Columbus senior Mauricio Ramirez prepares to land during Tuesday’s long jump competition at the Washington Relays at Case Field. Photo by KCII’s Nate Gonner.

Several schools from eastern Iowa began their outdoor track season in Washington Tuesday night. The annual Washington Relays was held last night at Case Field, pitting 21 teams from three classes against one another. The meet saw a handful of notable performances from area athletes.

Washington senior Michael Ellingson leaped 5 feet 8 inches in the Class A high jump competition, finishing in a tie for second place and earning six team points for the Demons. Washington also had notable finishes from a couple of their relay teams. The 4×200 meter relay crew placed third out of six teams, clocking a time of 1:38.65 and earned the Demons six points. Representing Washington in the 4X200 meter relay included Ethan Hansen, Tanner Murphy, Bryce Rickey, and Kyle Schindler. The Demons’ 4×100 relay team came in fourth place in their class, finishing with a time of 46.34 seconds and four points scored. The team featured Hansen, Schindler, Jack Giardino, and Ryan Reighard. The Demons finished in sixth place overall in the Class A competition, earning 31 team points.

WACO’s Bryce Achen had three top finishes in the Class C sprinting competitions. Achens’ 100 meter dash time of 11.5 seconds was two-tenths of a second better than Columbus senior Mauricio Ramirez for first place honors. The Warrior senior also took first in the 200 meter dash, crossing the finish line in 22.86 seconds, nearly a second and a half better than second place finisher Abel Mena of Columbus. Achen’s night concluded by taking first in the 110 meter hurdles, crossing the line in 16.08 seconds, a full second better than the Class C field.

Highland’s Keiffer Sexton took top honors in the meet’s Class C distance events. His 1600 meter run time of 4:55.34 was nearly 25 seconds better than the rest of the field. Sexton set a new meet record in the 3200 meter run, clocking a time of 10:01.27, more than three seconds better than the previous record. Keota’s Turner Klein finished in second place to Sexton in both races. His one mile run was recorded at 5:19.41 and his two mile time was clocked at 10:35.37.

Columbus’ Ramirez had a notable finish for the Wildcats in the Class C long jump. His longest leap of 18 feet 4.5 inches was the second best in the competition. The Wildcats’ crew of Ruben Paz, Devon Henry, Mena, and Ramirez took top honors in two relays. Their 4×100 meter dash time of 45.27 seconds was a full three seconds better than the field and their 4×200 meter dash time of 1:35.65 was five seconds better than the competition.

WACO finished with the best score in the Class C team competition, finishing in third place with 75 points. Columbus was 1.5 points behind the Warriors for a fourth place finish. The Highland Huskies came in sixth place as a team with 43 points, and the Keota Eagles finished in seventh place with 41 points.