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CLEAR LAKE -- Austin Read couldn't have been much happier than he was after his teams effort in Clear Lake.
The Fort Dodge boys had five personal bests and all six Dodger girls earned season best times.
The Dodgers finished fifth with 137 points. Denver (59) was the team champion, followed by Waverly-Shell Rock (70), host Clear Lake (100) and Bondurant-Farrar (122).
"I'm very excited with the way the boys ran," said Fort Dodge head coach Austin Read. "We had a hard workout on Tuesday and I knew going in we wouldn't be at full strength, but we ran great.
"We've been talking about how we are in better shape than we realize. It's nice to see our mental toughness come together."
Fort Dodge senior Cael Hansen set a personal best time of 17:10.6 with a fourth place showing in the boys race. The race was won by Jesse Gomez (16:07.9) of Denver.
"Cael has improved a lot and he has had a great season," Read said. "He has a lot more in the tank and we aren't even close to reaching his potential."
Jayce Point also had his record time in 17:28.9, finishing eighth. Jones Hensley finished 19th in 17:58.2.
Corban McHone followed suit with a 18:28.6 in the 33rd spot. Wesley Anderson was 76th in 20:11.0 (personal best), Landon Waynar was 85th (20:33.3) and Greyson Chance (20:54.7) ran his first varsity race.
Linnie Pratt started the season’s best runs for the Dodgers, placing 45th in a time of 22:53.3. Laila Grantham's (25:34.7) best earned her 83rd place.
Madison Carmody was 85th with her season best of 25:41.1.
Rounding out the Dodger lineup with their best times of the year were Ella Johnson (107th in 29:55.0), Reina Lacina (109th in 31:14.5) and Gabby Wirtz (110th in 31:39.7) with a personal best.
"The girls had their season bests and it's not just by 30 seconds," Read said. "They were minutes faster and are understanding the mental game. They've realized what they need to do when they are uncomfortable and have to keep pushing.
"It's awesome to see the kids put in the work at practice."
The Dodgers are back in action on Saturday when they run a night race in Cherokee starting at 8:30 p.m.