At last, Jefferson sprinters strike gold

DES MOINES - Cheetah Girls. Cheetah Sisters.

And now, at last, Cheetah Champions.

Cedar Rapids Jefferson's sprinters got their long-awaited Drake Relays championship Friday, holding off Waukee and setting a Drake record of 1:40.96 in the 800-meter relay.

'We were well overdue,” said senior anchor Lucy Schneekloth, whose mother Julie was a part of Jefferson's last relay champion here, in 1986.

The J-Hawks reigned on a gloomy day, moments after a rain shower had let up. But this isn't a fair-weather foursome.

'It's J-Hawk weather,” said senior Morgan Meese. 'Running in the rain, it gets us fired up. A lot of teams can't deal with the conditions. But we'd be out running in November.”

Abilene Ranschau, Jasmine Blue, Meese and Schneekloth ran the second-fastest 800 relay in state history, 2-hundredths of a second off their all-time Iowa best, set at the 2013 state meet.

'We'll got sub-1:40 at state, for sure,” Meese said.

The J-Hawks led the race from the start. Once Blue handed off to Meese, she clasped her hands, prayer-like, and watched the rest of the race unfold.

'I knew we could do it, but I was just looking for some extra support,” Blue said.

Schneekloth held off Waukee freshman Elma Vojic down the stretch. Waukee was clocked in 1:41.18.

The J-Hawks had been close here on numerous occasions recently. They were denied again earlier Friday, finishing a close third in the sprint medley relay (Boone won it in 1:46.43 on Dianna Slight's 55.5-second anchor). Afterward, Meese and Schneekloth massaged Blue's legs and the J-Hawks refocused.

They invited Coach Bill Calloway to join their huddle, in which they chant, 'Cheetah Girls, Cheetah Sisters.” Then, they got to work and got the job done.

But not completely done.

'The 4-by-1 (Saturday) is ours,” Blue said.

Linn-Mar's Stephanie Jenks picked up her second title of the weekend - and her seventh at Drake in her career - by coming from behind and winning the 800 meters in 2:09.64.

'I don't have to kick often, but I was able to shift gears today,” Jenks said. 'I ran with my instincts - when I see a gap, I go for it.”

Jenks outkicked Clayton Ridge's Jasmine Staebler, who was second (2:11.40) for the third consecutive year.

'The last 200, I tried to kick it in. I gave it everything I had left,” Staebler said. 'But (Jenks) definitely had more to give.”

Jenks is one victory away from matching Katie Flood (West Des Moines Dowling, 2010) and Shelby Houlihan (Sioux City East, 2011) with eight Drake titles. She will run the 400 hurdles and the 1,500 on Saturday, and she's heavily favored in the latter of those.

Solon's Shelby Gunnells repeated as the shot put champion with a heave of 45 feet, 5 1/2 inches.

'It's kind of a sigh of relief,” said Gunnells, who will throw next year at North Dakota State. 'Practice this week was uglier than normal. I wasn't getting my right shoulder through, and that made me a little nervous.

'My first couple throws today were pretty good, so I was loose, light and ready to go.”

As the defending champion, Gunnells wasn't taking anything for granted, though some of her schoolmates were.

'I was walking around school, and some people were calling me, ‘Drake champion,'” Gunnells said. 'I was like, ‘Don't say that!'”

Pleasant Valley's Kelli DeGeorge and Union's Maria Wrage both cleared 5-6 in the high jump. DeGeorge won the title based on fewer misses.

Ranschau and Iowa City West's Valerie Welch were third and fourth in the 100 hurdles. Mallory Vawter of Conrad BCLUW won it in 14.96 seconds.

'I saw (Vawter) at the Dickinson (Relays), and she's good,” Ranschau said. 'My race wasn't perfect; I can still do better. But overall, it was a fun race. I really enjoyed it.”

Briyana Carter of Des Moines Roosevelt won the 100 in 12.13 seconds. Four different Roosevelt girls have combined to win the last five Drake 100s.

DRAKE RELAYS: GIRLS RESULTS

Shot put - 1. Shelby Gunnells (Solon), 45-5 1/2; 2. Erika Hammond (Clinton), 44-3 3/4; 3. Kate Birchmier (Davis County), 43-1; 4. Kiana Phelps (Kingsley-Pierson/Woodbury Central), 42-6 1/2; 5. Jacy Embray (Glenwood), 41-11 1/4; 6. Mary Wester (Mount Pleasant), 41-8 1/4; 7. Kassie Hoyme (Decorah), 41-2; 8. Caitlyn Clayton (Estherville ELC), 41-1 1/4.

High jump - 1. Kelli DeGeorge (Pleasant Valley), 5-6; 2. Maria Wrage (Union), 5-6; 3. Ellie Roquet (Johnston), 5-4; 4. Sarah Boomgarden (South Hardin), 5-4; 5. Mary Shepard (Albia), 5-4; 6. Marissa Ward (Iowa Valley), 5-4; 7. (tie) Nicole Meyer (Van Meter) and Grace Gudenkauf (Dubuque Senior), 5-2.

Sprint medley relay - 1. Boone (Lyons, Aspengren, Schminke, Slight), 1:46.43; 2. Pleasant Valley, 1:46.73; 3. Cedar Rapids Jefferson, 1:46.87; 4. Waukee, 1:48.27; 5. Linn-Mar, 1:48.89; 6. Iowa City High, 1:48.94; 7. Southeast Polk, 1:48.98; 8. Davenport Assumption, 1:49.15.

100 hurdles - 1. Mallory Vawter (Conrad BCLUW), 14.97; 2. Aleenah Marcucci (Northeast), 15.06; 3. Abilene Ranschau (Cedar Rapids Jefferson), 15.06; 4. Valerie Welch (Iowa City West), 15.13; 5. Carly Donahue (Pleasant Valley), 15.17; 6. Kelsi Phipps (Mount Pleasant), 15.44; 7. Kenzie Keune (Sioux Central), 15.71; 8. Billie Mottet (Urbandale), 15.95.

100 - Briyana Carter (Des Moines Roosevelt), 12.13; 2. Kari Dufoe (Adel ADM), 12.25; 3. Natalie Halfman (Saint Ansgar), 12.27; 4. Elma Vojic (Waukee), 12.30; 5. Katie Maschmann (Montezuma), 12.35; 6. Khenadi Jones (Sioux City West), 12.36; 7. Madison Hemer (Ida Grove OA-BCIG), 12.73; 8. Skyler Shellmyer (Urbandale), 12.74.

800 relay - 1. Cedar Rapids Jefferson (Ranschau, Blue, Meese, Schneekloth), 1:40.96 (Drake record); 2. Waukee, 1:41.18; 3. Pleasant Valley, 1:43.89; 4. Boone, 1:44.80; 5. Davenport Assumption, 1:45.00; 6. Southeast Polk, 1:45.80; 7. Bettendorf, 1:45.86; 8. Dubuque Wahlert, 1:46.33.

800 - 1. Stephanie Jenks (Linn-Mar), 2:09.64; 2. Jasmine Staebler (Clayton Ridge), 2:11.40; 3. Erika Lewis (Waukee), 2:12.38; 4. Joy Ripslinger (Davenport Assumption), 2:12.42; 5. Larkin Chapman (Muscatine), 2:13.92; 6. Bailey Nock (Iowa City West), 2:14.32; 7. Natalie Halfman (Saint Ansgar), 2:14.81; 8. Amber Decker (Linn-Mar), 2:15.43.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com