CEDAR RAPIDS — Sure, she’s a freshman, running the first varsity cross country race of her life.

But to say that Stephanie Jenks “came out of nowhere” to win the girls’ championship at the Cedar Rapids Invitational . . . that would be completely inaccurate. And a little ignorant.

Linn-Mar's Stephanie Jenks leads the pack during the Cedar Rapids Invitational cross country meet Thursday at Noelridge Park. Running her first varsity race, Jenks won in 14:26. (Stephen Mally/Freelance)

If you follow the sport, you knew this was coming. After all, Jenks has been running all of her life.

“I think I ran as soon as I walked,” said the experienced rookie from Linn-Mar. “It’s just faster to get somewhere when you run.”

Thursday, Jenks ran faster than anybody else in the girls’ field, completing the 4,000-meter race in 14:26.

An impressive debut, to be sure. But not a surprise.

Jenks moved into the Linn-Mar district (she is originally from Aurora, in Buchanan County) in sixth grade, then toasted the competition — girls AND boys — at the middle-school level, running the 1,500 meters in track around 4:40 last spring.

She spent last summer training for the national triathlon championships. She won her age-group title.

After that, she took a couple weeks off from running competition to rest. And to swim (she’s a member of the Linn-Mar varsity there, too).

Her expectation when she stepped to the starting line Thursday?

“I wasn’t expecting anything,” she said. “I just wanted to run as fast as I could.”

With Jenks and Josh Evans, Linn-Mar has a pair of individual state-title hopefuls. Jenks won by 16 seconds. Evans, who finished in 15:32, prevailed by 26.

“I didn’t really try to put a surge in. I just wanted to keep building up my pace, building up my effort,” Evans said.

Evans was asked about Jenks’ debut.

“What was her time, 14:26? That’s crazy,” he said.

Linn-Mar’s boys and Cedar Rapids Kennedy’s girls were team champions.

Evans led a Linn-Mar effort that placed four runners in the top 11. The Class 4A second-rated Lions scored 50 points; Iowa City West was second with 71, followed by Iowa City High (97). West’s Isaac Jensen (15:58) and City’s Brook Price (16:07) were second and third individually.

Kennedy, which jumped five spots this week to No. 4 in the 4A girls’ rankings, won for the third time in three meets, edging Linn-Mar by a 54-59 tally. West was third with 68 points.

“We had four girls up there (in the top 11), and we think we can get our fifth girl up there too,” said Kennedy’s Alyssa Averhoff, who led the Cougars’ charge with a fifth-place effort. “Our lead runner (Katie Wampole) gets out fast, and the rest of us try to catch up to her.”

West’s Ashlynn Yokom was the girls’ runner-up in 14:42. Shannon Gorman of Cedar Rapids Washington (14:54) was third.

CEDAR RAPIDS INVITATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY MEET

At Noelridge Park

GIRLS

Teams — 1. C.R. Kennedy 54, 2. Linn-Mar 59, 3. Iowa City West 68, 4. Bettendorf 97, 5. Iowa City High 121, 6. Ames 176, 7. Dubuque Wahlert 239, 8. C.R. Xavier 241, 9. C.R. Prairie 248, 10. C.R. Washington 260, 11. C.R. Jefferson 260, 12. Marion 338, 13. North Scott 359, 14. Muscatine 394, 15. Davenport West 406.

Individuals — 1. Stephanie Jenks (LM), 14:26; 2. Ashlynn Yokom (ICW), 14:42; 3. Shannon Gorman (CRW), 14:54; 4. Anna Peer (Bett), 14:55; 5. Alyssa Averhoff (CRK), 15:11; 6. Maddie Saville (LM), 15:16; 7. Allison Culver (CRK), 15:19; 8. Molly Leveille (ICW), 15:19; 9. Lindsey Bruns (ICH), 15:22; 10. Lauren Meyer (CRK), 15:23; 11. Katie Wampole (CRK), 15:26; 12. Rachel Perry (LM), 15:27; 13. Amber Decker (LM), 15:30; 14. Pombie Silverman (ICW), 15:32; 15. Mahnee Watts (Bett), 15:35.

BOYS

Teams — 1. Linn-Mar 50, 2. Iowa City West 71, 3. Iowa City High 97, 4. C.R. Washington 133, 5. Waterloo West 166, 6. C.R. Prairie 166, 7. Ames 181, 8. Davenport Central 221, 9. Dubuque Wahlert 222, 10. Muscatine 224, 11. C.R. Kennedy 275, 12. Bettendorf 382, 13. C.R. Xavier 394, 14. Pleasant Valley 394, 15. Marion 406, 16. Davenport West 453, 17. C.R. Jefferson 480, 18. North Scott 501.

Individuals — 1. Josh Evans (LM), 15:32; 2. Isaac Jensen (ICW), 15:58; 3. Brook Price (ICH), 16:07; 4. Etienne Nzoyisaba (CRW), 16:08; 5. Mitch Pritts (CRP), 16:09; 7. Daniel Gardarsson (ICW), 16:11; 8. Bailey Wetherell (ICW), 16:14; 9. Chase Grabau (LM), 16:18; 10. Brent Nugent (DbqW), 16:25; 11. Daniel Murphy (LM), 16:27; 12. Joe Berry (CRW), 16:36; 13. Bennett Luedtke (Musc), 16:36; 14. Mason Tope (DC), 16:39; 15. Mohamed Traore (ICH), 16:40.