—Messenger photo by Britt Kudla HUMboldt’s kendal clark throws the discus at the Dodger Relays on Thursday night. Clark won both the shot put and the discus for the Wildcats inside Dodger Stadium. For more photos, please visit CU.messengernews.net

Todd Constable really likes this current group of Fort Dodge track athletes he has to work with.

On Thursday night, they were able to showcase their talents for the home crowd, hosting the 40th annual Dodger Relays.

Fort Dodge finished third overall behind Waukee and Norwalk, as Aleaha Pommer picked up two individual golds and helped the 4×200 relay place first.

Mason City was fourth followed by Webster City, Des Moines Roosevelt, Humboldt and Ankeny Centennial.

“It’s just an incredible roster of kids that want to compete, want to be challenged,” Constable said. “That makes it so much more enjoyable to coach. They come to me and ask to run events. They want to get out there and compete as much as possible, especially here (Thursday) in front of family and friends.

“With track, you don’t really get a lot of chances to do that, so I’m glad our girls took advantage and really got after it. They gave us coaches things to consider moving forward here with what we do with our lineup.”

Pommer claimed first in both the long jump (15-8) and 200-meter dash (27.64). She ran the anchor on the winning 4×200 relay that also included Keyonna Douglas, Haley Wills and Tory Bennett, as they finished in 1:51.18.

“I thought (the meet) was very fun,” Pommer said. “I loved competing in my relays and hyping my teammates up when they got nervous. Over the past couple of years, I feel like my confidence has definitely improved because I know I can do great things if I put in the work for it.

“I always just try to think positive before a race because it helps me do better when I tell myself I can beat my opponents. My coach always tells me to not get so nervous and just to have fun, and that’s exactly what I did.”

Pommer also was part of the runner-up 4×400 to conclude the event alongside Piera McBride, Maia Davis and Bennett. That quartet went 4:25.91 with Bennett surpassing a Mason City runner down the stretch.

“The 4×400 is always an exciting race and to see how our girls got out after it, that was a lot of fun,” Constable said. “Piera started it off great, Aleaha and Maia had awesome legs, and Tory was just fantastic in the final leg.”

Fort Dodge also claimed silver in the 4×100 behind Douglas, Wills, Martyne Lowrey and Bennett in 53.22 with Mackenzie McIlrath placing second in the high jump at 4-10.

In the shot put, Humboldt’s Kendal Clark set a new meet record with a toss of 42-5.5, breaking the mark of Fort Dodge’s Monica Miller set in 1984 at 41-4.5.

“Kendal’s just an incredible athlete,” Constable said. “She really can do it all. And she comes from such a great family. It was really cool to see her perform here.”

Clark also won the discus with a throw of 135-8.5 with teammate Deni McDaniel taking second. Rylee Coyle was the shot put runner-up to Clark.

In the junior varsity events, Fort Dodge’s Davis won the 100 in 14.24 and Maggie Elsbecker captured the 200 in 30.91 to go along with a silver in the long jump. The Dodgers also claimed the 4×800, 4×200 and 4×100.

April Naeve was second in the 400 hurdles with the sprint medley and another 4×100 relay grabbing silvers.