Demons dominate home cross-country meet

WASHINGTON — The entire Southeast Conference was at Washington cross-country Club on Tuesday night, and the Demons held home course and then some with a double victory.

The Washington boys out-dueled Fort Madison, scoring 38 to the Bloodhounds’ 45, to earn a team victory. The Demon girls rolled, scoring 25, way ahead of second-place Fort Madison’s 77.

It was once again Micah Rees out ahead in the boys’ race, and the Demon junior won it in style, finishing in 16 minutes, 17.75 seconds for almost a one-minute difference on second place.

Coming in second was Mt. Pleasant’s Ben Carthey, who crossed the tape in 17:16.75. Teammate Jude Dykstra wasn’t far behind, finishing in 17:43.51 to give the Panthers two runners in the Top-4.

Washington placed all five of its scorers in the Top-15, plus one extra. Tyler Alderton finished fifth. Andrew Rees was sixth. Drew Horak came in 12th. Lane Schrock was 14th, and Andrew Shepherd finished 15th.

Mt. Pleasant’s next-best runner was Gabe Fledmann, who took 19th. Tyler Johnson finished 22nd, to give the Panthers four in the Top-25.

Fairfield’s boys squad was paced by Nate Konczal, who hit the finish line in 13th. Dayton Mauck placed 16th. Riley Perkins was 18th, and Ben Boatright finished 20th to give the Trojans four in the Top-20.

The top WACO boy was Keriran Luitjens, who crossed the tape in 23rd. Highland’s best finisher was 68th-place Jackson Schneider.

None of the Union area girls could catch Fort Madison freshman Avery Rump, who won the race in 19:41.81. Washington’s Iris Dahl, another freshman, was the closets on her tail, with a time of 20:15.71. In all, five of the Top-9 girls were freshmen.

Quincy Griffis took third place, crossing in 20:44.77, and Lauren Horak ran a 21:13.34 to give Washington three runners in the Top-5.

Nine of the Top-16 runners were wearing Washington colors. Alyvia Anderson took seventh. Angeline Anderson was eighth. Kendall Hinrichsen finished 11th. Isabella Lujan went 12th. Ada Kendall was 14th, and Grace Voss finished 16th.

Mt. Pleasant’s Isabelle Meador was the only upperclassman in the Top-15. The senior crossed the tape in sixth place, running a 21:14.21. Emma Welcher took ninth. Alexis Wagner was 19th, and Audrey Lord finished 24th to give the Panthers four in the Top-25.

Fairfield had four runners in the Top-25 as well. Carley Seeley took 10th. Malena Bloomquist was 13th. Makenzie Kraemer took 18th, and Caroline Van Belt was 23rd.

The top runner from the area small schools was Highland freshman Siena Stanerson, who crossed the tape in 37th. WACO’s best girl was McKenzie Vradenburg, who took 52nd.

BOYS’ TEAM SCORES

1. Washington 38

2. Fort Madison 45

3. Mt. Pleasant 76

4. Fairfield 117

5. Burlington 118

6. WACO 220

7. Keokuk 313

8. Highland 388

GIRLS’ TEAM SCORES

1. Washington 25

2. Fort Madison 77

3. Mt. Pleasant 85

4. Fairfield 92

5. Burlington 173

6. Keokuk 201