Demons sweep SEC track titles

FORT MADISON - A rainy night in Fort Madison ended in celebration for the Washington track teams on Thursday.

The Demon girls outlasted defending champion Mt. Pleasant to end 45-year SEC title drought. The boys battled tooth and nail with the hosting Bloodhounds all night before pulling out a five-point win for their second-straight conference crown.

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The Demon girls hadn’t won the SEC since 1979, and after a couple of close calls in recent years, Washington finally saw it’s girls track team finish on top of the league with a final point total of 173. Washington out-dueled Mt. Pleasant (125) by 48 points.

The Demon girls won seven events on the night, including two by double winner Iris Dahl. Dahl won the the 400-meter dash in 1:01.94, and the 800-meter run in 2:25.98.

Leighton Messinger picked up a double win for the Demons as well. Messinger edged teammate Ryen Pepper in the 400-meter hurdles, crossing in 1:08.43, and took the high jump championship by clearing 4 feet, 10 inches.

Jayden Moore had the only other individual win for the Demon girls. She crossed the tape first in the 200-meter dash, winning in 27.01 seconds.

Washington had two relay winners. The distance medley team of Leighton Salazar, Ada Kendall, Taylor Bartholomew and Lauren Horak took first, in 4:33.96, and the shuttle hurdle relay team of Pepper, Salazar, Kendall Hinrichsen and Messinger won in 1:09.77.

Mt. Pleasant had five wins on the girls’ side en route to a second-place finish. Individually, Alex Scott won the 100-meter dash, in 12.79 seconds, and Bailey Jalas took the long jump with a leap of 16 feet, 2.75 inches.

In relay events, the Panther 4X100 team of Kynlee White, Alex Scott, Jalas and Andi Scott won in 51.20 seconds. The 4X200 team of Kiyah Sanders, White, Raub and Andi Scott took first in 51.20 seconds, and the sprint medley team of Jalas, White, Alex Scott and Raub won in 1:55.02.

The Fairifeld girls took first in one event, as Lilly Bergren grabbed a 100-meter hurdle title. Bergren finished the race in 16.64 seconds.

The Washington boys were up by just one point with three events remaining, but built enough of a lead when Micah and Andrew Rees went one-two in the 1600.

Micah Rees was a triple winner individually. He took first place in the 800-meter run, in 5:02.65, nipping Fairfield’s Gabe Tejada at the line. He beat out brother Andrew Rees in the 1600, crossing with a final time of 4:43.35, and wend one-two in the 3200 with Andrew Reese as well. Micah Rees won the 3200 in 10:41.42.

Washington’s Alec Ulin took first place in the 400-meter dash, crossing the line in 52.53 seconds.

The Demon sprint medley team of Keider Gomez Valdez, Kael Williams, Alec Ulin and Logan McDole took first, in 1:36.77, and the distance medley squad of Gomez Valdez, Nate Edmonds, Seth Shepherd and Micah Rees won in 3:50.07.

Fairfield finished fourth in the boys’ team race. The Trojans had one championship on the day, as Ryan Giberson took first place in the high jump, with a leap of 6 feet, 2 inches. The Trojans were edged for third by Burlington, by just two points.

Mt. Pleasant took sixth in the boys’ team race. The Panthers had no conference champions.

GIRLS’ TEAM SCORES

1. Washington 173

2. Mt. Pleasant 125

3. Fort Madison 77

4. Fairfield 72

5. Burlington 68

6. Keokuk 66

BOYS’ TEAM SCORES

1. Washington 143

2. Fort Madison 138

3. Burlington 96

4. Fairfield 94

5. Keokuk 69

6. Mt. Pleasant 42