Wensel, Jenks lead Linn-Mar into early contention at state track

DES MOINES — Payton Wensel had an internal message to her legs:

Giddy up.

'After that 800 earlier today, they were a little dead,' Wensel said. 'I realized I had to get going. I told my legs to suck it up. That's when you've really got to go.'

Wensel repeated as the 400-meter champion and Stephanie Jenks captured her fourth straight 3,000 title to lift Linn-Mar into early contention in the Class 4A girls' race at the state track and field meet Thursday afternoon.

The Lions have compiled 24 points through five events. Urbandale leads the race with 27. Defending-champion Pleasant Valley is third with 18 points; pre-meet favorite Waukee is seventh with 12.

Last year's runner-up, Linn-Mar got what it needed from its stars.

First, it was Jenks, who avenged a Drake Relays defeat to Pleasant Valley's McKenzie Yanek, stalking her for the majority of the race and then outkicking her at the end in 9:33.94. Yanek was clocked in 9:35.48.

'I was really devastated when I didn't walk away with that title at Drake,' said Jenks, who has signed with the University of California.

It was chilly at Drake, but much warmer Thursday, and that enabled Jenks' hamstring — which has been an issue all spring — to stay loose.

'I love the heat,' she said. 'I hate the cold.'

Jenks pushed her career title total to nine. She has three events remaining this week.

Wensel ran on Linn-Mar's fifth-place 3,200-meter relay team, then returned to the track about an hour later for the 400, in which she was seeded third.

The sophomore was a little slow around the first turn, then got motoring. She finished in 55.87 seconds, nearly a full second ahead of the field.

'It's so amazing to win it again,' she said. 'I was looking for that 4A record (55.41), but I can't complain. A PR and a state title ... it's the best time to do it.'

Iowa City West placed third in the 3,200 relay and has 10 points to its credit, good enough for an eighth-place tie.

STATE TRACK & FIELD MEET: CLASS 4A GIRLS

Teams (through five events) — 1. Urbandale 27, 2. Linn-Mar 24, 3. Pleasant Valley 18, 4. Muscatine 16, 5. (tie) Ames and Johnston 14.5, 7. Waukee 12, 8. (tie) Clinton and Iowa City West 10, 10. (tie) Bettendorf, Indianola and Dubuque Senior 8.

Results (top 3, plus area)

Discus — 1. Sydney Laufenberg (Clinton), 153-8; 2. Anna Hoyman (Indianola), 139-9; 3. Ashlan Burton (Urbandale), 139-3; 5. Leah Dusterhoft (Iowa City West), 133-7.

High jump — 1. Kelli DeGeorge (Pleasant Valley), 5-6; 2. Grace Gudenkauf (Dubuque Senior), 5-5; 3. (tie) Ellie Roquet (Johnston) and Tori Van Velzen (Norwalk), 5-3; T-5. Rose Gamamou (Iowa City High), 5-3; T-8. Katie Beer (Cedar Rapids Kennedy), 5-1.

3,000 — 1. Stephanie Jenks (Linn-Mar), 9:33.94; 2. McKenzie Yanek (Pleasant Valley), 9:35.48; 3. Elyse Prescott (Urbandale), 9:45.72; 8. Reagan Gorman (Cedar Rapids Washington), 10:28.67.

3,200 relay — 1. Urbandale (Cole, Moreno, Noah, Prescott), 9:09.90*; 2. Waukee, 9:17.24; 3. Iowa City West, 9:20.20; 5. Linn-Mar, 9:22.19;

400 — 1. Payton Wensel (Linn-Mar), 55.87; 2. Larkin Chapman (Muscatine), 56.63; 3. Melina Hegelheimer (Ames), 56.82.

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