Demons set PRs in Wellman

The Washington cross-country team didn?t have to travel far for its meet on Monday afternoon.

The Demons went to Wellman, running at the Wellman Golf Course at a meet hosted by IMS, and picked up some strong times on the night, with three runners setting personal-bests and three earning medals on the night.

The girls? team was without a couple of top runners on the night, but picked up sixth place out of the nine full teams at the meet, scoring 153 points, six points behind fifth-place Danville on the day.

?We were missing several of our top runners on the girls? side last night, but I was very pleased with how everyone stepped up and gave it 100 percent,? Washington cross-country head coach Stefanie Tschantz said. ?I know a few of them were running varsity for the first time last night and were pretty nervous, but they did a great job, and I am very proud of how they ran.?

Claire Horak led the team with a fourth-place finish on the night, putting down a personal-best time of 20:17.

?Claire was definitely a highlight last night; she had an outstanding race,? Tschantz said. ?The top two girls pulled away but she battled Ashley Bloomquist from Fairfield the whole race. They went back and forth for that third spot the whole race. She dropped about 15 seconds off her previous PR. She looked strong the whole race; it was a fun one to watch. She is such a strong runner it has been fun to see her grow throughout the season.?

Meredith Raber was the next Demon runner on the night, posting a 23:02 for 27th place, while Ashley Telleen finished in 40th with a 24:52.

Maggie Voss finished in 43rd with a 25:11 and Peyton Cuddeback posted  26:16 for 50th place to round out the counting scores.

Cierra Miller ran a 26:42 for 54th place while Lupita De La Rosa picked up 27:30 for 64th on the night.

The boys also saw a pair of runners pick up personal-best on the day, leading to a fifth-place finish, edging out Fairfield by 12 team points.

?The boys? team had a great night; we continue to get better every meet out and that definitely takes a total team effort,? Tschantz said. ?Every single person on the team helps with that success.?

Brennan Horak led the way with a 15th-place finish (18:24), while Evan Horak posted a personal-best of 18:27 for 16th-place overall.

Jacob Van Osdol ran a 19:10 to take 29th on the day, while Owen Horak finished in 34th overall with a 19:26.

Kyle Anderson rounded out the varsity scores with a 54th-place finish, 20:23, while Kiowa Keith had a personal-best time of 20:52, taking 63rd, while Ben Loy had a 68th-place finish with a 21:30.

The Demon middle-schoolers had a few top finishes on the day at the IMS meet, with Lance Sobaski taking 12th overall on the 2-mile course with a 12:44.

Kelsey Pacha finished in 16th (14:29), Alivia Emry took 18th (14:40), Greta Rothe finished in 19th (14:47) and Sydney Cuddeback finished in 23rd (15:01).

Washington will take on the conference competition next when they go to their conference meet next Thursday in Fairfield.