Linn-Mar’s McKade Jelinek betters his state best in the discus

CEDAR RAPIDS — On the track, the wind was a problem.

In the discus ring, it was McKade Jelinek’s ally.

“Today, it helped quite a bit,” he said. “It helped the disc float a little bit more.”

A little bit more than it had ever floated before.

Jelinek set a personal-best — and a school record — with a whirl of 183 feet, 8 inches to highlight the early portion of the Hawkins Relays on Tuesday at John Wall Field.

The defending Class 4A state champion, Jelinek came into the meet as the state leader at 179-6.

His first throw Tuesday was 170-5. North Scott’s Zach McMillian briefly took the lead at 172-plus feet on his second effort, but Jelinek answered immediately with his best throw of the day, the season and his career (so far).

“I saw (McMillian) take the lead, so I knew I had to put one out there,” Jelinek said. “In warmups, I threw about 185 feet, so I knew I could do it.

“I gave it a pretty good ride.”

The discus competition was held in a right-to-left crosswind, which grabbed the discs of many of the competitors and sent them out of bounds. But Jelinek’s throw sailed right through it.

“I have two discs,” said Jelinek, who will be a multisport athlete next year at the University of Wisconsin at Platteville. “My normal one has a higher rim weight, and the one for windy days has a lower rim weight.

“My technique has gotten better since last season, and I’ve been in the weight room in the offseason. I’ve been throwing the baseball and football a lot.”

Jelinek assisted as Linn-Mar captured the boys’ team title. The Lions compiled 162 points and were followed by Cedar Rapids Prairie (123) and Iowa City West (118).

Solon and Prairie combined to win 17 of the 19 girls’ events. The Spartans captured 11, and outscored the Hawks by a 210.5-184 count.

“We really respect the competition (Prairie) provides,” Solon’s Emma Bock said. “Any win we get is a good one.”

Solon is one of the favorites to claim the Class 3A girls’ state championship in late May. The Spartans have depth, and they have elite runners, led by the Texas Tech-bound Bock.

The senior blazed through the 800 meters in 2:18.21, a mark that automatically qualified her for the Drake Relays, and capped the meet by anchoring the Spartans’ triumphant 1,600 relay (4:04.60).

“Getting (the Blue Standard) is a relief off of my shoulders,” Bock said. “Just to be sure I’m in, that’s good.

“We’re looking good right now. I’m happy where we are, and the big goal at the end is always there.”

Cedar Rapids Xavier’s Emma Arnold ran in the 1:06s for the second straight meet in the 400 hurdles. Her 1:06.41 effort Tuesday moved her to No. 3 in the state.

“I really wanted to cook that first 300, then give everything I had left in the wind that last 100,” she said. “I really pushed myself, and I have the best teammates that push me.

“I don’t like to lose.”

Prairie set the meet record in the boys’ sprint medley relay. Geramie Hardaway Jr., Brandon Calmese, Jackson Baedke and Nate Patterson posted a time of 1:37.42.

West and Cedar Rapids Washington ran the boys’ 400 relay in 42.71 and 42.98, climbing to third and fourth in the state.

Girls Results

Teams — 1. Solon 210.5, 2. C.R. Prairie 184, 3. Center Point-Urbana 87, 4. Marion 84.5, 5. C.R. Xavier 63, 6. Marshalltown 55, 7. C.R. Washington 32, 8. C.R. Jefferson 17.

Shot put — 1. Jaclyn Wooldridge (CPU), 36-9; 2. Deja Redmond (CRW), 36-3; 3. Trinity Mitchell (CRP), 34-0.

Discus — 1. Emma Joens (CRP), 127-0; 2. Taylor Luscomb (CPU), 123-0; 3. Lilly Duff (Mtown), 114-2.

High jump — 1. Kaia Holtkamp (Solon), 4-10; 2. Sydney Maue (CPU), 4-10; 3. Lilly Towne (Solon), 4-10.

Long jump — 1. Taylor Lee (CRP), 16-6; 2. MaKinley Levin (Solon), 16-3; 3. Ava Maloney (CPU), 16-0.

Sprint medley relay — 1. Solon (Stahle, McQuinn, Duckett, Bock), 1:54.88; 2. C.R. Prairie, 1:57.82; 3. Marion, 2:04.06.

3,000 — 1. Karlee Hamilton (CRP), 11:59.38; 2. Kora Katcher (CPU), 12:08.91; 3. Ashlyn Williams (Solon), 12:28.29.

3,200 relay — 1. Solon (O’Neill, Quillin, Federspiel, Holtkamp), 10:01.10; 2. C.R. Prairie, 10:04.91; 3. Marion, 10:16.88.

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Solon (Stahle, Stahle, Buffington, Stahle), 1:07.75; 2. C.R. Prairie, 1:10.29; 3. C.R. Xavier, 1:14.72.

100 — 1. Aly Stahle (Solon), 13.42; 2. Gabby Cortez (CRP), 13.45; 3. Catie Reittinger (CRP), 14.20.

Distance medley relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Jordan, Murray, Roe, Cortez), 4:23.73; 2. Solon, 4:46.32; 3. Marion, 5:02.60.

400 — 1. MaKinley Levin (Solon), 1:01.44; 2. Naomi Durin (CRX), 1:04.53; 3. Natalie McAllister (Mar), 1:05.47.

800 relay — 1. Solon (Duckett, Stahle, Levin, Wolff), 1:49.51; 2. C.R. Prairie, 1:50.47; 3. Center Point-Urbana, 1:53.24.

100 hurdles — 1. Sophia Stahle (Solon), 16.26; 2. Ryann Decker (CRP), 16.33; 3. Aly Stahle (Solon), 17.08.

800 — 1. Emma Bock (Solon), 2:18.21; 2. Alexis Moses (CRP), 2:21.12; 3. Kaia Holtkamp (Solon), 2:22.13.

200 — 1. Gabby Cortez (CRP), 25.99; 2. Sophia Stahle (Solon), 26.59; 3. Sarah Jordan (CRP), 27.38.

400 hurdles — 1. Emma Arnold (CRX), 1:06.41; 2. Mia Stahle (Solon), 1:10.28; 3. Madison Prier (Mar), 1:11.16.

1,500 — 1. Lily Johannes (CRP), 5:11.79; 2. Keirra Hess (CRP), 5:12.36; 3. Kayla Young (Solon), 5:16.13.

400 relay — 1. Solon (Duckett, Stahle, Stahle, Levin), 51.22; 2. C.R. Prairie, 51.64; 3. Marion, 53.03.

1,600 relay — 1. Solon (O’Neill, Levin, Holtkamp, Bock), 4:04.60; 2. C.R. Prairie, 4:09.07; 3. Marshalltown, 4:25.07.

Boys Results

Teams — 1. Linn-Mar 162, 2. C.R. Prairie 123, 3. Iowa City West 118, 4. North Scott 83.5, 5. C.R. Xavier 83, 6. Marion 72, 7. C.R. Washington 58, 8. C.R. Jefferson 34.5.

Shot put — 1. Dylan Parrott (NS), 49-10; 2. McKade Jelinek (LM), 49-10; 3. Keaton Roskop (LM), 48-8.

Discus — 1. McKade Jelinek (LM), 183-8; 2. Zach McMillian (NS), 176-0; 3. Keaton Roskop (LM), 161-8.

High jump — 1. T.J. Jackson (LM), 6-6; 2. Sam Skarich (NS), 6-6; 3. Jacob Dooley (LM), 5-8.

Long jump — 1. Isaac Guerrero (LM), 21-1; 2. Kylin Crittenden (ICW), 19-11; 3. Aidan McDermott (CRX), 19-6.

Sprint medley relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Hardaway, Calmese, Baedke, Patterson), *1:37.42; 2. C.R. Jefferson, 1:41.68; 3. C.R. Washington, 1:42.49.

3,200 — 1. Nick Lee (CRP), 10:37.13; 2. Landon Kahler (CRP), 10:51.91; 3. Cooper Cook (Mar), 10:59.05;

3,200 relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Allard, Canton, Lee, Cortez), 8:15.58; 2. Iowa City West, 8:28.00; 3. Linn-Mar, 8:33.90.

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Alexander, Kolosick, Prull, Hardaway), 1:01.60.

100 — 1. Michael Blank (CRW), 11.39; 2. Aidan McDermott (CRX), 11.39; 3. Alex Mota (Mar), 11.68.

Distance medley relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Kolosick, Patterson, Koch, Steinbrech), 3:49.62; 2. Linn-Mar, 3:54.42; 3. Iowa City West, 3:56.60.

400 — 1. Eliot Sharp (Mar), 51.07; 2. Jevin Rexroth (CRX), 52.71; 3. Isaac Foster (NS), 53.40.

800 relay — 1. C.R. Washington (McBride, Armon, Blank, Thompson), 1:29.73; 2. Iowa City West, 1:30.57; 3. C.R. Prairie, 1:31.86.

110 hurdles — 1. Grayson Hartman (CRX), 15.61; 2. Nicholas Gorsich (LM), 16.16; 3. Quinton Alexander (CRP), 16.70.

800 — 1. Alex McKane (ICW), 2:00.52; 2. Moustafa Tiea (ICW), 2:02.73; 3. Cael Straley (NS), 2:03.67.

200 — 1. Luke Efting (CRX), 24.15; 2. Hudson Hart (LM), 24.61; 3. Sam Asiedu-Okyere (CRP), 24.62.

400 hurdles — 1. William Grant (LM), 56.43; 2. Nicholas Gorsich (LM), 58.00; 3. Leighton Charters (CRW), 1:00.31.

1,600 — 1. Hayden Kuhn (LM), 4:28.86; 2. Shane Erb (Mar), 4:34.59; 3. Seth Cheney (ICW), 4:34.91.

400 relay — 1. Iowa City West (Rent, Loveless, Gudenkauf, Janis), 42.71; 2. C.R. Washington, 42.98; 3. Linn-Mar, 43.76.

1,600 relay — 1. Iowa City West (Jacobsen, Rent, Janis, Loveless), 3:33.66; 2. Marion, 3:34.94; 3. C.R. Prairie, 3:37.54.

*meet record

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com