DES MOINES - Stephanie Jenks is just a freshman with braces, but don't be fooled by her sweet demeanor and her willingness to give opponents a helping hand.

The friendly Linn-Mar star is a fierce competitor who loves to win.

She proved it again Thursday.

Jenks captured the 3000 meter run at the Class 4A state track meet with a strong final leg at Drake Stadium, adding to her rapidly growing collection of major titles.

She won the Class 4A state cross country title last fall and claimed two major titles at the Drake Relays last month, taking the 1500 and 3000 meter runs.

What's next?

An NCAA championship? The Olympics? A national title in the triathlon?

Certainly more state titles will come her way the next three years if she stays healthy and remains interested in dominating the prep ranks, but she said she's not thinking too much about being a four-time champion in multiple statewide events.

"Not really at this point," she said. "I try to take it race by race so I don't get overwhelmed with myself."

Jenks is certainly overwhelming the competition. She happily let Mackenzie Yanek of Pleasant Valley set the pace for much of the race, then took charge on the final lap and cruised to victory in 9 minutes, 50.70 seconds.

Karissa Schwiezer of Dowling Catholic expended all her energy to finish second in 9:54.58 and then collapsed on the blue oval at Drake Stadium, totally exhausted. Jenks, waiting to greet her competitors at the finish line, walked over and helped Schwiezer get to her feet and supported Schwiezer so she wouldn't fall down again.

"If you want people to push you, you have to treat them with respect," said Jenks. "They work hard and pushed me. The least I can do is help them."

Schwiezer finished second in 9:54.58. Allison Gregg of Cedar Falls, who won the 3000 a year ago, placed third this time in 9:57.10.

Jenks runs to win, not set state records. She likes to stay within a step or two of the leader, then blow them away in the final 200 or 400 meters when she's still fresh and all the others are gassed.

Schwiezer tried to catch up on the final lap, but Jenks merely kicked to a higher gear.

"You have to have confidence in yourself," she said. "I saw that she was starting to come back a little bit, but that's when I said, 'If you really want this, you're going to have to go.'"

And she did.

Jenks finished second at a major triathlon in Virginia a few weeks ago, competing in the 16 to 19 age group and defeating a long list of older girls. She's an "elite" triathlete and would like to become a national champion. These state titles are steps along the way.

It's been a successful year so far with the state cross country title, Drake Relays crowns and now a state track title. "Yeah," she said with a smile, "I'm happy with that."

Jenks plans to run three more races at the state meet Friday and Saturday and will be favored to take the 1500.

Emma Edelen of Jefferson finished fifth in the discus with a throw of 127 feet. Alex Malloy of Cedar Rapids Prairie placed eighth in the discus at 123 feet, 1 inch.

Alyssa Averhoff of Kennedy finished eighth in the 3000 meter run in 10:31.09.

The Jefferson girls placed fourth in qualifying for the shuttle hurdle relay in 1:05.07 with Taylor Jacobson, Sam Kitterman, Abbie Ranschau and Madison Ranschau on the team.

Lucy Schneekloth of Jefferson had the fifth-fastest time in the preliminaries of the 200 meter dash and qualified for the finals. Maliya Rattliffe of Jefferson had the seventh-best qualifying time in the 100 meter dash to advance and Amari Waller of Kennedy claimed the eighth and final spot in the 100.

Linn-Mar is tied with Davenport North for sixth place in the Class 4A standings with 10 points, thanks to Jenks winning the 3000. Jefferson is in 15th place with four points. Kennedy and Prairie are tied for 21st with one point.

Pleasant Valley leads the Class 4A standings with 32 points. Waukee has 30 points and Ankeny and Dowling Catholic are tied for third with 15 points.

CLASS 4A GIRLS STATE TRACK MEET
At Des Moines (Drake Stadium)

Thursday

Team standings (through five events)
1. Pleasant Valley 32, 2. Waukee 30, 3. (tie) Ankeny and WDM Dowling 15, 5. Iowa City High 14, 6. (tie) Linn-Mar and Davenport North 10, 8. (tie) Newton and WDM Valley 8, 10. (tie) Iowa City West, Bettendorf, Ames,, Cedar Falls 6, 14. Muscatine 5, 15. (tie) CR Jefferson, Indianola, Johnston 4, 18. (tie) Dubuque Hempstead, Urbandale 3, 20. DM Roosevelt 2, 21. (tie) CR Kennedy, CR Prairie, SE Polk, Waterloo East 1

Finals
Discus
1. Erin Bramble (Waukee) 138-11, 2. Sarah Kalkhoff (Newton) 133-1, 3. Chloe Miller (Pleasant Valley) 132-11, 4. Aliyah Gustafson (IC High) 132-3, 5. Emma Edelen (CR Jefferson) 127-0, 6. Hope Koerperich (Hempstead) 124-6, 7. Abby Brayton (IC West) 124-1, 8. Alex Malloy (CR Prairie) 123-1
Also - 12. Rachel Griffin (CR Prairie) 113-2, 16. Meghan Joens (CR Xavier) 110-11, 21. Victoria Spaulding (CR Kennedy) 100-8, 23. Lannie Nietert (Linn-Mar) 96-10

High Jump
1. Kelli DeGeorge (Pleasant Valley) 5-4, 2. Kelsey Arneson (Ankeny) 5-4, 3. Maddie Rouw (Waukee) 5-2, 4. Abby Saehler (IC High) 5-2, 5. Emily Kamm (Waukee) 5-2, 6. Audrey Faber (Dowling) 5-2, 7. (tie) Anne Leners (Pleasant Valley), Patricia Sahr (Waterloo East), Jessica Cole (SE Polk) 5-0
Also - 11. Sara Strauel (Linn-Mar) 5-0, 14. Kenzie Soeken (CR Prairie) 4-10, -- Lindsey Eades (CR Kennedy) no height

3000 Meters
1. Stephanie Jenks (Linn-Mar) 9:50.70, 2. Karissa Schweizer (Dowling) 9:54.58, 3. Allison Gregg (Cedar Falls) 9:57.10, 4. Mackenzie Yanek (Pleasant Valley) 9:59.07, 5. Jordyn Kleve (Johnston) 10:07.80, 6. Ashlynn Yokom (IC West) 10:09.59, 7. Megan Schott (DM Roosevelt) 10:20.89, 8. Alyssa Averhoff (CR Kennedy) 10:31.09
Also - 11. Allison Culver (CR Kennedy) 10:37.63, 13. Shannon Gorman (CR Washington) 10:42.63, 20. Sydney Johnston (Linn-Mar) 11:10.56

4x800 Relay
1. Waukee 9:14.64, 2. WDM Valley 9:17.50, 3. Ames 9:21.45, 4. Ankeny 9:32.46, 5. Dowling 9:33.03, 6. Indianola 9:34.65, 7. Pleasant Valley 9:35.07, 8. Iowa City West 9:38.58
Also - 12. CR Kennedy (Kathia Wampole, Carolyn Stone, Lauren Meyer, Kristen Siebenga) 9:44.14, 23. Linn-Mar (Morgan Garcia, Morgan Uridil, Brooke Almasi, Bryce Jones) 10:11.42

400 Meters
1. Alisha Jones (Dav. North) 55.90, 2. Kaley Ciluffo (Pleasant Valley) 56.55, 3. Mahnee Watts (Bettendorf) 56.62, 4. Larkin Chapman (Muscatine) 57.90, 5. Sarah Plock (IC High) 57.96, 6. Ashley Norem (Urbandale) 58.36, 7. Jenny Roberts (Ankeny) 58.46, 8. Kate Bishop (Indianola) 58.69
Also - 9. Amber Decker (Linn-Mar) 58.73, 15. Rachel Perry (Linn-Mar) 1:00.33, 18. Anne Visser (CR Washington) 1:01.05, 21. Hannah Grimm (CR Prairie) 1:01.67

Preliminaries
Metro qualifiers
(DNQ - Did not qualify)

Shuttle Hurdle Relay
4. CR Jefferson (Taylor Jacobson, Sam Kitterman, Abbie Ranschau, Madison Ranschau) 1:05.07
DNQ - 21. CR Prairie (McKenna Mumaw, Katie VanDooren, Rylee Blood, MacKenzie Mehmen) 1:12.60, -- CR Kennedy DQ

100 Meters
7. Maliya Ratliffe (CRJ) 12.73
8. Amari Waller (CRK) 12.84
DNQ - 10. Kadejah Sanders (CRW) 12.86, 13. Molly Breitbach (CRX) 12.94, 14. Jasmine Blue (CRJ) 12.98

200 Meters
5. Lucy Schneekloth (CRJ) 25.69
DNQ - 16. Halley Morgan (LM) 26.77, 17. Amari Waller (CRK) 26.79