Washington senior Emme Keith (right) attempts a pass during Thursday’s Southeast Conference meet at the Washington Golf and Country Club. Photo by KCII’s Nate Gonner.

In her final run on the greens of the Washington Golf and Country Club, Demon senior Emme Keith finished among the best runners in the Southeast Conference. Thursday marked the 2015 Southeast Conference meet.  League institutions Fairfield, Fort Madison, Keokuk, and Mount Pleasant made the trek to Washington for the race.

The course’s hilly route coupled with swirling winds didn’t keep Keith from breaking into the all-conference fraternity again, clocking the meet’s seventh best time of 21:18. This is the second straight all-conference finish for Keith, who placed eighth last season with a time of 20:20 in the race held at Mount Pleasant. The top 10 runners receive all-conference honors.

Keith said this was a great way to end her conference cross country career. “It’s the last year, and you might as well make it count and to be all-conference is pretty great.”

Sophomore Brooke Stout fell short of making the all-conference squad, placing 13th with a time of 21:54. Meredith Raber came in 17th place, Molly Sparks finished 18th, Maggie Vos recorded the 21st best finish, Mariah Howard was 22nd, and Peyton Cuddeback placed 23rd.

Junior Owen Horak, an all-conference runner last season, was the closest to earning the honor for the Demons. He finished in 14th place, clocking a time of 18:35.

It was an exciting finish between the Demons’ Jacob Van Osdol and Brennan Horak. Van Osdol edged Horak by a step at the finish line, clocking the 16th best time at 18:44.23. Horak finished 17th with a time of 18:44.57.

The Demons’ regular season race schedule concludes next Thursday, competing in the Class 3A State Qualifying Race at Waterworks Park in Fairfield. The top 15 runners and top three overall teams advance to the state race Saturday, Oct 31 in Fort Dodge.