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DES MOINES - The Fort Dodge girls had a strong opening day of the nation's largest state co-ed track meet here on Thursday.

Three underclassmen and a senior turned in solid performances inside Drake Stadium.

Freshman Tiyesha Wilson earned an eighth-place showing in her rookie campaign. Wilson, who entered the meet with a district title mark of 5-1, went the same distance Thursday.

Burlington's Khanishah won gold with a 4A state record leap of 5-8.25. She broke the mark held by Davenport North's AG Bradford (5-8), who now attends Iowa Central.

"Finishing eighth was fantastic for a freshman,'' said FDSH head coach Rod Huisman. "It was her best effort of the season and showed a great deal of maturity on her part.''

Dodger senior Shelby Forsythe placed seventh in the 400-meter dash - an event she qualified in on time, and she was fifth in the 100-meter dash prelims.

Forsythe clocked a 58.75 in the 400. Ellen Dougherty of Sioux City East (55.41) won the event with a state record time, topping Iowa City's Kelly Krei (55.46).

Forsythe, who has been in the 100 state field all four years, was fourth in her heat and qualified fifth with a 12.78. The Dodger senior was 15th last year, seventh as a sophomore and 17th as a freshman.

"Shelby had her best time ever in the 400,'' Huisman said. We haven't had a girl break a minute (at FDSH) since 1983. She also made the finals again in the 100, which was great to see.''

Jessica Gehrke of Iowa City West set a state record in the prelims with a 12.22 topping Faith Burks (Cedar Falls) mark in 2006.

The distance duo of sophomore Krista Thompson and freshman Tara Jackson grabbed Top-15 placings. Thompson, who was 12th last season, finished 13th on Thursday with a 11:02.78.

"Krista broke 11 minutes for the third time in her career,'' Huisman said. She kind of tightened up again and complained of a headache like at Drake, so it'll be important for her to drink a lot of fluids before she runs the 1500.''

Jackson was 15th in 11:09.85.

"Tara is another freshman that performed very well in her first state outing,'' Huisman said. "Hopefully, we can put together another good effort (today).''

The Dodger boys ran two prelim events today, while placing 21st in the 4x800 and Josh Lennon was 24th (10:56.70) in the 3200.

"It was good for our young kids to get some state experience,'' said FDSH head coach John McBride. "Hopefully they can get back here down the road as juniors and seniors.

"Overall it wasn't a bad day. We came close to improving times in almost every event, so I'm happy with that.''

The 4x800 quartet of Trevor Cook, Ryan Riessen, Marty Schuh and Jeremiah Reed clocked an 8:30.66.

The shuttle hurdle squad of Jay Johnson, Connor Brown, Willie Williams and Reid Riessen broke the school record again.

The Dodgers were 15th in the prelims with a 1:00.60. Johnson is a junior and the rest of the qualifiers are sophomores.

Sophomore Darreus Caston (11.18) was 15th in the prelims of the 100-meter dash.

"We broke the school record in the shuttle (hurdle),'' McBride said. "Darreus had his second best time ever in teh 100 and the 4x800 ran well, too.''

Contact Chris Johnson at (515) 573-2141 or by e-mail at sports@messengernews.net