FORT DODGE, Iowa — Rebekah Topham appeared slightly uneasy, unsure of what to make of all the attention that came her way Saturday.

But the Griswold freshman probably should get used to it. It’s only going to increase in the next four years.

In her first state cross country meet at Kennedy Park, Topham merely:

• Was the fastest girl among the 484 in four classes who crossed the finish line, running the course in 13 minutes, 59 seconds.

• Set a Class 1-A state-meet record for 4,000 meters, the distance used at state for the past 10 years.

• Finished in the fourth-fastest time, regardless of class, in those 10 years since the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union increased the race distance from two miles to 4,000 meters.

The top three all-time performances were by Katie Flood of West Des Moines Dowling (now at Washington, 13:27), Ashlie Decker of Dowling (now at Minnesota, 13:37) and Shelby Houlihan of Sioux City East (now at Arizona State, 13:40).

“I ran my race at the start,” Topham said. “I just tried picking off people, one by one. I was in like fifth place at the half-mile. I just kept pushing hard and did my best.”

Topham isn’t a one-girl team. The Tigers finished with their best team showing in school history, taking third with 142 points behind Pekin (75) and Earlham (131). Griswold earned the right to “walk the deck,” the honor that goes to the top three teams in each class.

Also scoring for the Tigers were junior Jordyn Sindt (32nd, 15:52), freshman Alyx Flippin (55th, 16:23), junior Larissa Backhaus (59th, 16:29) and junior Allison Young (83rd, 17:13).

“We’ve been so close, but we’ve never been able to make this walk with the girls team, so we’re extremely excited,” Griswold coach Jane Chaillie said.

Pekin and Earlham finished 1-2 last year. Pekin graduates three of its top six, while Earlham loses only one of its top seven.

“Hopefully we can take the title next year,” Backhaus said.

Topham doesn’t like to go straight to the lead in the bigger meets. By the midway point of the race, she had taken a four-second lead. She quickly stretched it out and finished 32 seconds ahead of runner-up Leah Seivert of Sibley-Ocheyedan.

“She’s just the most beautiful runner that you could watch,” Chaillie said. “She just makes it look easy. What a great, positive person who’s a team player. She looked like the normal Rebekah, just out for another run.”

Backhaus said the best part about Topham is that she’s anything but a prima donna.

“Some of the top runners get selfish,” she said. “But Rebekah’s not like that at all. She’s just one of us. She’s the sweetest girl you’d ever meet.”

No Iowa girl in the 46-year history of the meet has ever won four individual cross country titles. Four girls have won three. Only one Iowan in the 82-year history of the boys meet has won four titles — Mark Johnson of Mason City from 1969 to 1972.

Also from western Iowa on the girls’ side, Tri-Center finished sixth and Corning eighth in Class 1-A.

Tri-Center placed two girls in the top 16, Michelle Mumm (12th) and Ashtyn Alfers (16th). Mumm entered the race not rated in the top 30 in 1-A. Junior Tiffany Shepherd led Corning with an 11th-place finish.

In Class 3-A, Atlantic senior Ali Krogman placed sixth individually, marking her fourth straight top-seven finish at state.

In Class 2-A, OA-BCIG’s Bailey Hare was the top freshman finisher, placing seventh in 15:27. OA-BCIG was 14th and Missouri Valley 15th.

The Sioux City Heelan girls placed ninth in 3-A, while Harlan Community was 11th and Shenandoah/Essex 13th.

Heelan’s leader was junior Carson Leiting (21st, 15:21). Harlan’s pacesetter was junior Jessica Feldman, who was 23rd in 15:22, while the Fillies were led by junior Mariah Johnson (16:00) and sophomore Megan Hart (16:01), who were 65th and 66th, respectively.

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402-444-1055, kevin.white@owh.com

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