A trip to the state championships is on the line for Washington Demon track and field when they travel to Mount Pleasant later today for a Class 3A state qualifying meet.
The Washington girls will be looking to add to a brilliant season where they have already won four meets as a team, including their first Southeast Conference championship since 1979, as well as seven finishes of second place or better.
One of the biggest reasons for that success is Iris Dahl, who won eight times and has had a top-five finish in 17 different races for the Demons this season. Dahl will be looking for a second consecutive trip to the 3A state meet in the 800 and 1,500-meter runs. Dahl finished seventh in the state in the 800 last spring.
Fellow sophomore Leighton Messinger will be looking to get back to state in the 100-meter hurdles run, having already won a conference title in the 400 hurdles. Washington’s 4-by-400 and 4-by-800-meter relay teams are also looking for return trips to state.
Plenty of athletes like freshman sprinter Jaedyn Moore, sophomore hurdler and jumper Leighton Salazar and distance runners like senior Abigail Kleese and juniors Kendall Hinrichsen and Lauren Horak are expected to be contributors for the Demons.
Coming off a fourth straight conference title, the Washington boys will also be led by a distance running star. Micah Rees reached state last year in both the mile and two-mile runs while also helping the Demons make it past qualifying in the 4-by-800.
Rees has been just as good in his senior season, piling up six wins and 10 total top-five finishes that included winning conference crowns in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meters and reaching the Drake Relays in the two mile.
The Demons’ Josh Anderson is eyeing not only a return to state in all four wheelchair races but also more hardware. The sophomore was second in the 100 meters, third in the 800 and fourth in the 200 and 400 at the state meet last season.
Senior Alec Ulin will be looking to get back to state after reaching Des Moines in the 400 in 2023. Junior teammate Logan McDole was a district champion in the 800 last season and joined Ulin on the 4-by-400 team that reached Drake Stadium, while Ulin will try to get Washington back to state in the spirit medley.
Senior Kael Malichky, junior Tyler Alderton and sophomore Andrew Rees have all been strong for the Demons in the distance races and relays and will look to perform well one more time this season, while freshman Greyson Hartman looks to add to a solid debut season with a good effort in the throwing events.
The top two in each event at Class 3A state qualifying will earn an automatic berth in the state meet. The action begins at Evans Field in Mount Pleasant this afternoon at 4.