Linn-Mar’s T.J. Jackson draws a crowd with record-setting high jump

MARION — In basketball, they storm the court. In football, they storm the field.

At the Clark Weaver Relays, a jubilant mob stormed the high-jump pit.

T.J. Jackson gave them ample opportunity, and legitimate reason.

“I usually do better when there’s a crowd,” said Jackson, a sophomore at Linn-Mar. “I don’t know what to think right now. That was amazing.”

He was amazing.

Jackson cleared a meet-record 6 feet, 9 inches Saturday at Linn-Mar Stadium. That was 4 inches better than his previous career high, and that matched the top effort of the state this season, established earlier by Noah James of Treynor.

“Usually, I am aiming for 6-4, honestly,” Jackson said.

A change in approach may have played a role. Jackson takes 10 steps before taking flight. In the past, it was five steps forward, five steps on the curve.

The new routine was six steps perpendicular to the bar, four on the curve. And it made a big difference.

“T.J.” stands for Tristin Javon. Saturday, it also stood for Top Jumper.

Jackson, who stands only 5-foot-11, cleared 5-8, 5-10, 6-0 and 6-2 on his first attempt before passing 6-4 and going straight to 6-6. By that point, a good number of teammates — as well as competitors from rival schools — had journeyed to the north end of the stadium to get a better view.

He cleared 6-6 on his first try, enticing teammates to mob him after he got off the pad. The scene was recreated when he made 6-7 on his first attempt, then 6-8 on his first try, then 6-9 on his second.

He finally bowed out at 6-10 and was reasonably close on two of his three attempts.

Linn-Mar’s girls and Cedar Rapids Prairie’s boys were tops in the 14-team field.

Despite winning just two girls’ events (the 800-meter relay and Micah Poellet in the 3,000), Linn-Mar scored 147 points. Class 3A power Solon was second with 112.5.

Prairie trailed Linn-Mar in the boys’ race for much of the afternoon before turning on the jets late. The Hawks got three titles from Ceondae Adams (100-meter dash, 110-meter hurdles and 400-meter relay) to rack up 171.5 points. Linn-Mar was next with 131.

The Hawks’ 400-meter relay (43.79) and 800-meter relay (1:31.18) set meet records.

Western Dubuque’s Audrey Biermann was a triple-winner in the girls’ portion of the meet. Her 25.47-second effort in the 200 ranks No. 2 in the state, and she also won the 400 (58.22) and anchored the Bobcats to the 400-meter relay title in 51.27 second.

“That felt really good,” Biermann said after the 200. “I love that race, and I wish they had it at (the) Drake (Relays). I get to the 100 mark and just figure I have another 100-meter dash to go. That helps me keep my legs going.”

Prairie’s girls crushed the distance medley relay: Sarah Jordan, Catie Reittinger, Gabby Cortez and Lily Johannes won it in 4:12.23, an effort that leads the state by about 6 seconds.

Like the 200, the girls’ distance medley isn’t on the Drake schedule.

“It’s too bad, because it would have been a really fun race,” said Johannes, who anchored in 2:22.

Cortez tackled the 400 hurdles for the first time, and won it in 1:06.76.

TRACK & FIELD: CLARK WEAVER RELAYS

At Linn-Mar Stadium

GIRLS RESULTS

Teams — 1. Linn-Mar 147, 2. Solon 112.5, 3. (tie) C.R. Prairie and Western Dubuque 77, 5. Davenport Assumption 76, 6. Marion 46, 7. Iowa City West 41, 8. Bettendorf 40, 9. Davenport West 35, 10. Davenport Central 32, 11. Iowa City Liberty 23, 12. Linn-Mar JV 20.5, 13. Burlington 10, 14. C.R. Washington 3.

Shot put — 1. Anna Wohlers (DavA), 40-0 3/4; 2. Arionnah Sonii (ICW), 37-9; 3. Ava Conrad (Sol), 37-6; Discus — 1. Anna Wohlers (DavA), 123-1; 2. Phoebe Burt (ICW), 116-11; 3. Emma Joens (CRP), 111-10; High jump — 1. Peyton Seberg (DavA), 5-0; 2. Kaia Holtkamp (Sol), 4-10; 3. Raina Pfiefer (ICW), 4-10; Long jump — 1. Brooklyn Johnson (DavC), 17-2 1/2; 2. MaKinley Levin (Sol), 16-10 1/2; 3. Kaylee Bunn (LM), 16-7.

Sprint medley relay — 1. Solon (Stahle, Levin, Stahle, Bock), 1:51.70; 2. Linn-Mar, 1:52.38; 3. Western Dubuque, 1:56.78; 3,000 — 1. Micah Poellet (LM), 10:46.23; 2. Sarah Murphy (LM), 10:56.57; 3. Keirra Hess (CRP), 11:03.99; 3,200 relay — 1. Bettendorf (Scott, Williams, Defauw, Foht), 10:13.63; 2. Iowa City West, 10:21.54; 3. Linn-Mar, 10:30.54; Shuttle hurdle relay — Davenport West (Smith, Petersen, Sinksen, Powell), 1:09.92; 2. Solon, 1:11.12; 3. Linn-Mar, 1:14.31; 100 — 1. Alaina McConnell (DavA), 12.90; 2. Mary Gustason (LM), 13.08; 3. Kaylee Bunn (LM), 13.08; Distance medley relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Jordan, Reittinger, Cortez, Johannes), 4:12.23*; 2. Marion, 4:24.59; 3. Linn-Mar, 4:30.10; 400 — 1. Audrey Biermann (WDbq), 58.22; 2. Emma Bock (Sol), 58.98; 3. Lily Haars (LM), 1:02.71; 800 relay — 1. Linn-Mar (Simmons, Gorsich, Gorsich, Hand), 1:48.69; 2. Davenport Assumption, 1:49.54; 3. Western Dubuque, 1:50.48; 100 hurdles — 1. McKenzie Borden (Bett), 16.11; 2. Nacari Bryant (DavC), 16.21; 3. Sophia Stahle (Sol), 16.34; 800 — 1. Alexis Moses (CRP), 2:22.15; 2. Micah Poellet (LM), 2:25.39; 3. Kaia Holtkamp (Sol), 2:25.76; 200 — 1. Audrey Biermann (WDbq), 25.42*; 2. Alaina McConnell (DavA), 26.48; 3. Madison Bunton (Burl), 26.58; 400 hurdles — 1. Gabby Cortez (CRP), 1:06.76; 2. Madison Prier (Mar) 1:07.04; 3. Kaitlyn Powell (DavW), 1:10.61; 1,500 — 1. Laney Fitzpatrick (DavA), 5:04.71; 2. Peyton Steffen (Mar), 5:06.20; 3. Lilly Geelan (LM), 5:09.03; 400 relay — 1. Western Dubuque (Schindler, Recker, Walters, Biermann), 51.27; 2. Linn-Mar, 51.42; 3. Solon, 51.82; 1,600 relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Barnes, Johannes, Moses, Cortez), 4:05.09; 2. Linn-Mar, 4:11.98; 3. Davenport Assumption, 4:12.33.

*meet record

BOYS RESULTS

Teams — 1. C.R. Prairie 171.5, 2. Linn-Mar 131, 3. Des Moines Roosevelt 87, 4. Iowa City Liberty 80, 5. Marion 56, 6. (tie) Davenport Central and Davenport West 44, 8. C.R. Washington 42.5, 9. Davenport Assumption 22, 10. Burlington 19, 11. Pleasant Valley 15, 12. Linn-Mar JV 13, 13. Bettendorf 10, 14. Waterloo East 3.

Shot put — 1. Garret Wagner (Mar), 55-2 1/4; 2. Chris Baker (LM), 49-0 1/2; 3. Alex Moore (DavC), 48-11 1/2; Discus — 1. McKade Jelinek (LM), 163-11; 2. Chris Baker (LM), 151-2; 3; Garret Wagner (Mar), 139-3; High jump — 1. T.J. Jackson (LM), 6-9*; 2. Ashton Urmie (DavW), 6-0; 3. Spencer Roemer (PV), 5-10; Long jump — 1. Landon Butler (Bett), 20-11; 2. Bricen White (LM), 20-9; 3. Isaac Guerrero (LM), 20-8.

Sprint medley relay — 1. C.R. Washington (Blank, Thompson, McBride, Sain), 1:37.59; 2. Linn-Mar, 1:38.75; 3. C.R. Prairie, 1:39.07; 3,200 — 1. Jakob Regennitter (Mar), 10:31.31; 2. Bryson Canton (CRP), 10:34.66; 3. Jake Opitz (CRP), 10:42.66; 3,200 relay — 1. Linn-Mar (Cozine, Tiefel, Steffen, Kuhn), 8:23.84; 2. C.R. Prairie, 8:28.95; 3. Des Moines Roosevelt, 8:31.54; Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Linn-Mar (Gorsich, Gerst, Kemokai, Jackson), 1:02.88; 2. C.R. Prairie, 1:05.20; 3. Marion, 1:05.59; 100 — 1. Ceondae Adams (CRP), 11.09; 2. Miles Thompson (CRW), 11.11; 3. Na Zion Caruthers (DavW), 11.16; Distance medley relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Kolosick, Rickertsen, Ruby, Costigan), 3:45.23; 2. Des Moines Roosevelt, 3:59.80; 3. Marion, 4:02.13; 400 — 1. Micah Green (DavC), 53.34; 2. Octaviyon Stanley (CRP), 53.59; 3. Ezeldin Farag (DMR), 54.03; 800 relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Moeller, Lewis, Pearson, Keiper), 1:31.18*; 2. Linn-Mar, 1:33.89; 3. Des Moines Roosevelt, 1:34.77; 110 hurdles — 1. Ceondae Adams (CRP), 14.75; 2. Eli Ebel (CRP), 15.52; 3. Daqwan Sanders (ICL), 16.03; 800 — 1. Jaxson Plumb (DMR), 2:06.17; 2. Carson Lane (DMR), 2:06.55; 3. Andrew Bickford (CRP), 2:09.18; 200 — 1. Luke Meyers (ICL), 22.86; 2. Na Zion Caruthers (DavW), 22.97; 3. Angelo Jackson (DavA), 23.61; 400 hurdles — 1. Abass Kemokai (LM), 55.81*; 2. Michael Guckenberger (CRP), 56.69; 3. Landon Ruby (CRP), 59.22; 1,600 — 1. Caleb Schillinger (ICL), 4:38.73; 2. Brady Cortez (CRP), 4:40.61; 3. Jack Joyce (DMR), 4:45.24; 400 relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Fetters, Lewis, Keiper, Adams), 43.79*; 2. Des Moines Roosevelt, 44.63; 3. Linn-Mar, 45-30; 1,600 relay — 1. C.R. Prairie (Stanley, Guckenberger, Costigan, Guckenberger), 3:31.80; 2. Linn-Mar, 3:34.21; 3. Davenport West, 3:38.82.

*meet record

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com