Demon girls take third at Mt. Pleasant

As the season goes on, the preseason change to the race length seems to be getting easier for the Washington cross-country girls.

That evidence was on display on Tuesday night when the team ran at Mt. Pleasant and came away in third place as a team.

Senior Emme Keith set a season-best time with a 21:09 at the meet, taking fourth place, and halfway through the season, still has a lot left to prove according to Demons? head coach Steve Roth.

?She?s getting better conditioned and is a lot tougher now,? Roth said. ?I think the 3.1 (mile race) bugged a lot of them, because you get comfortable with the 2.5 (mile race), and you know you want to run it, then you change the distance and you are uncomfortable for a bit. She?s only going to get better and better.?

Sophomore Brooke Stout followed up Keith with an eighth-place finish at the meet, running a 21:38, while Meredith Raber continued her consistent performances with a 23:43 that was good for 14th place.

?(Meredith is) involved in a lot of stuff and it?s good confidence for her,? Roth said. ?She was just off the medals and it?s nice to see some of these young girls step up and push the older kids.?

Maggie Voss took 16th at the meet running a time of 24 minutes flat, with Molly Sparks taking 18th with a 24:19.

Morgan Brinning (19th, 24:24) and Peyton Cuddeback (24th, 25:19) rounded out the team, which finished 16 points behind Fairfield and 24 points behind meet champion Fort Madison.

?We understand what everyone else has, and we aren?t making our goals unrealistic,? Roth said. ?Fort Madison is the No. 2 team in the state and there?s Fairfield. We know what we have to do, and it?s about getting a medal and earning all-conference.?

On the boys? side, sophomore Brennan Horak helped lead the charge, taking 14th place with a time of 19:14.

Fellow sophomore Jacob VanOsdol finished two spots behind him, and one spot away from a medal, taking 16th with a 19:24.

?Jacob has had an outstanding first half of the season,? Roth said. ?He is so confident and missed a medal by one place last night. He was close and took 25 seconds off his time. We have three guys in the 19s and they should be in the 18s (soon).?

Owen Horak took 19th at the meet, running a 20:02, while Ben Loy took 20th place with a 20:11. Ben Schiefer rounded out the scoring for the Demons with a 26th place finish, running a 21:44.

Kiowa Keith (30th, 22:52) and Kyle Schindler (33rd, 25:44) were the other varsity finishers for the Demon boys, who finished fourth at the meet.

Washington will prepare for its home meet, which will be held at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the Washington Golf and Country Club.