Demons jump-start outdoor season

It was two days ahead of schedule, but with the way it felt outside, it seemed as if it was the perfect day for a track meet.

A perfect spring day helped usher in the outdoor track and field season at the Demon Relays, held at Case Field on Tuesday evening, and there were a total of 17 teams participating in the three-class event.

Washington comprised two of the teams, fielding its varsity team in the Class A meet, while its junior varsity team ran in the Class C events.

Washington finished sixth in the Class A meet, which featured conference foes Fort Madison, Fairfield and Mt. Pleasant, as well as Cedar Rapids Prairie and meet champion Iowa City High.

Washington?s JV team picked up eighth in the Class C meet, which featured Highland, Columbus, WACO and Class C winner Wapello.

?We know we aren?t in the shape we need to be yet,? Washington head coach Steve Roth said. ?They handled the pressure well, and I thought they competed well against Iowa City High and Cedar Rapids Prairie. We have too many football players to be intimidated by them. We just need to get in better shape, and we know that. Everyone got to run, and we got times on guys.?

Washington?s varsity squad had six top-10 individual finishes on the day, with a pair of them coming from junior Kyle Schindler.

Schindler took ninth in the 100-meter dash, and added an eighth-place finish in the long jump.

?Kyle had a nice night,? Roth said. ?He?s worked really hard and was one of our mainstay sprinters last year and being stronger and a junior, I?m expecting a lot. He?s not where he wants to be, but I?m happy with the way he competed. He had a very good night.?

Also reaching the top 10 was junior Kyle Anderson, who picked up a ninth-place finish in the 800-meters.

?He?s a soccer guy and hopefully we can use him a couple of times this year,? Roth said. ?We?d like to have him on the team, because I have a couple of ideas of how I?d use him.?

Caleb Bex was a top finisher for the Demons, taking eighth in the 110-meter hurdles.

In the field events, senior Michael Ellingson led the way, taking second place in the high jump, clearing 5 feet ? 8 inches.

?We have to spend some more time on it,? Roth said. ?We just want to get him in shape and once it gets warm and stays warm, he?ll be consistently clearing 6 feet. He knew he had 5 feet - 10 inches, but just grazed the bar off.?

Bryce Sinn also cracked the top 10 in the discus, with a throw of 103 feet ? 5 inches.

In the relays, Washington had one top 3 finish, coming from the 4x200-meter relay team of Schindler, Ethan Hansen, Bryce Rickey and Tanner Murphy, and Roth hopes to see improvement from all of his relay events.

?The 4x100 and 4x200 have some great potential,? Roth said. ?There are some kids who can really step up and make it attractive. We need to get the guys in the right place and get some handoffs squared up. I think we are one man away from each of those relays. Those are what I?m trying to stick together right now.?

Roth also thanked all the volunteers who helped the meet run smoothly througout the night.

Washington?s next meet will be at West Burlington on Monday.

Varsity results for the Demons are below.

100-meter dash

9. Kyle Schindler, 12.11

12. Bryce Rickey, 12.41

14. Ethan Hanson, 12.53

200-meter dash

11. Jaivonn Willis, 25.49

12. Tanner Murphy, 25.71

14. Mason Letts, 26.14

400-meter dash

11. David Mares, 58.33

12. Ryan Loy, 59.04

800-meter run

9. Kyle Anderson, 2:16.47

17. Christopher Miller, 2:49.99

1600-meter run

11. Brennan Horak, 5:21.15

14. Kiowa Keith, 5:44.52

16. Blake Hartzler, 6:14.56

110-meter hurdles

8. Caleb Bex, 17.18

4x100-meter relay

4. Ethan Hansen, 46.34

Kyle Schindler

Jack Giardino

Ryan Reighard

4x200-meter relay

3. Ethan Hansen, 1:38.65

Tanner Murphy

Bryce Rickey

Kyle Schindler

4x400-meter relay

4. Ryan Reighard, 3:54.22

Tanner Murphy

Mason Sinn

Michael Ellingson

4x800-meter relay

5. Brennan Horak, 10:15.87

Kiowa Keith

Blake Hartzler

Sean Zimmer

1600-meter medley

5. Mason Letts, 4:21.33

Dakota Suchan

David Mares

Sean Zimmer

Shuttle hurdle relay

4. Caleb Bex, 1:06.71

Jack Giardino

Mario Tapio

Cade Hennigan

High jump

2. Michael Ellingson, 5-08.00

Long Jump

8. Kyle Schindler, 17-07.50

10. Bryce Craff, 16-09.50

Shot put

13. Collin Murphy, 35-08.50

14. Seth Townsend, 33-00.00

17. Keith Zabel, 26-03.00

Discus

9. Bryce Sinn, 103-05

12. Cale Hobscheidt, 98-03