Area runners take on Fairfield

Multiple area teams traveled to Fairfield for a cross-country meet on Thursday afternoon, and came away with some strong results to show for it.

The Washington cross-country teams were a part of that group, and faced some stiff competition in the boys? and girls? meets, with Ottumwa and Fort Madison both in the mix.

?It was another good meet for us last night, it was good to see most of the teams in the conference and see where we stand at this point in the season,? Washington cross-country head coach Stefanie Tschantz said. ?Conditions made it tough last night, it was extremely humid last night and that did affect some of our runners. We had a few cramp up a little, but everyone was able to finish. It was another solid team effort again, when someone has an off race everyone knows they need to steps up and they do a great job.?

The Washington girls team finished in fourth place on the night, scoring 89 points, finishing 13 points behind third place Fairfield. Fort Madison won the meet with 41 points and Ottumwa took second with a 48.

Claire Horak led the Demon girls on the night, running a 20:57 on the humid course, taking seventh-place overall.

Brooke Stout also finished in medal contention, picking up 14th place on the night, with a 22:47, while senior Maggie Voss claimed 20th place with a 23:14.

Meredith Raber took 23rd, posting a time of 23:57, while Molly Sparks finished in 25th with a 24:07 to round out the varsity scoring.

Halle Leyden finished in 35th with a time of 25:04, while Ashley Telleen ran a 25:51 to take 37th-place overall.

?Maggie had a great race, she was almost a minute faster than she was last year on the same course,? Tschantz said. ?Her confidence continues to grow and I would expect those times to continue to drop. I was so proud of her last night and for her to medal was just icing on the cake.  Brooke Stout also had a great race, she got out a little harder than she had been and it paid off as she was the No. 2 runner for the team last night. Claire had an outstanding night, she looks stronger and stronger every race.?

On the boys? side of the meet, the Demons claimed a fifth-place finish, finishing behind meet champion Mt. Pleasant followed by Fort Madison, Ottumwa and Fairfield.

The Demons were led by Brennan Horak on the night, with his 12th-place finish, while Evan Horak took 14th in the meet with an 18:34.

Jacob VanOsdol was the Demons? third runner to cross the line, running a 19:25 for 23rd place, while Owen Horak finished with a 20:07 for 34th place and Kyle Anderson took 41st with a 20:38 to round out the varsity scoring.

Ben Loy took 45th in the meet with a 21:40, while Kiowa Kieth finished in 47th with a 22:05.

Brennan had another solid race last night, he is running times right now where he finished last year, you can tell all of his hard work this summer is paying off.  Evan had a phenomenal night (as well). For him to step up and be our No. 2 runner last night was huge. He was only 17 seconds behind Brennan which definitely helps us as a team. Evan doesn?t start off as fast as some of our runners but after the first mile he really closes the gap and is such a strong finisher. He is running outstanding times for a freshman.

The Demons will run next Thursday at Fort Madison, when they face more conference opponents.

The Highland and Iowa Mennonite cross-country teams were also in attendance at the meet, and competed in the small-school portion of the meet.

Highland?s boys? team took seventh-place at the meet, led by a 10th-place finish by Caleb Brase, who finished the course in 19:03.

Josh Brand finished in 21:10 for 27th place, while Bryan Redlinger finished in 21:49 for 33rd overall.

Nic Rath took 37th with 22:13, while Luke VanSchoyk finished in 26:56 for 44th, and Nathan Butler took 45th with a 26:57.

On the girls? side of the meet, the Huskies? Zoe Mahler took 22nd with a 27:01, while Alli Brand finished in 26th with a 27:39 and Kate McFarland finished in 27th with a 27:59 and Brenna Popham took 34th with a 30:48.

IMS took fifth in the girls? team competition, led by Calli Shaw, who ran a 24:56 for a 16th-place finish.

Mackenzie Gutierrez took 28th with a 28:12, while Sarena Graber and Rachel Geyer took 32nd and 33rd, both posting 29:50s.

Greta Schrag took 36th with a 35:43, while Ainsley Shaw took 37th with a 39:06.

On the boys? side, IMS took sixth place, led by Levi Geyer, who posted a fifth-place finish, running the course in 18:19.

Jacob Boller posted a 26th-place finish with a 21:01, while Cameron Roser-Peet finished 28th with a 21:16.

Anthony Villatoro (31st, 21:41), Gerardo Mendoza (35th, 22:08), Micah Miller (38th, 22:39) and Jesse Slater (47th, 30:47) rounded out the IMS varsity results.

Highland and IMS will both be competing at English Valleys on Tuesday.