Rookie Wensel adds to Linn-Mar’s stable

CEDAR RAPIDS - Before depositing a portion of her breakfast into a garbage can near the Kingston Stadium finish line, Amber Decker made an accurate assessment of the Linn-Mar High School girls' track and field squad:

'We've got a lot of horses that can pull the sled,” she said.

And there's a new prized pony among them. Meet Payton Wensel.

A freshman, Wensel posted a 2:16 800-meter split as Linn-Mar set a meet record in the 3,200-meter relay, then broke another meet mark solo in the 400 meters as Linn-Mar captured the team title at the 14-team J-Hawk Relays on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.

The Lions won eight events and tallied 95 points. Host Cedar Rapids Jefferson was second with 75 points, followed by Dubuque Wahlert (74), Solon (61) and Decorah (58).

Linn-Mar already had junior Stephanie Jenks, the best distance runner in state history, and a middle-distance pillar in Decker. Now, add Wensel to further stack the deck.

'I was hoping, based on my times from middle school, that I would be able to make the varsity,” Wensel said. 'I think I've been able to transition in pretty well.”

Wensel ran second in the Lions' 3,200 relay that blazed to a clocking of 9:23.22, a meet and school record and the best time in Iowa this spring.

Maddie Saville led it off, then handed off to Wensel. Then it was Hanna Saville, before Decker anchored in 2:18.

'Originally, we planned to just go out and see what we could run,” Decker said. 'When we were warming up, we said, ‘Why not go for the meet record?' Then, when Maddie was running, it was like, ‘Why not go for the school record?'”

They worked hard for it. The younger Saville got sick afterward, then Decker followed.

Wensel, on the other hand, came back a couple hours later and captured the 400 in 57.84 seconds, breaking the meet record and missing the school mark by a few tenths of a second.

Then, the 4x800 crew reconvened for the 1,600 relay and capped off a triumphant day by winning the event in 4:03.57.

Jenks had a full plate Saturday, breaking meet records in the 3,000 (9:51.23) and 1,500 (4:44.85) and added a title in the 800 (2:17.46).

Jefferson, as expected, owned the sprints. Abbie Ranschau, Jasmine Blue, Morgan Meese and Lucy Schneekloth set meet records in the 800 relay (1:42.49) and 400 relay (48.63). Schneekloth and Ranschau finished 1-2 in the 200 in 25.86 and 25.87, respectively.

'We had a fantastic day,” Schneekloth said. 'We're progressing down a very good road.”

The J-Hawks have set some extremely lofty goals for the next few weeks. Among them - all-time Iowa bests in the 400 and 800 relays, plus the sprint medley.

'We're setting ‘em big,” Schneekloth said. 'We want to be known as the fastest sprinters in Iowa. If we can get them down there, maybe they'll be safe for a couple years.”

Other area winners were Solon's Shelby Gunnells (shot put), Josie Durr (high jump) and Emma Moss (400 hurdles), Iowa City West's Valerie Welch (100 hurdles), Cedar Rapids Kennedy's Katie Beer (long jump) and Decorah's shuttle hurdle relay.

J-HAWK RELAYS

At Kingston Stadium

Teams - 1. Linn-Mar 95, 2. C.R. Jefferson 75, 3. Dubuque Wahlert 74, 4. Solon 61, 5. Decorah 58, 6. Iowa City West 43, 7. C.R. Prairie 39.5, 8. Cedar Falls 35, 9. C.R. Kennedy 30, 10. Waterloo West 25, 11. Marshalltown 24, 12. Waterloo East 22.5, 13. C.R. Washington 6, 14. Waverly-Shell Rock 1.

Shot put - 1. Shelby Gunnells (Sol), 44-5; 2. Kassie Hoyme (Dec), 41-5; 3. Allison Griffin (CF), 39-7; Discus - 1. Maddie Nilles (DW), 146-7; 2. Kassie Hoyme (Dec), 121-6; 3. Leah Dusterhoft (ICW), 120-0; High jump - 1. Josie Durr (Sol), 5-2; 2. Kenzie Soeken (CRP), 5-0; 3. Katie Beer (CRK), 5-0; Long jump - 1. Katie Beer (CRK), 16-1 1/2; 2. Alanna Muhammad (WE), 15-11; 3. Miasia Bergmann (CRJ), 15-5 1/2.

3,000 - 1. Stephanie Jenks (LM), 9:51.23*; 2. Rachel Blagg (Marsh), 11:18.94; 3. Maddy Genskow (LM), 11:34.93; 3,200 relay - 1. Linn-Mar (M.Saville, Wensel, H.Saville, Decker), 9:23.22*; 2. Dubuque Wahlert, 9:54.78; 3. Cedar Falls, 10:05.43; Shuttle hurdle relay - 1. Decorah (Kephart, Martin, Kerndt, Sandvig), 1:09.03; 2. C.R. Jefferson, 1:09.74; 3. Solon, 1:10.24; 100 - Alanna Muhammad (WE), 11.75*; 2. Laura Sherman (DW), 12.11; 3. Amarri Waller (CRK), 12.16; Distance medley relay - 1. Linn-Mar (Sharma, Ramsey, Gries, Garcia), 4:23.81; 2. C.R. Prairie, 4:28.67; 3. Solon, 4:33.09; 400 - 1. Payton Wensel (LM), 57.84*; 2. Zoey Thune (WW), 1:03.93; 3. Sydney Davis (CF), 1:04.84; 800 relay - 1. C.R. Jefferson (Ranschau, Blue, Meese, Schneekloth), 1:42.49*; 2. Dubuque Wahlert, 1:45.40; 3. C.R. Prairie, 1:49.79; 100 hurdles - 1. Valerie Welch (ICW), 15.42; 2. Olivia Sandvig (Dec), 16.37; 3. Bailey Vance (DW), 16.43; 800 - 1. Stephanie Jenks (LM), 2:17.46; 2. Bailey Nock (ICW), 2:20.49; 3. Tia Saunders (ICW), 2:22.16; 200 - 1. Lucy Schneekloth (CRJ), 25.86; 2. Abilene Ranschau (CRJ), 25.87; 3. Amarri Waller (CRK), 26.38; 400 hurdles - 1. Emma Moss (Sol), 1:10.24; 2. Grace Herner (DW), 1:11.31; 3. Jasmine Scott (Marsh), 1:11.95; Sprint medley relay - 1. Linn-Mar (Lorenz, Sharma, Ramsey, Decker), 1:53.38; 2. Waterloo West, 1:53.52; 3. C.R. Prairie, 1:54.10; 1,500 - 1. Stephanie Jenks (LM), 4:44.85*; 2. Amanda Taylor (Dec), 5:01.29; 3. Hannah Frazee (CRP), 5:03.60; 400 relay - 1. C.R. Jefferson (Schneekloth, Ranschau, Meese, Blue), 48.63*; 2. Waterloo West, 51.36; 3. Dubuque Wahlert, 51.50; 1,600 relay - 1. Linn-Mar (M.Saville, Wensel, H.Saville, Decker), 4:03.57; 2. C.R. Jefferson, 4:06.86; Iowa City West, 4:09.03.

*meet record

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