Washington’s Claire Horak sprints to the finish line during last week’s Fairfield Invitational. Photo by KCII Sports Nate Gonner.

The latest cross country race took the Washington Demons to Rodeo Park in Fort Madison Thursday. The Fort Madison Invitational was a two-class meet and featured runners from Burlington, Central Lee, Clark County (Missouri), Columbus, Danville, Fairfield, Holy Trinity, Illini West, Keokuk, Mediapolis, Mount Pleasant, Burlington Notre Dame, Van Buren, Wapello, West Hancock, and Winfield-Mount Union.

Brennan Horak continues to cross the finish line first for the Demon boys’ team. He took 12th place overall, clocking a time of 18:24. He posted an average mile time of 5:55. Freshman Evan Horak finished in 17th place, clocking a time of 18:42. Jacob Van Osdol concluded the race in 21st place, Owen Horak came in 22nd, Kyle Anderson ranked 29th, Ben Schiefer crossed the line in 30th place, and Ben Loy was 34th. Washington finished fifth in the team standings, scoring 103 points, out of six teams.

Washington’s first top five finish of the season was recorded by Claire Horak. She was the fourth runner to cross the finish line, with a time of 20:29. Her average mile time was clocked at 6:36. Molly Sparks captured a 12th place finish, crossing the line in 22:53. Maggie Vos posted the 17th best time, Meredith Raber was 18th, Ashley Tellen placed 21st, Halle Leyden finished 29th, and Peyton Cuddeback crossed the line in 30th place. Washington came away with a third place team finish, compiling 72 points.

The Demon cross country teams will next race Tuesday, running in the Mount Pleasant Invitational.