Jenks completes a distance triple

DES MOINES - Stephanie Jenks has joined elite company.

The junior star from Linn-Mar High School completed a distance triple Saturday at the Drake Relays, pulling away after an early challenge to capture the girls' 1,500-meter title in 4 minutes, 31.09 seconds at a chilly Drake Stadium.

Jenks joined Katie Flood (West Des Moines Dowling, 2010) and Shelby Houlihan (Sioux City East, 2011) atop the all-time leaderboard of Drake girls' championships, with eight.

And she still has another year to go.

'I'm happy to be where those other girls are,” Jenks said. 'I used to follow (Houlihan) all the time; I came back (Friday) night to watch her run the (women's special invitational) 800.”

Jenks owns three Drake titles in the 3,000, three in the 1,500 and two in the 800 (including one awarded last year after Pleasant Valley's Kaley Ciluffo was stripped of her title last summer).

Pleasant Valley's McKenzie Yanek pushed Jenks somewhat for about 600 meters before Jenks pulled away and won by a healthy 11 seconds.

'I knew (Yanek) was there for a while,” Jenks said. 'But I was more focused on myself.”

Jenks figures she'll run the same program at regionals and state that she ran this weekend - the 800, 1,500 and 3,000, along with the 400 hurdles, an event in which she placed seventh Saturday.

Linn-Mar came close in two relays Saturday. The Lions were second behind Pleasant Valley in the 3,200 relay, then a close third in the 1,600 relay.

Maddie Saville, Payton Wensel, Hanna Saville and Amber Decker comprised the foursome in both. In the finale, Pleasant Valley finished in 3:55.49, Davenport Assumption in 3:56.21, Linn-Mar in 3:56.27.

'I feel like I let my teammates down,” Decker said. 'I was the last one to carry the stick, and I didn't come away with (the win).”

Maddie Saville felt otherwise:

'Don't write that,” she said of Decker's comment. 'She ran her hardest race. I'm proud of everyone. We're going to keep working hard, and get ready for state.”

Wensel, a freshman, posted a 2:16.6 split in the 3,200 relay and 56.4 in the 1,600 relay.

DRAKE RELAYS: GIRLS RESULTS

3,200 relay - 1. Davenport Assumption (Schumacher, Rohlf, King, Ripslinger), 9:20.99; 2. Linn-Mar, 9:27.74; 3. Waukee, 9:30.49; 4. Gilbert, 9:39.26; 5. Muscatine, 9:42.99; 6. West Des Moines Valley, 9:45.41; 7. Fort Madison, 9:46.03; 8. Des Moines Roosevelt, 9:47.93.

Shuttle hurdle relay - 1. Waukee (Schau, Nelson, Gray, Modrell), 1:03.55; 2. Pleasant Valley, 1:04.03; 3. Urbandale, 1:05.35; 4. Clear Creek Amana, 1:06.88.

1,500 - 1. Stephanie Jenks (Linn-Mar), 4:31.09; 2. Trina Moreno (Urbandale), 4:42.19; 3. Abby Kohut-Jackson (Ballard), 4:43.24; 4. Gwynne Wright (Pekin), 4:44.71; 5. McKenzie Yanek (Pleasant Valley), 4:44.76; 6. Kate Smith (Ankeny Centennial), 4:44.85; 7. Ellie Friesen (Osage), 4:46.11; 8. Megan Schott (Des Moines Roosevelt), 4:46.52.

400 hurdles - 1. Sarah Plock (Iowa City High), 1:01.22; 2. Carly Donahue (Pleasant Valley), 1:02.89; 3. Erika Lewis (Waukee), 1:03.23; 4. Kaleigh Haus (Carlisle) 1:03.60; 5. Valerie Welch (Iowa City West), 1:05.72; 6. Liz Miklus (Saydel), 1:05.81; 7. Stephanie Jenks (Linn-Mar), 1:06.90; 8. Aleenah Marcucci (Northeast), 1:14.52.

400 relay - 1. Cedar Rapids Jefferson (Schneekloth, Ranschau, Meese, Blue), 47.55 (ties Drake record and all-time Iowa best); 2. Waukee, 48.07; 3. Pleasant Valley, 49.47; 4. Urbandale, 49.48; 5. Des Moines East, 49.69; 6. Boone, 49.76; 7. Southeast Polk, 49.80; 8. Ankeny Centennial, 50.32.

1,600 relay - 1. Pleasant Valley (Donahue, Whigham, Banks, Swanson), 3:55.49; 2. Davenport Assumption, 3:56.21; 3. Linn-Mar, 3:56.27; 4. Waukee, 4:03.89; 5. Southeast Polk, 4:04.43; 6. Iowa City West, 4:05.86; 7. Muscatine, 4:08.70.

DRAKE RELAYS: BOYS RESULTS

3,200 relay - 1. Pleasant Valley (Sommer, Zimmer, Moss, Dixon), 7:53.84; 2. Johnston, 7:55.75; 3. West Des Moines Valley, 7:57.25; 4. Linn-Mar, 7:58.00; 5. Ames, 8:03.33; 6. Mount Vernon, 8:04.33; 7. Iowa City West, 8:05.40; 8. Cedar Falls, 8:06.52.

Shuttle hurdle relay - 1. Waukee (Renchaw, Brown, Gray, Wessels), 56.62; 2. Linn-Mar, 57.69; 3. Mount Pleasant, 57.98.

1,600 - 1. Ryan Schweizer (West Des Moines Dowling), 4:18.18; 2. Josh Yeager (Center Point-Urbana), 4:20.21; 3. Karson Sommer (Pleasant Valley), 4:21.89; 4. Josh Borwick (Johnston), 4:22.61; 5. Greg Rinn (West Des Moines Valley), 4:22.85; 6. Eric Lenz (Tipton), 4:23.58; 7. Atem Akok (Ames), 4:23.94; 8. Tysen VanDraska (Cedar Rapids Prairie), 4:25.27.

400 hurdles - 1. Jacob Smith (West Burlington-Notre Dame), 52.55; 2. Pat Gray (Waukee), 53.90; 3. Nick Kennicker (Northeast), 53.90; 4. Wyatt Rhoads (Gilbert), 54.57; 5. JoJo Frost (Center Point-Urbana), 54.83; 6. Clayton Sommers (Saydel), 54.99; 7. Cole Phillips (Mount Pleasant), 58.44; 8. David Jellings (North Fayette Valley), 59.93.

400 relay - 1. West Burlington-Notre Dame (T.Williams, Wrede, Trousil, X.Williams), 42.87; 2. Johnston, 43.00; 3. Glenwood, 43.06; 4. Cedar Falls, 43.16; 5. Cedar Rapids Washington, 43.40; 6. Linn-Mar, 43.46; 7. West Des Moines Dowling, 43.59.

1,600 relay - 1. Waukee (Vogel, Allen, Schneiter, Gray), 3:19.94; 2. Cedar Falls, 3:20.06; 3. Albia, 3:21.41; 4. West Des Moines Dowling, 3:21.91; 5. Urbandale, 3:23.27; 6. Cedar Rapids Washington, 3:25.68; 7. Davenport Central, 3:26.43.

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