Area high school track & field teams took to the track at Case Field in Washington yesterday as part of the annual Demon Relays. On their way to a second-place finish as a team and only missing out on the team title by three points, the Washington girls were led by two winners.

Iris Dahl won the 3,000-meter run for the Demons in 10 minutes 43 seconds while also finishing third in the 1,500 meters. Fellow sophomore Leighton Messinger was the champion in the 100-meter hurdles in just over 17 seconds flat, with teammate and classmate Ryen Pepper taking second.

Messinger and Pepper joined sophomore Nelly Ponce-Cruz and junior Kendall Hinrichsen to win the shuttle hurdles relay for Washington in one minute 13 seconds, and Messinger would finish fourth in the high jump.

Freshman Jaedyn Moore took third place in the 100-meter dash and fourth in the 200, while sophomore Leighton Salazar was the runner-up in the long jump and senior Abigail Kleese earned a bronze medal in the 800 meters.

Sophomore Taylor Miksch was fourth for the Demons in the discus throw, while freshman Emma Horak represented the junior-varsity team in the 800 and finished fifth. The Demons also took second in the distance medley relay; third in the 4-by-800; and fourth in both the 4-by-100 and 4-by-400.

Hillcrest Academy was eighth as a team on the girls’ side and was led by freshman Marie Yoder, who finished fourth in both the 1,500 and 3,000 meters. Sophomore Rya Scott took fourth in the long jump and fifth in the 200, while junior Morgan Nazfinger was fourth in the 100 for the Ravens, who also had a sprint medley team finish fourth.

The best finish for both the Highland and WACO girls came in the 100 hurdles, where Huskies sophomore Makenzie Davis was fifth and Warriors senior Zoey Dennler was sixth. Highland also finished fifth in the 4-by-200.

As part of a fourth-place finish as a team, the best individual result from the Washington boys came from senior Micah Rees, who claimed the silver medal in the 1,600 meters. Seth Shepherd was third in the 400 for the Demons, as was fellow junior Mason Morgan in the 110 hurdles.

Senior Brennen Westphal took fourth in the 200, as did junior Tyler Alderton in the 800. Alderton was also fifth in the 3,200, one spot behind sophomore teammate Andrew Rees. Sophomore Carson Ryan would also finish fifth in the 400 hurdles, as would freshman Greyson Hartman in the discus. Washington would take second place in the distance medley, while the Demons were third in the 4-by-200 and fifth in the sprint medley.

WACO’s best individual boys’ result came from junior Louden Huisenga, who was fourth in the 110 hurdles. Junior Clayton Miller was fifth in the long jump for the Warriors, who also had fifth-place finishes in the 4-by-100 and shuttle hurdles relays.

Hillcrest was paced by another strong effort from sophomore Owen Scott, who won the bronze medals in both the high jump and long jump. Mid-Prairie’s best finish came from Burke Berry after he took fourth in the shot put. Fellow junior Jayse Yoder was fifth in the 1,600 for the Golden Hawks, who also finished fifth in the 4-by-400.

Hawks junior Jayden Stafford defeated Washington sophomore Josh Anderson in the 101, 201 and 401-meter wheelchair runs while setting meet records in all three races. Anderson set a Demon Relays record in the wheelchair shot put toss.