The Washington Demons again sit atop Southeast Conference cross country in 2023. Washington won both the boys’ and girls’ team titles at the conference meet yet again Thursday at Rodeo Park in Fort Madison, with the Washington girls’ 39 points edging out host Fort Madison by five and the Demon boys finishing with 29 points to be 22 clear of the second-place Bloodhounds.

Washington senior Micah Rees made it back-to-back individual boys’ conference championships and earned his eighth overall victory of the season by crossing the finish line in 16 minutes 40 seconds. Demon junior Tyler Alderton was the runner-up in 17:13, while sophomore Andrew Rees came in third seven seconds later. Senior Lane Schrock finished 11th; sophomore Sawyer Tschantz was 12th; senior Andrew Shepherd ended up 14th; and senior Kael Malichky was 19th.

In the girls’ race, Washington junior Iris Dahl was the silver medalist with a time of 20-and-a-half minutes. Junior Alyvia Anderson ran one of her fastest career races by finishing seventh in 21:45, with sophomore Angeline Anderson two spots and 13 seconds behind her.

Junior Quincy Griffis rounded out the top 10 in 22:08, while senior Abigail Kleese and juniors Isabella Lujan and Kendall Hinrichsen were 11th through 13th, respectively. Junior Emma Horak was 15th, followed by freshman Emma Horak in 16th and senior Ada Kendall in 20th.

The regular schedule wraps up with a third straight season for Washington winning both team conference titles. Next up for the Demons is the postseason, with Class 3A state qualifying taking place Wednesday in Pella.