Washington girls win Mediapolis track meet

The Washington Demon Girls Track and Field team won the track meet in Mediapolis Thursday night. The Demons won the event with 105 points, just ahead of the hosts who had 99 and ahead of Columbus with 94. West Liberty had 81, Danville had 69, Durant had 44, WACO had 40, Central Lee had 29, Keokuk had 15 and IMS had six.

Demon girls? head coach Howard Bean said his team got off to a slow start but finished strong.

?It came down to the last race, which was the 4x400,? he said.

The Demons won the 4x400 relay with a time of 4:20.68. The team consisted of Stephanie Fishback, Regan Enfield, Maddie Bohr and Mariah Reighard.

?I wasn?t sure where we stood before the last race,? Bean said. ?I knew we were in first by a few points. We were hoping we could out-point whoever was behind us. There was some really good competition that night.?

Bean said several girls ran well, such as Fishback, who finished second in the 200 meter dash and was also on the winning 4x200 relay with Macy Marek, Reighard and Rachel Hall. The time of the 4x200 relay team was 1:53.63 and Fishback?s time in the open 200 was 27.33.

?Stephanie had a very good evening,? the coach said.

A few of the girls in field events had their best performances of the young season. Sammy Ellingson had her best high jump of the year at 5?2?, which put her in second place. Ellingson also placed fourth in the 400 meter dash at 1:05.89. Joni Erwin had her best throw in the shot put this season at 34?.5?, which earned her a silver medal. Erwin also won fourth in the discuss with a throw of 91?7?.

Kaitlin Buchholz won gold in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 1:14.21. Lauren Kimball won bronze with a time of 1:15.72.

The Demons got fourth place in the 4x100 with a time of 56.13. The team members were Marek, Natalee Enfield, Bohr and Hall. The sprint medley also came in fourth. That team consisted of Marek, N. Enfield, Hall and Ellingson and their time was 2:05.09.

The distance medley came in third with a time of 4:44.2 and the runners were N. Enfield, Fishback, Lauren Kimball and R. Enfield. The Demons? 4x800 meter relay placed fourth with a time of 11:24.34 and consisted of Sarah Greiner, Reighard, Sydney Hoffman and Beth Dillon.

Stephanie Loy finished second in the 3000-meter run with a time of 12:39.48. Loy placed fourth in the 1500-meter run with a time of 5:52.82. Bohr placed sixth in the long jump with a leap of 14?8?. Buchholz placed fifth in the 100 meter hurdles at 17.47, followed by teammate R. Enfield who placed sixth with a time of 18.04. Dema Giardino placed fifth in the 100-meter dash, coming in at 13.57.

?We had a 30-minute rain delay at 7 p.m. so we had to go in the gym for a little bit,? Bean said. ?We had to cool off in the gym and the girls got themselves loose. We hit our stride in the second half of the track meet.?

Bean said he thought the girls did a fantastic job.

?This is the third year in a row we have won the Mediapolis track meet,? he said. ?When you have success year after year, it gives you confidence but it also puts a target on your back for the other teams to see. We were pushed to the limit last night and we responded well to the competition.?