FORT DODGE -- Stephanie Jenks, a 15-year-old freshman with braces and immense talent, won the Class 4A state cross country title by 18 seconds Saturday.

She almost sounded disappointed.

"I'm happy," she said casually after dominating the race, "but in each race I remember things I could have done better. There are always little errors that I've made.

 

"I could have warmed up better. I could have cornered a little bit different. Just little things I can do to run faster."

 

If she runs much faster, she'll set an all-time state meet record and perhaps end her Linn-Mar High School career in 2015 as the only four-time champ in state history.

Jenks was clocked in 13 minutes, 42 seconds for the 4-kilometer layout at the Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge. That was the fourth-best time in state meet history and only 15 seconds behind the all-time mark of 13:27 set by Katie Flood of Dowling Catholic in 2007.

"Phenomenal," said Linn-Mar Coach Todd Goodell, who is running out of words to describe his freshman phenom. "She ran her race. Got the job done."

Jenks appeared to take her state title in stride, with no excessive celebration or hugs. She won a national title in the triathlon this past summer and will train at the U.S. Olympic facility in Colorado Springs next month, so she's accustomed to success at the highest levels.

"The nationals is all the states combined, and this is just one state," she noted. "It (a state title) is kind of like a big deal. It's like your local, but I want to do great nationally.

"So I'm going to keep working harder to see if I can get up there. That's my goal."

Jenks and the rest of the Lions will compete at the Nike regional cross country meet in Sioux Falls, S.D., on Nov. 11. She finished second in that high school meet last year as an eighth grader.

The top individuals and top teams at the regional meet will qualify for the Nike national meet in Oregon in December.

Freshmen have won state cross country titles before, but nobody has ever won four in a row. The only three-time champions in state history are Flood (Dowling), Kristin Hansen (Okoboji), Kerry Greenwood (Cascade) and Christa Holmes (West Des Moines Valley).

Jenks has a chance to top them all with four crowns. "I guess we'll have to wait and see," she said.

Jenks became the second girls state champion in Linn-Mar history. She joined Paulette Bendixen, who won a Class 3A title in 1980. The other Metro state champions were Jennifer Schoonover of Kennedy (1992) and Meaghan Nelson of Xavier (2006).

The young Linn-Mar Lions, with three freshman and no seniors in their lineup, finished second in the team standings with 93 points with freshman Amber Decker 9th, junior Rachel Perry 21st, sophomore Maddie Saville 23rd and freshman Morgan Garcia 39th.

Kennedy girls placed fourth

Pleasant Valley won the Class 4A girls state title with 49 points.

The Kennedy Cougars placed fourth in the girls standings with 157 points, just one point behind Johnston in a right race for the bronze trophy. Alyssa Averhoff led Kennedy in eighth place, followed by Katie Wampole 16th,

Allison Culver 25th, Jessica Rodman 46th and Carolyn Stone 62nd.

Shannon Gorman of Cedar Rapids Washington finished 33rd.

Linn-Mar's Josh Evans places ninth

Linn-Mar junior Josh Evans, plagued by leg, hip and back ailments the last six weeks, gamely placed ninth in the Class 4A boys race Saturday.

Evans was ranked No.1 in the state in mid-September after winning the prestigious Heartland Classic in Ames, but struggled to stay in one piece after that and missed a month of competition.

In retrospect, Evans thinks he may have pushed himself too hard earlier in the season. "I may have overtrained, but I was willing to take the risk at the time," he said.

Evans was not able to prepare properly for the state meet due to his sore back, but he wanted to run and do the best he could. He finished second at state last year as a sophomore, but knew he probably would not be able to compete for a top finish this time.

"I just lowered my expectations," he said. "I wasn't going to go right to the front and run with them like I did last year. I was going to hang back in the pack with that top group. That's what I was able to do."

He was hoping to stay in contact with the leaders with about 300 meters to go and kick it home, but the tank was empty.

"One of the Dowling runners blew by me and I couldn't respond," he said. "I just didn't have anything left."

Linn-Mar boys finish third

Linn-Mar finished third in the boys team standings this year after placing second in 2011. Dowling Catholic won the title with Pleasant Valley second.

Tanner Rathje finished 13th for the Lions, Chase Grabau was 14th, Michael Mather 38th and Daniel Murphy 46th.

Prairie boys place eighth

Prairie placed eighth in the Class 4A boys standings with Mitch Pritts 12th, Isaiah Vlasek 22nd, Jake Moore 51st, Connor Neuhaus 62nd and Zach Waite 71st.

2 CR Wash runners place in boys races

Etienne Nzoyisaba of Cedar Rapids Washington ran 12th in the 4A race and Joe Berry of Washington placed 15th.

Xavier boys place 11th

The Xavier Saints placed 11th in the Class 3A boys race with Jacob Schmitt 25th, Grant Hunt 36th, Steven Culpepper 60th, Jonathan Francois 62nd and Evan Gradoville 67th.

Rethwisch places for Marion

Peter Rethwisch of Marion finished 43rd in the Class 3A race.

Houdeshell wins state wheelchair title

Linn-Mar senior Jordan Houdeshell, competing unopposed, won his second state wheelchair title in a row.

 

CLASS 4A GIRLS

TEAM STANDINGS

1. Pleasant Valley 49, 2. Linn-Mar 93, 3. Johnston 156, 4. Kennedy 157, 5. Dowling Catholic 161, 6. Iowa City West 177, 7. Urbandale 190, 8. Ames 195, 9. Iowa City High 200, 10. Waukee 211, 11. Bettendorf 237, 12. Cedar Falls 243, 13. West Des Moines Valley 245, 14. Dubuque Senior 323, 15. Ankeny 350.

TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS OVERALL

1. Stephanie Jenks, Linn-Mar         13:42

2. Ashlynn Yokom, IC West            14:00

3. Karissa Schweizer, Dowling        14:08

4. McKenzie Yanek, Pleasant Valley   14:09

5. Allison Gregg, Cedar Falls        14:15

6. Kaley Ciluffo, Pleasant Valley    14:19

7. Maddie Reynolds, Pleasant Valley  14:20

8. Alyssa Averhoff, Kennedy          14:20

9. Megan Schott, DM Roosevelt        14:21

10. Amber Decker, Linn-Mar           14:27

 

LINN-MAR RESULTS

1. Stephanie Jenks 13:42, 9. Amber Decker 14:27, 21. Rachel Perry 14:42, 23. Maddie Saville 14:46, 39. Morgan Garcia 15:10, 52. Sydney Johnston 15:20, 70. Caitlin Novak 15:39.

KENNEDY RESULTS

8. Alyssa Averhoff 14:20, 16. Katie Wampole 14:37, 25. Allison Culver 14:51, 46. Jessica Rodman 15:15, 62. Carolyn Stone 15:33, 80. Lauren Meyer 15:53, 90. Sarah Manders 16:07.

OTHER METRO RUNNERS

33. Shannon Gorman, Washington, 14:57

CLASS 4A BOYS

TEAM STANDINGS

1. Dowling Catholic 60, 2. Pleasant Valley 111, 3. Linn-Mar 120, 4. Iowa City West 135, 5. Dubuque Senior 186, 6. Johnston 196, 7. Waukee 214, 8. Prairie 218, 9. Cedar Falls 224, 10. Iowa City High 225, 11. Burlington 231, 12. Ames 248, 13. West Des Moines Valley 270, 14. Indianola 295, 15. Waterloo West 345.

TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS OVERALL

1. Jason Thomas, Dowling           14:51

2. Dylan Eigenberger, Dubuque Sr.  14:56

3. Caleb Drake, Pleasant Valley    14:57

4. Brook Price, IC High            15:02

5. Isaac Jensen, IC West           15:06

6. Jeff DeRocher, Dowling          15:08

7. Ben Anderson, WDM Valley        15:09

8. Spencer Clark, Dowling          15:10

9. Josh Evans, Linn-Mar            15:12

10. Tyson Wieland, Johnston        15:19

LINN-MAR RESULTS

9. Josh Evans 15:12, 13. Tanner Rathje 15:38, 14. Chase Grabau 15:39, 38. Michael Mather 16:01, 46. Daniel Murphy 16:06, 56. Keegan Cook 16:14, 57. Kyle Read 16:14.

PRAIRIE RESULTS

12. Mitch Pritts 15:33, 22. Isaiah Vlasek 15:48, 51. Jake Moore 16:08, 62. Connor Neuhaus 16:21, 71. Zach Waite 16:27, 80. Ross Adams 16:40, 85. Luke Galloway 16:42.

OTHER METRO RESULTS

12. Etienne Nzoyisaba, Washington, 15:32; 15. Joe Berry, Washington, 15:36.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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