Washington cross-country teams take 2nd in Anamosa

The Washington cross-country teams got off to a hot start in 2022, one year after a huge year for the program.

The defending Southeast Conference champions took their talents to Anamosa for the first boy-girl meet of the season, and both teams walked out with second-place finishes.

The Demon girls were just 28 points away from the top spot, which was instead occupied by Solon. The Spartans, last year’s Class 3A champion, scored 39 and the Demons finished with 67.

Freshman Iris Dahl impressed in her first meet. She crossed the tape in 20 minutes, 45.6 seconds, the ninth-fastest time in Demon girls’ cross-country history.

Quincy Griffis finished ninth, in 21:32.8. Lauren Horak was 14th, in 22:14.9. The next four runners all finished in the Top-26.

On the boys’ side, Micah Rees broke his personal record with a third-place time of 16 minutes, 53.8 seconds. That helped the Demons edge Solon by 10 points, for second-place. Cedar Rapids Kennedy flew to victory with seven runners in the Top-14.

Tyler Alderton and Andrew Rees finished 16th and 18th respectively to give the Demons two more in the Top-20.

GIRLS’ TEAM STANDINGS: 1. Solon 39; 2. Washington 67; 3. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 101; 4. Union 125; 5. Cedar Rapids Xavier 132; 6. Cascade 136; 7. Anamosa 175; 8. Muscatine 183; 9. Waterloo West 265.

WASHINGTON GIRLS: 2. Iris Dahl (9), 20:45.6; 9. Quincy Griffis (10), 21:32.8; 14. Lauren Horak (10), 22:14.9; 20. Abigail Kleese (11), 22:36.3; 22. Alyvia Anderson (10), 22:56.2; 24. Isabella Lujan (10), 23:01.1; 26. Kendall Hinrichsen (10), 23:08.4.

BOYS’ TEAM STANDINGS: 1. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 25; 2. Washington 75; 3. Solon 84; 4. Anamosa 113; 5. Bellevue 118; 6. Cascade 126; 7. Muscatine 179; 8. CR Xavier 229; 9. Maquoketa 289; 10. Union 300; 11. Waterloo Christian 330.

WASHINGTON BOYS: 3. Micah Rees (11), 16:53.8; 12. Drew Horak (12) 18:22.7; 16. Tyler Alderton (10), 18:41.7; 18. Andrew Rees (9), 18:46.4; 26. Lane Schrock (11) 19:17.6; 30. Elijah Morris (12), 19:26.0; 40. Kael Malichky (11), 20:06.6.