Prairie Girls Track

Wensel bursts onto scene with Linn-Mar

Payton Wensel gave a hint of her immense talent last year as an eighth grader when she won the 200, 400 and 800 meter runs at the state meet for junior high school kids.

Now she's a freshman at Linn-Mar and is already a smash hit on a much bigger stage.

Wensel set a meet record in the 400 meter dash and helped Linn-Mar set another mark in the 4x800 relay as the Lions captured top honors at the 29th Annual J-Hawk Relays at Kingston Stadium.

She also ran on the triumphant 4x400 relay to finish with three gold medals in a major meet that featured 14 schools and five Metro teams.

Read more...

Jenks sets 2 records in Iowa City

IOWA CITY - Linn-Mar junior Stephanie Jenks smashed two meet records at the Women of Troy Relays in Iowa City Tuesday.

Jenks blazed to victory in the 800 meter run in 2 minutes, 14.38 seconds, breaking the old mark of 2:17.69 set by Erin Penticoff of Xavier in 2003. She captured the 1500 in 4 minutes, 35.77 seconds, snapping her own meet record of 4:42.94 set as a freshman in 2013.

Jenks ran the fastest times in the state this year in both events. She also ranks No. 1 in the state in the 3000.

Iowa City West nipped Linn-Mar for the team championship, 146 to 145. Prairie placed third, Kennedy fifth and Xavier seventh.

Read more...

Ranschau, J-Hawks are right on time

CEDAR FALLS - Abbie Ranschau does not like to waste time.

That's a great attribute to have for a track star, where tenths of a second can spell the difference between victory and defeat, but Ranschau's attitude carries beyond sports.

"I've always enjoyed being active and staying in shape," the Cedar Rapids Jefferson junior said Tuesday. "I don't like staying at home and doing nothing. It's kind of boring.

"I like to get stuff done," she said, "so I don't feel like I've wasted a day."

Read more...

Lorenz wins long jump at Cornell

MOUNT VERNON - Brooke Lorenz of Linn-Mar captured the long jump with a leap of 15 feet, 6 1/2 inches at the Demon Invitational girls track meet at Cornell College Thursday.

Cedar Rapids Prairie collected a pair of third-place finishes from Kenzie Soeken in the high jump (4-10) and Markquitta Soto in the shot put (35-3 1/2).