Valerie Welch leaps onto the all-time Iowa leaderboard in long jump debut

IOWA CITY — It's an exclusive club, this sorority of 19-foot long jumpers.

Valerie Welch earned a chair at the table in her very first try.

Welch's long-jump debut was a smashing success, to say the least, at the Women of Troy Relays on Tuesday at West High School. The West junior sailed 19 feet, 4 inches — in her first jump.

Her first competitive outdoor jump. Ever.

'I thought I mis-heard them when they announced it,' Welch said. 'I turned around and said, 'Did he just say 19?' I couldn't believe it.'

In more than a half-century of Iowa girls' high school track and field, only 11 girls have been measured at 19 feet or more. Welch now ranks in a tie for No. 3 all-time in the state (Lexus Lovan of Urbandale owns the all-time Iowa best, 19-10 1/4, a mark established in 2014).

Did we mention that Welch is a long-jumping novice?

'We don't really have girls that come here as long-jumpers,' West Coach Mike Parker said. 'They spend time doing something else.

'A couple weeks ago, I told her to come over and give it a try in practice. She looked at me like, 'I get to go play in the sand for a while?''

Welch's best jump was her first one. A friendly wind didn't hurt. But the vast majority of the eye-popping distance was pure athleticism.

'I jumped up, I jumped out ... I guess it went pretty well,' she said. 'Obviously, I wasn't expecting to jump 19 feet. I was hoping for 16 feet.'

One more of Welch's jumps surpassed 18 feet, and another came close. Her other three run-throughs were scratches.

The long jump title was the first of four victories for Welch. She anchored the winning shuttle hurdle relay and won the 100-meter hurdles (in 15.26 seconds) and the 400-meter hurdles (1:06.36).

West captured eight events and convincingly won the team championship with 174 points. Linn-Mar was second with 122 points, followed by much-improved Cedar Rapids Kennedy (76) and Cedar Rapids Prairie (64).

The Women of Troy got big points from 1-2 finishes in the shot put, 100 hurdles, 400 hurdles and 1,500.

Last year's Class 4A state runner-up, Linn-Mar won seven events. Sophomore Payton Wensel was a triple-winner, taking top honors in the 200 (25.81), 400 (56.70) and anchoring the 1,600-meter medley with a 57.5-second split. The Lions were clocked in the finale in 4:02.60.

'The 200 was a good race. It's a lot easier than a 400 mentally,' Wensel said. 'And the 4-by-4, I'm very, very happy with that. We lost Maddie (Saville) from last year's team, but Brooke (Lorenz) has come in and done a fantastic job.'

Linn-Mar's Stephanie Jenks won a star-studded 800, in which three runners broke 2:20. Jenks was clocked in 2:14.53.

WOMEN OF TROY RELAYS

At Iowa City West

Teams — 1. Iowa City West 174, 2. Linn-Mar 122, 3. C.R. Kennedy 76, 4. C.R. Prairie 64, 5. Iowa City High 58, 6. Muscatine 50, 7. C.R. Xavier 25, 8. Burlington 20.

Shot put — 1. Chandler Haight (ICW), 37-6; 2. Zainab Makky (ICW), 35-1 1/4; 3. Danielle Wegter (Musc), 34-6 1/4; Discus — 1. Leah Dusterhoft (ICW), 124-1; 2. Danielle Wegter (Musc), 119-4; 3. Meghan Joens (CRX), 117-8; High jump — 1. Rose Gamamou (ICH), 5-6; 2. Katie Beer (CRK), 5-2; 3. Brooke Lorenz (LM), 5-2; Long jump — 1. Valerie Welch (ICW), 19-4; 2. Brooke Lorenz (LM), 17-7; 3. Katie Beer (CRK), 17-6.

3,000 — 1. Gabby Skopec (ICW), 10:47.05; 2. Hannah Frazee (CRP), 11:05.43; 3. Olivia Moore (ICW), 11:08.42; 3,200 relay — 1. Muscatine (Kraft, France, Morter, Chapman), 9:39.87; 2. Iowa City High, 9:55.43; 3. Iowa City West, 10:08.36; Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Iowa City West (Steva, Koibi, Young, Welch), 1:06.62; 2. C.R. Kennedy, 1:13.03; 3. Burlington, 1:14.27; 100 — 1. Kira Ramsey (LM), 12.98; 2. Amarri Waller (CRK), 13.03; 3. Jill Bennett (LM), 13.15; Distance medley relay — 1. Linn-Mar (Feahn, Renner, Saville, Garcia), 4:18.43; 2. Iowa City West, 4:18.66; 3. Muscatine, 4:41.74; 400 — 1. Payton Wensel (LM), 56.70; 2. Kirstin Skriver (CRP), 1:01.75; 3. Jennifer Dickes (CRX), 1:02.05; 800 relay — 1. Iowa City High (Johnson, DePrenger, Cooper, Gamamou), 1:48.29; 2. C.R. Prairie, 1:50.53; 3. C.R. Kennedy, 1:52.35; 100 hurdles — 1. Valerie Welch (ICW), 15.26; 2. Grace Young (ICW), 16.25; 3. Alexis Peterson (CRK), 17.28; 800 — 1. Stephanie Jenks (LM), 2:14.53; 2. Larkin Chapman (Musc), 2:18.73; 3. Amber Decker (LM), 2:19.44; 200 — 1. Payton Wensel (LM), 25.81; 2. Amarri Waller (CRK), 27.03; 3. Jenna Ross (CRP), 27.25; 400 hurdles — 1. Valerie Welch (ICW), 1:06.36; 2. Peyton Steva (ICW), 1:12.37; 3. Paige Kammerer (Burl), 1:14.21; Sprint medley relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Lewis, Ross, Soeken, Skriver), 1:54.90; 2. Iowa City West, 1:57.48; 3. Iowa City High, 1:57.83; 1,500 — 1. Bailey Nock (ICW), 4:58.30; 2. Gabby Skopec (ICW), 5:03.96; 3. Morgan Garcia (LM), 5:05.81; 400 relay — 1. Linn-Mar (Bennett, Ramsey, Rolle, Lorenz), 50.61; 2. C.R. Kennedy, 52.16; 3. C.R. Prairie, 52.73; 1,600 relay — 1. Linn-Mar (Lorenz, Decker, Saville, Wensel), 4:02.60; 2. Iowa City High, 4:09.68; 3. Muscatine, 4:13.21.

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