Fort Dodge girls track coach Todd Constable is hoping his group will finally get a chance to compete at home this year.

With unpredictable spring weather, it’s sometimes hard to get all of the meets in as scheduled. The Dodgers have experienced that quite often both recently and in prior years.

The FDSH girls, who haven’t been on a live track in two weeks, are scheduled to host the Dodger Relays on Thursday inside Dodger Stadium.

Field events will begin at 4:30 p.m., with running events starting at 4:45.

The weather looks to be fair for the 40th annual event, as Thursday’s temperatures are predicted to be in the low 50s with no precipitation.

Joining the Dodgers will be area schools Humboldt and Manson Northwest Webster. Also in the field will be powerhouse Waukee and arch-rival Mason City.

St. Edmond who normally competes in the Dodger Relays, will not run this season due to Holy Thursday.

“We are excited about competing at home,” Constable said. “It’s a great feeling to run in front of your own fans. In track, you (usually) only have one chance a year to be in front of your own crowd. It’s a huge opportunity.

“The Dodger Relays is a great atmosphere that everyone enjoys. We have a lot of people that come at 4 and stay until 9 to help run it. Everyone from the community takes a great deal of pride in doing things the right way.”

Waukee will run as a split squad; half of the Warrior athletes will be at Iowa City High. The Warriors have 10 events in the Top-10 of the state, and five in the Top-5.

Waukee’s shuttle hurdle relay (1:04.68) is the fastest in Iowa, and its 4×100 (49.32) is second. The 4×400 (4:01.10) is third, The 4×800 (9:35.56) is fourth, and the distance medley (4:20.35) is fifth.

Fort Dodge had some of its athletes at Drake Stadium last Saturday for the Jim Duncan Invitational. The Dodgers’ last full meet was April 2 at Mason City.

The sprint medley of Tristin Doster, Martyne Lowrey, Haley Wills and Aleaha Pommer won in Mason City, as did the 4×200 quartet of Wills, Lowrey, Tessa Widen and Tory Bennett.

Pommer was the runner-up in the long jump, and Bennett earned silver in the 200. Widen, Lowrey, Wills and Doster teammed to take second in the 4×100.

Doster was third in the 100 and Pommer third in the 400, with Kyanna Kirk, Kiana Touney, Cheyenne Miller-Hameed and Brooke Erickson also crossing third in the distance medley.

“Obviously we want to go out and prove ourselves,” Constable said. “We want to have every event covered and score as much as we can while improving our times.

“Our 4×100, 4×200 and sprint medley are all freshmen and sophomores, so we’re still in the early stages of trying to figure out where everyone goes.

“If you look up and down our lineup, we are a young, young team.”

Rain cancelled the Dodger Relays last year. Before the inclement weather hit, Fort Dodge won two events and St. Edmond’s Erin Flattery broke the school record in the long jump. Waukee was the team champion.

“Our 4×100 is on the edge for Drake,” Constable said. “They take 96 teams and were sitting at 117, so you’re talking hundredths of a second at this point.”