The Washington boys and girls track teams gave the home fans a show Thursday for their final home meets of the year at Case Field. The Demon boys won the tam championship with their score of 142 points. Following the night, Demon head coach Steve Roth talked about the championship, honoring the seniors and running in front of the home fans. “It’s outstanding, I mean that’s what it’s about. The weather cooperated. We had some outstanding performances. We got to run 45 kids. It was fun. We didn’t go for the team championship, we just tried to put some stuff together to qualify (for Drake) in different events. They stepped up. We’re talking about the young kids that ran and the seconds and thirds and fourths and fifths.”
Washington had six event championships on the night. Brayden Hartman was the winner in the shot put with a throw of 50’3″. He spoke afterward with KCII sports about his work on the night. “I just closed my mind down and went for it. Went as fast as I could and threw it. The most important thing is where my feet land, definitely. I started out the year taking too big of steps and got off. When it flicks off my fingers the right way I know it’s a good one.”
Lance Sobaski was the winner in the two mile in 9:41.96 and the 800 in 2:00.04. Elijah Morris took the 400 in 50.95 seconds. The Demon 4×200 team of Ethan Patterson, Austin Rebling, Jacob Miller and Alec Ulin brought home gold in 1:34.37 and the Washington 4×400 team of Alec Ulin, Logan McDole, Evan Miller and Cameron Vongpanya were winners in 3:37.25. Other top Washington finishes included the sprint medley team of Patterson, Lucas Kroll, Miller and Ulin runner-up, second for the 4×100 team of Patterson, Kroll, Miller and Morris, Micah Rees was third in the mile, Harman was third in the discus, the distance medley team of Kroll, Tayven Stuart, McDole and Rees were third and the Demon team of Drew Horak, Evan Van Der Molen, Tyler Alderton and Andrew Shepherd were third in the 4×800.
The Washington girls were fourth of 10 competing teams with 85 points. Mount Pleasant won the meet title with 151 points. Washington had one championship event on the night with Quincy Griffis winning the 3000 in 11:54.77. After the race she spoke with KCII Sports about the title. “I was just going to go out there and run my best. The one motivation that I have is my team and how much we push each other. I don’t really think about it. I just see where everybody else is at. It felt good, and it was really nice to have my team right there when I finished.”
Other top Demon girls finishes included second for Abigail Kleese in the 800, runner-up for the 4×800 team of Kleese, Kendall Hinrichsen, Lauren Horak and Grace Voss, third for the 4×400 team of Kleese, Eden Levetzow, Horak and Rachel Sands and third for Sands in the 100.
Washington honored 13 seniors on the night including Sam Ackerman, Kasen Bailey, Lincoln Hanson, Lucas Kroll, Travis Leyden, James Medrano, Jacob Miller, Evan Miller, Mateo Salazar, Peyton Snakenberg, Lance Sobaski, Kole Williams, Matt Wolf, Quinn Wubbena, Ethan Zieglowsky and Liaden Fillinger.
The Mid-Prairie boys were team runners up with 115 points. The Golden Hawks had three event championships on the night. The Golden Hawk distance medley team of Cain Brown, Carter Harmsen, Will Cavanagh and Thaddeus Shetler flew by the competition in a time of 3:41.43. They spoke after their race about the performance. “Our goal coming in was to get a 3:39. We ended up with a 3:41, that ties our best time of the season. We were 24th in the Drake standings coming in and they take the top 24, so we’ll just have to wait and see. I thought we ran good legs. It felt alright. We built a huge lead, but that meant we weren’t really pushed like we could have been to get a better time.”
The Hawks delivered a 1-2 punch in the mile with Shetler winning gold in 4:37.48 and Jayse Yoder taking second and Carter Harmsen was the discus winning with a throw of 135 and a half feet. Other top Mid-Prairie performances included Cain Brown second in the long jump, Emmett Swartzentruber runner-up in the 3000, second for the shuttle hurdle team of Justice Jones, Kaden Meader, Braden Hartley and Brown and third for Jackson Gehman in the 400.