Linn-Mar’s T.J. Jackson jumps very high and very far

MARION — Upon graduation, T.J. Jackson is moving on to Grand View University to play football.

Track and field? That’s a firm maybe.

“I hadn’t been thinking about it, but if I’m consistent this year, I have to, don’t I?” he said.

By all means, yes. It would be a shame if he didn’t. Few Iowa high school athletes soar as high, or as far.

Jackson swept the jumps at the Clark Weaver Invitational track and field meet Friday night at Linn-Mar Stadium.

The distances: 23 feet, 8 1/2 inches horizontally, 6-8 vertically.

“Since seventh grade, I’ve been a jumper,” said Jackson, now a senior at Linn-Mar. “I’ve never had to critique much.”

He has been one of the state’s top high jumpers since his sophomore year. The long jump is just now starting to take shape.

“It’s the first year I’ve taken the long jump seriously,” Jackson said. “I worked on it over the summer. I needed to fix my form. My landing, last year, was terrible.

“I was shooting for 23 feet. Now, I’ve got to shoot for 24.”

Jackson climbed to No. 2 statewide (all classes) in the long jump. He entered Friday as the state leader at 6-10 1/2.

After clearing 6-8 with room to spare, he went for 7 feet, and nearly made it on his last try.

“I’m getting over it good enough. I’m just hitting it with my butt,” he said. “I didn’t have as much energy as I’d like, but the last jump felt really good.”

Led by Jackson and hurdling ace Nicholas Gorsich, Linn-Mar had the headliners in the boys’ competition.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy won the team title, though, accumulating 140.5 points. Linn-Mar was second with 133, followed by Cedar Rapids Prairie (130).

Gorsich ran on the Lions’ triumphant shuttle hurdle relay, then won solo in the 110-meter hurdles (14.38) and 400-meter hurdles (53.54).

The Lions’ shuttle unit of Nathan Leemhuis, Gorsich, Colton Waller and William Grant were the state’s first crew to break 60 seconds this season, running a clean race in 58.67 seconds.

Gorsich and Grant, in particular, are old veterans in the hurdles. Waller is a welcome-addition senior in his first year out.

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“I was good in middle school, so I decided to give it a shot,” he said. “We focus on the little things and worry about ourselves.”

Gorsich is No. 1 in Iowa in the highs, No. 2 in the lows.

“I think my mindset has changed a lot this year,” he said. “I’m resting more, stretching more. I’m perfectly healthy, and the weather tonight was absolutely perfect.”

Miles Wilson was a double-winner for Kennedy, sweeping the distance races in 9:24.31 (3,200) and 4:24.46 (1,600).

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Cedar Rapids Washington zoomed to the top of the state leader board in three boys’ events. The Warriors ran the sprint medley relay in 1:33.95, the 4x200 in 1:28.53, the 4x100 in 42.32.

The sprint medley is not a Drake Relays event, but “we wanted to drop a bomb, and let people know what we’ve got,” anchor Traijan Sain said.

Sain bypassed his junior season to focus on basketball, but his return gives the Warriors a 400 guy to complement their sprinters.

“Once he builds his endurance, he’ll be fine,” Blank said. “He hasn’t missed a beat.”

In the girls’ competition, Linn-Mar didn’t win an event until the very end — the Lions captured the 1,600-meter relay in 4:08.89 behind anchor Bethany Northrup’s come-from-behind caper — but won a balanced team race with 127 points.

Reigning Class 3A state champion Solon was second with 106 points, followed by Pleasant Valley (94).

Pleasant Valley and Kennedy won four events apiece. Solon’s Mia Stahle won the 400-meter hurdles and ran on the Spartans’ victorious shuttle hurdle relay.

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Clark Weaver Invitational

(At Linn-Mar)

Girls Results

Teams — 1. Linn-Mar 127, 2. Solon 106, 3. Pleasant Valley 94, 4. C.R. Kennedy 70, 5. Bettendorf 61, 6. C.R. Prairie 58, 7. Marion 47, 8. Dubuque Hempstead 45, 9. Western Dubuque 42, 10. C.R. Washington 30, 11. Davenport Central 21, 12. Davenport Assumption 15, 13. C.R. Jefferson 13, 14. Davenport West 7, 15. Linn-Mar JV 5.

High jump — 1. Lyla Canny (CRP), 5-1; 2. Katy Hand (LM), 5-0; 3. Allison Kriegel (LM), 4-10.

Long jump — 1. Elodie Stroup (PV), 17-3; 2. Abby Mecklenburg (LM), 17-0; 3. Petra Sherman (LM), 17-0.

Shot put — 1. Kamiyah Elders (CRW), 39-8 1/2; 2. Kennedy Evans (LM), 39-4 1/4; 3. Ellie Erpelding (Bett), 38-0 3/4.

Discus — 1. Reese Goodlet (PV), 120-3; 2. Kate Shafer (Solon), 116-9; 3. Abigail Felton (Solon), 112-3.

Sprint medley relay — 1. C.R. Kennedy (Hullon, Hospodarsky, Swartzendruber, Swartzendruber), 1:50.15; 2. Linn-Mar, 1:52.20; 3. Marion, 1:53.80.

3,000 — 1. Emily See (Bett), 11:02.12; 2. Dylan Moeller (DavC), 11:21.18; 3. Rachel Adamson (LM), 11:30.67.

3,200 relay — 1. Pleasant Valley (Boleyn, Duncan, Mowen, Sommer), 9:35.40; 2. Solon, 9:53.66; 3. Dubuque Hempstead, 10:11.39.

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Solon (Stahle, Foster, Eidahl, Stahle), 1:08.73; 2. Pleasant Valley, 1:09.29; 3. Linn-Mar, 1:10.00.

100 — 1. Brynn Walters (WDbq), 12.86; 2. Aly Stahle (Solon), 12.87; 3. Sarah Jordan (CRP), 12.99.

Distance medley relay — 1. Dubuque Hempstead (Osterkamp, Tomkins, Leitzen, O’Brien), 4:18.82; 2. Marion, 4:26.83; 3. Pleasant Valley, 4:33.03.

400 — 1. Annika Kotula (DavA), 1:00.99; 2. Brooke O'Brien (DbqH), 1:01.99; 3. Breka Trapp (LM), 1:02.47.

800 relay — 1. C.R. Kennedy (Hullon, Swearinger, Veach, Swartzendruber), 1:46.44; 2. Western Dubuque, 1:47.32; 3. Pleasant Valley, 1:47.66.

100 hurdles — 1. Ryann Decker (CRP), 15.60; 2. Grace Braden (CRK), 15.84; 3. Addy Patten (PV), 16.03.

800 — 1. Keelee Leitzen (DbqH), 2:15.08; 2. Gracie Federspiel (Solon), 2:15.95; 3. Lydia Sommer (PV), 2:17.21.

200 — 1. Addison Swartzendruber (CRK), 26.09; 2. Abigail Cave (Mar), 26.10; 3. Aly Stahle (Solon), 26.25.

400 hurdles — 1. Mia Stahle (Solon), 1:07.94; 2. Sage Slessor (CRW), 1:10.86; 3. Tatum Miller (Bett), 1:10.97.

1,500 — 1. Alyssa Brandt (CRK), 5:03.27; 2. Kayla Young (Solon), 5:03.29; 3. Sophia Dallal (DbqH), 5:05.30.

400 relay — 1. Pleasant Valley (Saddler, Albertson, Lewis, Hansen), 50.37; 2. Marion, 50.97; 3. C.R. Prairie, 51.04.

1,600 relay — 1. Linn-Mar (Trapp, Guild, Denge-Hagen, Northrup), 4:08.89; 2. Bettendorf, 4:11.79; 3. Solon, 4:13.17.

Boys Results

Teams — 1. C.R. Kennedy 140.5, 2. Linn-Mar 133, 3. C.R. Prairie 130, 4. Pleasant Valley 113, 5. C.R. Washington 54.5, 6. Marion 40, 7. Davenport Assumption 36, 8. Davenport Central 33, 9. C.R. Jefferson 22, 10. Davenport West 12, 11. Linn-Mar JV 10, 12. Western Dubuque 9, 13. Waterloo East 3.

High jump — 1. T.J. Jackson (LM), 6-8; 2. Daniel Zietlow (PV), 6-0; 3. Spencer Roemer (PV), 5-10.

Long jump — 1. T.J. Jackson (LM), 23-8 1/2; 2. Harrison Fierce (PV), 22-1; 3. Max Doran (PV), 21-6 1/2.

Shot put — 1. Sam Watts (LM), 51-6; 2. Logan Johnson (CRK), 47-11 1/2; 3. Joey Van Wetzinga (PV), 47-11 1/4.

Discus — 1. Tate Joens (CRP), 148-4; 2. Nolan Dempsey (DavW0, 134-10; 3. Haydn Stockdale (CRP), 132-5.

Sprint medley relay — 1. C.R. Washington (Epps-Keller, Thompson, Blank, Sain), 1:33.96; 2. C.R. Kennedy, 1:39.51; 3. Linn-Mar, 1:39.63.

3,200 — 1. Miles Wilson (CRK), 9:24.31; 2. Luke Knepp (PV), 9:27.58; 3. Isaiah Hammerand (WDbq), 9:54.89.

3,200 relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Ruby, Allard, Steinbrech, Cooper), 8:11.43; 2. Linn-Mar, 8:15.91; 3. C.R. Kennedy, 8:28.60.

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Linn-Mar (Leemhuis, Gorsich, Waller, Grant), 58.67; 2. Pleasant Valley, 58.97; 3. C.R. Kennedy, 1:01.71.

100 — 1. Makhi Wilson (PV), 11.21; 2. Alex Mota (Mar), 11.23; 3. Anthony Franklin (CRK), 11.51.

Distance medley relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Byishimo, Cooling, Leitheiser, Koch), 3:47.46; 2. Davenport Assumption, 3:48.01; 3. Linn-Mar, 3:50.00.

400 — 1. Tayden Ferguson (LM), 49.22; 2. Jackson Johannes (CRP), 51.15; 3. Ty Harmsen (DavC), 53.16.

800 relay — 1. C.R. Washington (Sain, Johnson, Blank, Thompson), 1:28.53; 2. C.R. Prairie, 1:29.62; 3. C.R. Kennedy, 1:30.27.

110 hurdles — 1. Nicholas Gorsich (LM), 14.38; 2. Eli Ebel (CRP), 15.60; 3. Isaiah Skvor (CRW), 15.94.

800 — 1. Curtis Sanders (CRJ), 2:01.30; 2. Maddox Sullivan (DavC), 2:01.41; 3. Jaxon Sickels (CRP), 2:01.71.

200 — 1. Mereweneza Byishimo (CRP), 23.16; 2. Jacob Doyle (CRK), 23.25; 3. Keegan Erickson (CRP), 23.43.

400 hurdles — 1. Nicholas Gorsich (LM), 53.54; 2. William Grant (LM), 56.13; 3. Eli Ebel (CRP), 57.68.

1,600 — 1. Miles Wilson (CRK), 4:24.46; 2. Jedidiah Osgood (Mar), 4:27.94; 3. Cooper Cook (Mar), 4:28.57.

400 relay — 1. C.R. Washington (Epps-Keller, Thompson, Johnson, Blank), 42.32; 2. C.R. Kennedy, 43.12; 3. C.R. Prairie, 43.20.

1,600 relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Koch, Steinbrech, Allard, Patterson), 3:27.59; 2. C.R. Kennedy, 3:30.76; 3. Linn-Mar, 3:31.16.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com