The Washington Demons secured a third straight Southeast Conference team championship in boys’ track & field Thursday when they hosted the conference meet at Case Field. The Demons boys put up 174 points and were 26 clear of second-place Mount Pleasant. The Washington girls finished runner-up to the Panthers, with their 159 points only 15 shy of matching the top total.
Leading the way for the Washington boys were a pair of veteran runners who each picked up a pair of conference titles. Senior Elijah Morris’ final performance at Case Field was one for the record books, as he set a Southeast Conference Championships record in the 200-meter dash by winning in 21.57 seconds and then added a conference crown in the 400 meters by winning in 51.57 seconds.
Junior Micah Rees brought home league titles in the 1,600 meters, crossing the finish line in four minutes and 43 seconds, and the two-mile run, finishing in 10:24. Rees also ran in Washington’s 4-by-800-meter relay, helping senior Drew Horak and sophomores Andrew Rees and Logan McDole claim victory in 8:36. Morris joined junior Alec Ulin and fellow seniors Ethan Patterson and Aidan Ulin in winning the sprint medley relay for the Demons in just under 1:38.
Senior Brayden Hartman ends his career with a conference title after winning the discus throw Thursday with a top toss of 158 feet seven inches. Rees also had a fourth-place finish in the 800 meters, while Hartman was runner-up in the shot put and Aidan and Alec Ulin were second in the 100 and 400, respectively.
McDole was also a runner-up in the 800, while Washington got third-place honors from Patterson in the high jump and sophomore Tyler Alderton in the 3,200. Other fourth-place finishers for the Demons were Andrew Rees in the 1,600; senior Austin Rebling in the 110-meter hurdles; and sophomore Jayfred Espinoza in the long jump.
Aidan Ulin was joined sophomore Keider Gomez Valdez and seniors Tayven Stuart and Cameron Vongpanya for a runner-up finish in the 4-by-100-meters, while Patterson, Vongpanya and Aidan Ulin ran with senior Clayton Streeter to finish second in the 4-by-200. Vongpanya, Morris, McDole and Alec Ulin took second in the 4-by-400, as did Rebling, Stuart, senior James Strabala and sophomore Mason Morgan in the shuttle hurdles.
Washington’s best individual effort on the girls’ side came from Iris Dahl. The freshman won the 1,500 meters in just under 5:06 and added another conference title in the 800 in two-and-a-half minutes. Dahl was also the runner-up in both the 400 and the 3,000.
Senior Grace Voss was a Southeast Conference champ for the Demons, clearing five feet even to win the high jump. She was also third in the 800 and ran a leg on the winning 4-by-800 relay, joining junior Abigail Kleese and sophomores Lauren Horak and Kendall Hinrichsen for the top time of 10:23. Freshman Leighton Messinger won the 100 hurdles in 16.13 seconds and was runner-up in the high jump.
Fellow Washington freshman Leighton Salazar was third in the long jump, while sophomore Quincy Griffis and senior Alex Murphy took fourth in the 3,000 and the shot put, respectively, as did freshman Taylor Miksch in the discus.
Miksch, Kleese, sophomore Eden Levetzow and freshman Carys Miller were the runners-up in the 4-by-400 for the Demons, as were Salazar, senior Nevaeh Brown and juniors Ada Kendall and Emery Walton in the 4-by-200. Brown, Levetzow, Horak and freshman Lily Brown also finished second in the distance medley, while Washington was third in the shuttle hurdles and the 4-by-100. The Demons are off until their state qualifying meet Thursday in Mount Pleasant.