The Washington Demons put together a solid start to the new cross country season Saturday at the Anamosa August Meet, with the Washington girls finishing second in the team standings and the boys taking third.

The top individual finish for the Demons belonged to senior Micah Rees, who debuted after a state medal last season by clocking in at 16 minutes six seconds to take boys’ runner-up honors.

Junior Tyler Alderton finished ninth in his first race of the season after going to state in 2022 by finishing in 17:44, while sophomore Andrew Rees rounded out the top 10 one second later. Senior Lane Schrock finished 19th and sophomore Sawyer Tschantz was 25th, while seniors Kael Malichky and Andrew Shepherd also ran for Washington.

Junior Quincy Griffis had the Demon girls’ top time of 22:08 to finish 12th, with classmate Lauren Horak three spots behind. After reaching state in her debut season, sophomore Iris Dahl started 2023 by taking 17th, with junior Alyvia Anderson one slot behind her. Senior Abbi Kleese and juniors Isabella Lujan and Kendall Hinrichsen also had times in the top 23 for Washington, which will next race Thursday at Iowa City Regina.