar Falls 101, 4. Prairie 94, 5. Washington 70, 6. Waterloo West 30, 7. Xavier 10.5.

Winners

100 - Kadejah Sanders, Washington, 13.02

200 - Laura Sherman, Wahlert, 26.64

400 - Rachel Perry, Linn-Mar, 58.93

800 - Stephanie Jenks, Linn-Mar, 2:14.28

1500 - Stephanie Jenks, Linn-Mar, 4:54.84

3000 - Stephanie Jenks, Linn-Mar, 11:01.10

100 hurdles - Elizabeth Welu, Wahlert, 15.65

400 hurdles - Amara Taylor, Washington, 1:07.29

4x100 relay - Wahlert 50.37

4x200 relay - Cedar Falls 1:48.15

4x400 relay - Wahlert 4:02.25

4x800 relay - Linn-Mar (Maddie Saville, Ally Hicks, Hanna Saville, Morgan Garcia) 9:58.26

Sprint medley - Prairie (Hailee Montgomery, Alexa Martin, Kenzie Soeken, Hannah Grimm) 1:51.76

Distance medley - Wahlert 4:17.49

Shuttle hurdle relay - Wahlert 1:08.50

High jump - Kenzie Soeken, Prairie, 5-0

Long jump - Halle Lueck, Prairie, 17-5

Shot put - Blaire Thomas, Waterloo West, 40-0.5

Discus - Maddie Nilles, Wahlert, 134-8