After a marvelous regular season, the Washington Demon track & field team will look to punch their ticket to Des Moines and the state championships when they compete at the Class 3A District 6 meet later today in Mount Pleasant.

The Washington boys will look to build on last week’s Southeast Conference championship, their third straight. The Demons have a majority of the 14 individuals and three relay teams back that made it to state last season. That includes senior Elijah Morris, the defending Class 3A state champion in the 400-meter dash. While he’s missed much of this season, the newly-minted Iowa Hawkeye commit returned just in time to win conference titles in the 400 and the 200 meters last week.

Demon senior thrower Brayden Hartman will look for a return trip to state in both the shot put and the discus toss after finishing top two in both events at the conference meet. Junior Micah Rees is the Southeast Conference champion in both the 1,600 and the two-mile and will look to qualify for state in both races for a second straight year.

Washington will also look to a deep group of seniors like Ethan Patterson, Drew Horak, Cameron Vongpanya, Austin Rebling, Jack Kleese and Tayven Stuart to lead their relay teams, as both the sprint and distance medleys look to get back to Drake Stadium.

On the girls’ side, the Demon to watch will actually be a newcomer. Freshman Iris Dahl already had a top-10 finish at state cross country under her belt entering this spring, and she hasn’t slowed down. Dahl won the 800 and the 1,500 at conference while taking second in the 400 and the 3,000.

Washington junior Abigail Kleese and sophomore Quincy Griffis will look to get back to state in the distance races after posting top times at districts last year in the 800 and the 3,000, respectively. Along with the hosting Mount Pleasant Panthers, the Demons’ competition at districts is Fairfield, Keokuk, Fort Madison, Solon, West Burlington Notre Dame and Clear Creek Amana. The 3A District 6 track championships begin at 4 p.m.