Demons show improvement at Iowa State Indoor

Improvement was the theme of the night for the Washington boys? track and field team at Tuesday?s Iowa State Indoor at the Lied Recreation Center.

Washington head coach Steve Roth took seven athletes to the meet, and nearly every one of them improved upon their performances from Thursday?s Demon Indoor in Iowa City.

Sophomore thrower Tommy Peterson threw an extra 4½ inches in the shot put competition, taking 38

^th

place with a throw of 42 feet, 6.5 inches.

?I thought he prepared a little better and he was more relaxed than the first time,? Roth said of Peterson.

Senior Logan Moeller shaved over a second off his time in the 60-meter hurdles, crossing the finish line 76

^th

in 10.04 seconds.

?He messed up the second hurdle at [the Demon Indoor] and just couldn?t get his rhythm back,? Roth said of Moeller. ?I had a guy come and help him, and we worked on it Monday. Nobody works harder than Logan.?

Sophomore Jacob Hennigan, who took 11

^th

place in the 60-meter hurdles at the Demon Indoor, finished 39

^th

in the event on Tuesday in Ames, crossing the finish line in 9.33 seconds.

Junior Alex Coker shaved five-hundredths of a second off his time in the 60-meter dash, finishing 43

^rd

in 7.47 seconds.

Coker, a two-time state qualifier in the long jump, also took 16

^th

place in the event on Tuesday. Even though he hadn?t yet practiced or competed in the event prior to Tuesday, he jumped 19 feet, 5.75 inches.

?We worked on steps on the track the night before,? Roth said. ?He scratched his first two times, so he wanted to get a jump in. He slowed down and got one in, and we?ll take that. That?s a really nice jump for the first time out.?

Junior Carl Sivels finished 74

^th

in the 60-meter dash in 7.58 seconds, which was nearly identical to his time from the Demon Indoor. Junior Tanner Knupp trimmed seven-hundredths of a second off his time, finishing 133

^rd

in 7.85 seconds.

Senior Austin Witt, who cleared 5-6 at the Demon Indoor, only cleared 5-2 in Ames, but the Iowa State Recreation Center has historically been a tough place to jump for the Demons.

?It was only the second time he?d jumped, and we still haven?t worked on it outside,? Roth said of Witt.

Overall, Roth liked the improvement he saw from his athletes on Tuesday night.

?Those guys that I took need to run and jump and throw competitively,? he said. ?This meet?s all about them. I just want them to work on competing and getting mentally focused.?