Demons get early start on season

Aaron Viner

Sports editor

One day after the girls? track season kicked off, the Washington boys? track team hosted the Demon indoor Invitational.

The meet, which was held at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, featured multiple strong performances for the Demons, as Washington saw how it measured up against a big field.

?We got to see where they were at,? Washington boys? track head coach Steve Roth said. ?We don?t have any expectations and it?s a good indication of what we need to do in the next few weeks. That?s what we are looking forward to.?

In a tough 60-meter hurdles field, Washington junior Caleb Bex finished in 12th with a 9.23 run, and followed it up with an 11th-place finish in the finals, improving his time to 9.17.

?I was very impressed with him getting in (the finals), and then how he did in the finals,? Roth said ?I think he?s going to have a good year. We just need to fine-tune some stuff, but he didn?t hit a hurdle, which was awesome. It was an outstanding field and very impressive for the first time out.?

In the high jump, Washington earned its lone top 10 finish of the day, with senior Michael Ellingson finishing in a tie for fourth, reaching a height of 5-foot-8.

?Michael hasn?t jumped too much outside of the gym, and he knows what he did wrong,? Roth said. ?He had 6-feet and he could have gone higher, but he started looking at the bar. We?ll get that done. To start where he left off last year is impressive.?

In other running events, junior Kyle Schindler finished in 15th in the 200-meter dash, posting a time of 24.47, while sophomore Brennan Horak set a PR in the 1600 with a 5:24, which put him in 31st.

Roth thanked all the volunteers who helped out at the Thursday and Friday meets.

The Demons will use this meet to evaluate where the team is, and with warm weather forecast for this week, they plan to take full advantage of it.

?We?ll be outside all week,? Roth said. ?It sounds like rain at night and we?ll get some quality work out on the track. We are only doing the one indoor; the weather is going to be too nice to not be outside on the track.?

Full results for the Demons are below, as well as Highland who was in attendance at the meet.

60-meter dash

32. Kyle Schindler ? 7.82

50. Jose Tapia ? 8.99

200-meter dash

15. Tanner Murphy ? 24.47

46. Jaivonn Willis ? 26.75

1600-meter run

31. Brennan Horak ? 5:24.22

60-meter hurdle prelims

12. Caleb Bex ? 9.23

27. Jake Reighard ? 9.77

60-meter finals

11. Caleb Bex ? 9.19

4x400-meter relay

19. 3:58.54

4x800-meter relay

27. 9:42.43

37. 11:16.75

1600-medley relay

12. 4:07.76

High jump

T-4. Michael Ellingson ? 5-08.00

Long jump

17. Tanner Murphy ? 16-10.50

Shot put

T-46. Colin Murphy ? 35-05.00

58. Bryce Sinn ? 30-10.50

Highland

60-meter dash

47. Mason Manley ? 8.40

49. Dylan Friese ? 8.51

200-meter dash

41. Spencer Wieland ? 26.32

48. Dan Burton ? 28.09

400-meter dash

44. Josh Brand ? 63.34

46. Adilkhan Makhat ? 68.42

1600-meter run

7. Keiffer Sexton ? 4:45.87

Shot put

61. Logan Dutton ? 29-08.50

62. Brody Burton ? 28-11.50

65. Bradley Rodgers ? 24-00.50