SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Linn-Mar freshman Stephanie Jenks placed third out of 260 runners at the Nike Cross Nationals Heartland Regional Sunday afternoon and qualified for the Nike national meet in Oregon on Dec. 1.

Jenks ran the 5-kilometer course at Yankton Trail Park in Sioux Falls, S.D., in 17 minutes, 58.59 seconds in cold, blustery conditions.

The temperature was in the low 20's with a 20 mph wind, putting the wild-chill in single digits. "It was nasty," Linn-Mar Coach Todd Goodell reported.

Jenks finished second in the Heartland Regional last year as an eighth grader in 18:16.5 seconds, so she improved her time by approximately 18 seconds this year.

Jenks won the Class 4A state title in Iowa two weeks ago.

Maria Hauger of Minnesota won the race in 17:33.55, giving her two Heartland Regional crowns in a row. Clare Flanagan of Minnesota placed second in 17:50.53. Hauger is a high school senior and Flanagan is a junior.

The top-five finishers qualified for the national high school meet in Portland, Ore., in three weeks.

The Linn-Mar Running Club finished eighth in the girls team standings out of 29 teams. Amber Decker placed 35th (19:32.43), Maddie Saville was 50th (19:43.34), Rachel Perry 68th (19:56.73) and Sydney Johnston 100th (20:28.22).

The Linn-Mar boys placed 12th out of 32 teams in their race. Chase Grabau finished 38th (16:39.96), Tanner Rathje was 47th (16:47.85), Daniel Murphy 66th (17:00.28), Kyle Read 94th (17:17.82) and Jay Halverson 176th (18:18.79).

The Heartland Regional included runners from the seven-state area of Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

There were eight qualifying regionals around the country.