The most important date on the calendar is here for the Washington cross country teams when they make a trip to Solon today for a class 3A state qualifying meet. 

The top three out of 13 teams will punch their ticket to next week’s state meet in Fort Dodge and the Demon girls are trying to accomplish that feat for the first time since 1996 and the boys haven’t been back as a team since 1998. Both squads are riding high after sweeping the Southeast Conference crowns last week in Burlington, a first in school history. The boys’ team comes in ranked 16th in the latest poll by the Iowa Track Coaches Association. The top competition they will see is #2 Marion, #4 Solon, and #11 Mount Vernon/Lisbon with the goal of knocking off at least one of them to get in the top three. Two time SEC champ and state qualifier Lance Sobaski is ranked sixth individually in the state and Micah Rees comes in at 24th. The Demon girls come in at the 18th spot and three other ranked teams will be competing in #1 Solon, #12 Mount Vernon/Lisbon, and #19 Marion. If Washington can’t qualify as a team, the top 15 individuals also punch their ticket to state. 

Other schools that will run include Davenport Assumption, Benton Community, Central DeWitt, Fort Madison, Keokuk, Maquoketa, Mount Pleasant, Notre Dame/West Burlington, and South Tama. 

The girls’ race begins at 4 p.m. this evening with the boys to follow at Solon Nature and Recreation Center.