—Photo by Kent Keith Fort Dodge’s Taylor Hartley swims in the 500 freestyle at the state meet in Marshalltown. Hartley finished ninth.

MARSHALLTOWN — The Fort Dodge girls swim team add more Top-16 state finishes for their program here Saturday at the state meet.

Senior Taylor Hartley had the highest individual finish, placing ninth in the 500 freestyle. Hartley clocked a time of 5:12.60, with West Des Moines Dowling’s Berit Quass winning the race in 4:55.00.

Hartley started the distance event with a 28.41 50, finishing with a 31.21.

Hartley was also 13th in the 200 free in 1:56.10, including a 26.45 opening 50. Dowling’s Clare Culver on that race in 1:49.86.

“She pushed herself so hard in her senior year,” said Fort Dodge head coach Ashley Beaumont. “It wasn’t the best finish she wanted, but she bounced back and was a huge leader for us in the 400.

“This gives the younger girls something to work toward.”

A University of Iowa recruit, Hartley was sixth in the 200 and eighth in the 500 last year. She is the only senior among Fort Dodge’s state qualifiers.

“After the first 50 in the 200, she was sixth in her heat,” Beaumont said. “She fought back and ended up second in her heat.”

Sophmore Luanne Xiao picked up 15th place honors in the 100 backstroke, posting a time of 59.55. Ames’ Sophie Sorenson was the race winner in a new state-record time of 54.60, just eclipsing the previous mark — also set by Sorenson — in 2015.

Xiao had an opening swim of 28.54, finishing in 31.01.

“Luanne had some high goals for the season,” Beaumont said. “She now has two more years to go for it. I’ve seen her get stronger.”

Taylor Hartley swam her final high school race with her sister, freshman Grace, along with Xiao and Peimann in the 400 relay. The quartet finished 14th overall in a time of 3:40.18.

“They did extremely well in the 400,” Beaumont said. “They had some of their best times and dropped a second from regionals.”

Ames, which won the team title over Dowling, was the relay winner in 3:24.89, earning All-American status.

Taylor Hartley had a swim of 54.39, with Grace Hartley going 56.29. Xiao finished in 54.92 and Peimann 54.58 for the Dodgers, who ended up 21st overall with 21 points.

“They’re all excited and didn’t seem unhappy by the looks on their faces,” Beaumont said. “It’s not exactly what they wanted, but they gave it all they had.

“They’ll continue to work hard and we’ve had some awesome leadership throughout the past two seasons.”

The 200 free relay of Madigan Peimann, Grace Hartley, Elora Fierke and Morgan Border finished 22nd overall in 1:44.08. Ankeny won the relay in 1:35.19, a time good enough for automatic All-American status.

Peimann swam a leg of 25.90, Hartley went 26.15, Fierke was 25.88 and Border 26.15.

“I thought we swam well with two 25s and two 26s,” Beaumont said. “These girls are only freshmen and sophomores, so they’ll be back to pick up next season.”