A sterling season for Washington Demon cross country will include a piece of history today, as both the boys’ and girls’ teams will compete at the Class 3A state championships at Kennedy Park in Fort Dodge, the first time in school history that both teams run at state in the same season.

The Washington boys are making a second straight appearance at state and finished the regular season ranked 11th in Class 3A. A second-place finish as a team at state qualifying in Pella last week means the Demons have been in the top five in team standings in all but one meet this year, with five of those being team victories.

Washington has been led by Tyler Alderton and Andrew Rees. The senior Alderton, ranked 19th in the state, has won three races this season and picked up his eighth top five of the fall by taking third at state qualifying last week.

The 30th-ranked Rees took fifth in Pella for his sixth top five of the season and was the 2024 individual Southeast Conference champion, helping the Demons win the team conference title for a fourth straight year. Fellow junior Sawyer Tschantz is also coming off a top-15 time at state qualifying.

The Washington girls are back at state for the second time in three years after edging out fourth-ranked Fort Madison by a point for third place at state qualifying, continuing a season where they’ve finished top five in the team standings in every meet.

Junior Iris Dahl will be looking to win a state medal for the third time in as many seasons. The Southeast Conference champ has won four races this fall and eight times finished in the top five, including taking fifth at Pella.

A deep senior class that includes Lauren Horak, Kendall Hinrichsen, Alyvia Anderson, Quincy Griffis, Eden Levetzow and Isabella Lujan have also led the way for the Demon girls, who will get first crack in competing at state by running at 10:30 this morning. The Washington boys will race starting at 11:45. Listen to KCII and check KCIIradio.com throughout the day for updates.