Metro Sports Report

McCrary soars away from trouble to state crown

DES MOINES - Curtis McCrary grew up on the mean streets of Detroit, where trouble was a constant and evil companion.

Compared to what he knew, Iowa is paradise for the Linn-Mar senior and new state champion.

McCrary sailed 23 feet, 1 inch to claim the state title in the Class 4A long jump Friday in his first and only year of competition in high school track.

"It feels great," he said. "First time here, last time here for high school. So it feels pretty good."

McCrary, 19, moved to Marion several years ago to live with an uncle and his uncle's wife. He left his mother and problems behind in Detroit for a better life in Iowa.

"I love it," he said. "I love it.

"Good school systems. And it pretty much keeps me out of trouble."

McCrary helped Linn-Mar climb into a tie for first place in the Class 4A team standings after Day 2 of the three-day meet with 42 points. Waukee also has 42, with eight events left Saturday.

Kennedy is sitting in third place with 35.5 points. Prairie is sixth with 22 points. Washington is 20th and Jefferson 23rd.

River Bandits belt Kernels again

DAVENPORT - The Quad Cities River Bandits feasted on the Kernels again Friday night.

The River Bandits scored nine runs against Kernels starter Ryan Eades in just 3 2/3 innings and coasted to a 9-0 victory before 4,296 fans at Modern Woodmen Park.

The Bandits (23-23) belted the Kernels Thursday night, 11-6, and have scored 20 runs against Cedar Rapids in two games.

Evans, Hawks, Cougars shine at state meet

DES MOINES - Josh Evans made a mad dash for immortality Thursday, but he fell just a tad short of cracking 9 minutes in the 3200 meter run at the Class 4A state track meet.

Unhappy? Sad?

Neither.

Evans clocked the second-fastest time in state history in the 3200 in 9:00.97, successfully defending his state title and breaking the meet record of 9:05.25 set by Kevin Lewis of Ottumwa in 2011.

Evans ran a 9:01.55 at the Drake Relays last month in his first bid for a sub-9 minute performance, but he had to play second fiddle that day when Albert Meier of Boone won in 8:58.46 to become the first Iowa prep under the magic mark.

Meier is competing at the Class 3A state meet, leaving Evans to dominate the 4A competition from wire to wire Thursday. He led a 1-2-3 showing by Metro runners with Mitch Pritts of Prairie second in 9:12:07 and Daniel Murphy of Linn-Mar third in 9:12.46.

Jenks snaps own state mark in 3000

DES MOINES - Linn-Mar sophomore Stephanie Jenks gets a big kick out of breaking records.

The bigger, the better.

Jenks struck again Thursday morning, snapping her own state record in the 3000 meter run by more than two seconds at the Class 4A state track meet in Des Moines.

Jenks was clocked in 9 minutes, 24.67 seconds as she ran away with the race and won by more than 31 seconds, similar to her dominating performance at the Drake Relays last month.

Jenks broke her own all-time state mark of 9:26.87 and topped the meet record of 9:27.25 set by Katie Flood of Dowling Catholic in 2010.

Her next target could be the all-time national record in the 3000 of 9:08.6.