The Washington Demons have their full roster now set for this year’s state track and field meet. Three individual athletes and three relay teams received at-large bids for Washington to the 2024 Class 3A championships by finishing in the top 24 in the state during qualifying in their respective events.
That group includes Demon sophomore Andrew Rees, who finished third in the 3,200-meter run at the 3A state qualifying meet he ran in Thursday in Mount Pleasant but ran the 18th-fastest qualifying time in the state, punching his ticket to Des Moines.
Washington sophomore Josh Anderson picks up another bid to state in the wheelchair shot put toss after already qualifying for the wheelchair 100, 200 and 400 meters.
Meanwhile, the Demons’ 4-by-100-meter relay team of senior Alec Ulin, sophomore Kael Williams and juniors Jayfred Espinosa and Keider Gomez-Valdez grabbed the last spot in the top 24, earning a place on the famous blue oval.
Washington’s 4-by-800 team of senior Micah Rees, sophomore Sawyer Tschantz and juniors Logan McDole and Tyler Alderton had the 10th-fastest overall time despite finishing third at districts and thus earns a berth at state.
Rees, Williams, Ulin and Gomez-Valdez also ran a third-place time at districts in the distance medley but had the sixth-fastest time across the entire state, easily slotting them into the state field.
Sophomore Leighton Salazar is the one additional qualifier for the Demon girls, as her leap of 15 feet five-and-a-half inches was good enough to make it inside the state top 24 despite a bronze medal at Mount Pleasant.
The new qualifiers join their Washington teammates like Anderson, Rees, Iris Dahl, Leighton Messinger, Greyson Hartman and Seth Shepherd that had already secured automatic berths at state by finishing top two at the state qualifying meet Thursday.
The Demon girls’ shuttle hurdles and distance medley relays also earned an auto bid to the Class 3A state meet, which will begin this coming Thursday at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.