Three Three (June 09, 2004)medalists in finals

Jenke wins silver in girls' 800 to lead the way

by Keith Peters

Libby Jenke wanted to run under 2 minutes, 10 seconds and win a state title in the 800 meters. The Menlo School junior missed on both accounts.

Jenke's experience at the 2004 CIF State Track and Field Championships, however, was hardly a failure. Instead of first, she finished second. Instead of a sub-2:10, she ran a career-best 2:10.97.

Not bad for her first trip to the state meet, held last weekend at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento.

"It was a lot of fun," she said. "It was a great meet. Very exciting. A lot of great runners were there."

And the experience?

"It was a real positive first experience," Jenke said.

Jenke made it all possible by learning from another experience - the Central Coast Section championships on May 28. There, Jenke went out way too fast on the opening lap and wound up dying on the homestretch as two other runners passed her.She finished third that evening in 2:12.39.

"At the CCS finals, I went out in 59 seconds for the first 400," Jenke said.

The fast early pace just killed Jenke over the final 150 meters. She felt ill after the race, but learned a very valuable lesson for the state meet.

"I knew it wasn't the best strategy," Jenke said of her CCS plan. "So, I definitely took it out a lot slower," Jenke said of her 800 finale in Sacramento.

After running the fastest qualifying time of 2:13.94 in the prelims on Friday, Jenke knew she could hang with whoever was in the finals. The first lap on Saturday went out in 63 seconds and Jenke was on her way.

"I went out well and ran a pretty good race," she said. "I wanted to make a good move at the end and make her (eventual winner Alysia Johnson of Canyon High) come get me."

CCS champ Christine Whalen of Mitty led at 400 meters with Jenke second. Cassie Atkinson of El Capitan grabbed the lead at the 600 mark with Jenke hanging tight. With 150 left and Jenke ready to move, it was Johnson moving faster.

"I didn't really know she was there until she passed me," Jenke said.

Johnson, headed for the University of California this fall, won going away in 2:08.97, the No. 6 time in the nation this season. Jenke came home in her career best and will be the top returning finisher in 2005.

"It was a PR, so I'm happy," Jenke said.

Jenke isn't through for the year, however. She's scheduled to compete in the USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships set for June 25-27 at College Station, Texas.

"My goal is to get another PR and have a good race," Jenke said.

Those were the goals last weekend for Menlo-Atherton's Jeremy Mineau and Evan Anderson. Mineau wanted a sub-9:00 time in the 3,200 and Anderson was looking for something around 4:12 in the 1,600.

Neither got what they wanted, but they didn't come empty-handed, either.

Mineau, headed for the University of Washington this fall with a scholarship in hand, earned his first state meet medal by taking fifth in 9:15.95. Anderson, headed back to M-A for his senior year next fall, also won his first medal in the state finals by clocking a 4:20.52 for sixth.

But were pleased with their hardware, but hardly excited by the outcomes of their respective races.

Mineau was one of 26 runners in the metric two miles, which was a number of runners too many for him.

"The race was really big," he said. "I'm not used to that."

Mineau spent the first two laps struggling to get into position and then holding it. By then, he knew it would not be his day.

"After the first two laps, I just wasn't feeling it," he admitted. "I was tired. Once I got into position, I was struggling just to hold it. It's not the most efficient way to run."

While the pace wasn't that fast, all the jockeying for position plus the wind and heat took its toll. Still, Mineau finally took the lead at 1,000 meters and was third at the 1,200 mark. He never was higher as eventual winner Yosef Ghebray of James Logan slowly pulled away and won in 9:04.20.

The winning time frustrated Mineau, who won the CCS title at 3,200 meters in a career best of 9:01.54 and had hoped to run faster Saturday. In hindsight, he said a faster start would have helped.

"I should have gotten out at the start faster," Mineau said. "At that point, I could be relaxed and control the race better. That's what allowed me to run fast at CCS. I was able to get into a rhythm. In the races I run well in, I'm gotten out and stayed relaxed."

While the fifth place was his best finish in the state finals, Mineau pointed to his 12th-place finish of 9:15.92 his sophomore year as his highlight.

"I PR'd by five seconds that year," he said. "That was my best experience. I came into this race with really high hopes. I knew I had a chance of winning. That was my goal . . . I thought this was going to be my chance to bust it out at state. But, you can't really be disappointed coming in fifth and getting a medal.

"It was definitely a learning experience."

Anderson had similar feelings, too.

"That was a very disappointing race," Anderson said. "Not the place, but the time. The first lap was 68 seconds. The girl milers ran the same time on their first lap. The first lap sets the pace for the whole race."

While the entire field qualified in under 4:19, the race went out like everyone had qualified in 4:30.

"That was so slow," said Anderson, who got caught in the back of the pack at the start.

Everyone was still together at 600 meters as the pack was on a 4:32 pace. Anderson finally moved to the lead at the 1000 mark, but was overhauled down the homestreach by eventual winner Mark Matusak (4:15.89) and runnerup Brandon Bethke (4:17.15), both juniors.

"I'm happy with sixth place," Anderson said, "but I'd be a lot happier in sixth at 4:12 or 4:13."

The other two local finalists Saturday were Gunn's Andrew Lipkin and Tori Tyler. Lipkin, a senior, had his hamstring tighten up on the first lap of the 3,200 and was forced to put his race on cruise control in order to finish. He did in so in 24th (10:09.63) after qualifying in 9:07.97. Tyler, a junior, had planned on running even 80s in the girls' 3,200, but a first lap of 77 and a first mile of 5:15 proved too quick. After an 85-second fifth lap, it was evident the early pace was too much and Tyler faded, finishing 16th in 11:05, well off her PR of 10:49.11 while winning CCS. The rest of the local state meet qualifiers did not advance past Friday's preliminaries.

The Menlo-Atherton girls' 400 relay team had problems between Kaitlin McGhee and Courtney Morse, when Morse stumbled on her start. That caused McGhee to slow and the two wound up passing out of the zone, and thus the team was disqualified. Freshman Keianna Talton, who never received the baton, came back to finish 22nd overall in the 100 (12.27), after running in the fastest heat. She came back to run a PR of 24.98 to finish 14th overall.

Palo Alto junior Katrina Zawojski was 22nd in the long jump at 17-3 ½; M-A junior Laurie Roberts no-heighted in the high jump; Paly senior James McCluskey 26th in the men's shot put and Sacred Heart Prep junior David Jackson was 20th in the 400 meters at 50.69.

Roberts, who has a best of 5-8 this season, will compete this weekend in the Golden West Invitational in Sacramento.

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