Washington cross-country has big day at Pekin meet

OTTUMWA — The Washington cross-country teams made plenty of noise at Pekin’s home meet on Thursday night. The Demons scooped up two Top-2 finishes and an individual win at Wildwood Park.

The Demon girls edged Pekin by just one point, scoring 57 points to the Panthers’ 58.

“We're mainly freshman and sophomores,” said Washington’s Taylor Bartholomew, whotook 17th. “Giving the freshman that inside feeling of winning makes us dig down deeper as a team, work harder and push ourselves that much more at practice.”

Washington’s top performer on the girls’ side was Quincy Griffis, who took eighth-place, just ahead of Fairfield’s Kelsey Pacha.

“It's so cool,” said Griffis. “I'm just so happy. Everyone ran really hard.”

Twin Cedars’ Rylee Dunkin won the meet. Pekin’s Lauren Steigleder and Lauren Dersheid took second and third, just ahead of Carley Seeley from Fairfield.

“It was really good experience,” Steigleder said. “I'm glad I got to be a part of it.”

Danville-New London’s boys dominated, scoring 23 points to win the meet by 45. Washington’s Lance Sobaski cruised to an individual victory, however, and after D-NL stars Ty Carr and Alexander Julian took second and third, Sobaski’s teammate, Micah Rees, gave the Demons a fourth-place finish.

“It was amazing that I had Micah right behind me,” Sobaski said. “I knew he would be somewhere back there, but I was so excited when I saw him, and he was fired up too.”

Girls’ team standings: 1. Washington 57; 2. Pekin 58; 3. Ottumwa 69; 4. Fairfield 72; 5. Danville-New London 128; 6. Cardinal 184; 7. Mediapolis 192; 8. Eddyville-Blakesburg 200.

Girls’ Top-5: 1. Rylee Dunkin (Twin Cedars) 20:28; 2. Lauren Steigleder (Pekin) 2:58; 3. Lauren Dersheid (Pekin) 21:17; 4. Carley Seeley (Fairfield) 21:40; 5. Cheyanne Bruns (Twin Cedars) 21:43.

Boys’ team standings: 1. Danville-New London 23; 2. Washington 68; 3. Fairfield 86; 4. North Mahaska 122; 5. Mediapolis 124; 6. Ottumwa 127; 7. Eddyville-Blakesburg 175; 8. English Valleys 211.

Boys’ Top-5: 1. Lance Sobaski (Washington) 16:32; 2. Ty Carr (Danville-New London) 16:46; 3. Alexander Julian (Danville-New London); 17:01; 4. Micah Rees (Washington) 17:13; 5. Rylan Martin (Danville-New London) 17:18.