The Washington Demons have once again reached the biggest stage in Iowa high school cross country, and now they’ll look to bring home some hardware from the Class 3A state championships Saturday afternoon in Fort Dodge. The Washington boys moved on as a team by finishing second place at state qualifying last week, while sophomore Iris Dahl reached girls’ state for the second straight season by finishing fifth at Pella.

The Demon boys have been victorious in team scoring at seven meets this season, including winning a third straight Southeast Conference championship back on October 12th. Senior Micah Rees is the leader of the pack, a historic runner who’s set a school record for fastest time in five races in the last year.

Rees will be looking for a second straight state medal, finishing 13th in 3A last year. He was the runner-up last week at Pella in punching his ticket to state for a third straight year and has won seven races this season, a big reason why Rees is the third-ranked runner in 3A.

Junior Tyler Alderton is making his second straight trip to state and picked up his seventh top 10 of the season at state qualifying. Sophomore Andrew Rees also had a top-10 time at Pella and will look for similar success in Fort Dodge, while sophomore Sawyer Tschantz and seniors Lane Schrock, Andrew Shepherd and Kael Malichky will try to power the Demons to a strong effort in only their second trip to state as a team in school history.

Iris Dahl is also looking to keep up a phenomenal pace, as the sophomore jumped up to 13th in the individual 3A state rankings after her outing at Pella. Dahl has finished top 10 at seven meets this season and is trying to build on last year’s sixth-place medal at state.

Dahl will race starting at 2 p.m. tomorrow in Fort Dodge, while the Washington boys will compete beginning tomorrow afternoon at 2:45. Tune into KCII throughout the day Friday and Saturday for updates on the Demons and all local athletes competing at state cross country.