Linn-Mar's Stephanie Jenks wins 4 in her home finale

MARION — Stephanie Jenks competed at Linn-Mar Stadium for the final time, but she wasn't running down a sentimental street.

'I'm a little sad that I won't run here again, but next year ... the next chapter is going to be so exciting,' Jenks said.

The senior distance ace — she'll be an Iowa distance legend in a matter of weeks — won four events as Linn-Mar dominated at the Lion Invitational girls' track and field meet Tuesday at Linn-Mar Stadium.

A University of California recruit, Jenks breezed to victory in the 3,000 (9:59.34), 800 (2:2067) and 1,500 (4:49.13). In the 400-meter hurdles, she had to come from behind down the stretch to catch Marion's Sydney Brase.

Jenks was clocked in 1:09.42, Brase in 1:10.08.

'I told (Linn-Mar Coach Nathan) Hopp that I wanted to run four today,' Jenks said. 'The debate would be whether I would run the 800 or not.'

There are still frontiers Jenks wants to reach before she jets off to Berkeley. She holds the all-time Iowa best in the 3,000, and is after the same thing in the 800 and 1,500. So there's no complancency, boredom or senioritis.

'I have a good support team at Berkeley,' she said. 'The coaches are always there for me.'

Linn-Mar broke three school records, won nine events and tallied 181 points. Marion was second with 87, followed by Cedar Rapids Kennedy (81).

Payton Wensel anchored the 800-meter relay and the sprint medley to school marks of 1:44.86 and 1:48.55, respectively. The sprint-medley unit of Jill Bennett, Kira Ramsey, Brooke Lorenz and Wensel moved to the top of the chart in Iowa this season.

'It was a great day,' Wensel said. 'We wanted to better our times so we can get good lanes at Drake. We still need better seed times in a couple relays.'

Freshman Megan Renner earned her own school mark, clearing 5 feet, 4 inches on her second attempt in the high jump.

'Coming in, because of the weather, I hadn't jumped hardly at all outside the last two weeks,' Renner said. 'I just tried to get in the mindset that I was going to jump high.

'I'd been doing some run-throughs and some lifting and working on my steps.'

Linn-Mar also won the 1,600- and 3,200-meter relays.

Kennedy got a lot out of its sprinters. Amarri Waller captured the 100, Cheyenne Mitchell grabbed the 200, and they teamed with Jurnee Rose-Johnson and Tianna Drahn to claim the 400-meter relay. The Cougars also won the shuttle hurdle relay.

'Our coaches keep pushing us to be a better team than we've been,' Waller said. 'We're pushing through the pain.'

Marion earned second place despite just one winner — Bre Smith (36-10) and Mahlia Brown (36-9) were 1-2 in the shot put.

Xavier won three events: Meghan Joens in the discus, Theresa Lampe in the 100 hurdles and the distance medley relay. Washington's Vanessa Eniola was the long jump champion.

GIRLS' TRACK & FIELD: LION INVITATIONAL

At Linn-Mar

Teams — 1. Linn-Mar 181, 2. Marion 87, 3. C.R. Kennedy 81, 4. Davenport Central 66, 5. Dubuque Senior 64, 6. C.R. Xavier 61, 7. C.R. Washington 41, 8. Davenport West 7.

Shot put — 1. Bre Smith (Mar), 36-10; 2. Mahlia Brown (Mar), 36-9; 3. Lea Grady (DC), 35-3; Discus — 1. Meghan Joens (CRX), 125-6; 2. Haley Blazek (Mar), 117-7; 3. Melanie Fuhrmann (LM), 104-9; High jump — 1. Megan Renner (LM), 5-4; 2. Grace Gudenkauf (DS), 5-0; 3. Brooke Lorenz (LM), 5-0; Long jump — 1. Vanessa Eniola (CRW), 17-4 3/4; 2. Lauren Lamourt (DC), 17-2 1/2; 3. Brooke Lorenz (LM), 17-0 1/2.

3,000 — 1. Stephanie Jenks (LM), 9:59.34; 2. Maddie Bach (Mar), 10:33.96; 3. Reagan Gorman (CRW), 10:34.90; 3,200 relay — 1. Linn-Mar (Garcia, Gries, Saville, Decker), 9:47.03; 2. Dubuque Senior, 10:08.94; 3. C.R. Kennedy, 10:20.22; Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. C.R. Kennedy (Peterson, McAllister, Beer, Lovell), 1:12.53; 2. Marion, 1:13.44; 3. C.R. Xavier, 1:14.42; 100 — 1. Amarri Waller (CRK), 13.00; 2. Sarah Hegetschweiler (DC), 13.24; 3. Kira Ramsey (LM), 13.28; Distance medley relay — 1. C.R. Xavier (Miller, Parr, Tallett, Dickes), 4:28.12; 2. Davenport Central, 4:28.89; 3. Dubuque Senior, 4:39.90; 400 — 1. Emma Sass (DS), 1:03.59; 2. Hanna Saville (LM), 1:03.66; 3. Abby Gries (LM), 1:04.98; 800 relay — 1. Linn-Mar (Bennett, Lorenz, Renner, Wensel), 1:44.86; 2. C.R. Kennedy, 1:49.04; 3. Davenport Central, 1:50.54; 100 hurdles — 1. Theresa Lampe (CRX), 16.96; 2. Sydney Brase (Mar), 17.24; 3. Vanessa Eniola (CRW), 17.52; 800 — 1. Stephanie Jenks (LM), 2:20.67; 2. Amber Decker (LM), 2:25.08; 3. Jennifer Dickes (CRX), 2:29.97; 200 — Cheyenne Mitchell (CRK), 27.30; 2. Lea Grady (DC), 28.12; 3. Amber Decker (LM), 28.29; 400 hurdles — 1. Stephanie Jenks (LM), 1:09.42; 2. Sydney Brase (Mar), 1:10.08; 3. Kara Jakubsen (DC), 1:13.36; Sprint medley relay — 1. Linn-Mar (Bennett, Ramsey, Lorenz, Wensel), 1:48.55; 2. Davenport Central, 1:55.35; 3. Dubuque Senior, 1:56.74; 1,500 — 1. Stephanie Jenks (LM), 4:49.13; 2. Morgan Garcia (LM), 5:00.48; 3. Reagan Gorman (CRW), 5:02.18; 400 relay — 1. C.R. Kennedy (Mitchell, Rose-Johnson, Drahn, Waller), 51.83; 2. Linn-Mar, 51.96; 3. Davenport Central, 52.35; 1,600 relay — 1. Linn-Mar (Gries, Decker, Saville, Wensel), 4:15.03; 2. Marion, 4:19.36; 3. C.R. Washington, 4:24.16.

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