Friday was only the Durango High School swim team’s first meet of the season, but some Demons already can start thinking about state.
DHS qualified four swimmers and three divers at the Fort Lewis College pool and won the meet with 196.5 points.
Grand Junction was second with 136.5 followed by Montrose with 134 and Montezuma-Cortez with 85.
Piedra Vista (Farmington) also competed at the meet but was swimming an exhibition and was not scored.
Sophomore Anne Mummery earned her second consecutive individual trip to the state tournament by winning the 100-yard freestyle in 56.9 seconds and taking second in the 100-yard backstroke at 1:02.82.
“That’s always been my strongest race,” Mummery, daughter of John and Mary Mummery, said of the 100 freestyle. “I’m trying to break the high school record this year.”
The record is 54.6 seconds, and the time clock initially showed Mummery at 54.1 before the times officially were entered.
She also joined Elli Earl, Mira Joyner and Haley Warren on the 200-yard medley relay team, which qualified for state with a 2:00.72 that won the meet by more than 10 seconds.
“We were worried about it with our starts and new swimmers,” said Warren, daughter of Melody Warren. “This is our first meet, so we have a set point that we now can build off of.”
As for the Demon divers, they made history for coach Mark Fleming.
DHS seniors Sarah Lawton and Caroline and Elise Tidwell all scored above a 185 in a six-dive program, which is the state qualifying criteria. They all need just one more above-185 score in a six-dive program for the rest of the year to officially earn a spot on the diving board at state. Divers also can qualify by scoring above 300 in an 11-dive program.
“Nerves were definitely a lot higher this time. It’s a home meet, it’s the first meet, and they worked really hard this summer,” Fleming said. “A lot of their hard work was finally able to be displayed. I think they’re really satisfied. I know I am. I’m overwhelmed, actually. I could not be happier with how things went.”
Lawton won the meet with a 217.64, Elise Tidwell finished second with a 2:07.68 and Caroline Tidwell took third with a 190.73.
Back between the lanes, Joci Early won the 500-yard freestyle in 6:01.19 to round out Durango’s top finishes.
The Demons won’t have to wait long for another opportunity to turn out state times. They’ll face Grand Junction and Montezuma-Cortez again Saturday in Cortez.
“I think what’s awesome about today, honestly, I’m very proud of how the girls did, but there’s so much room for improvement still,” DHS head coach Kathryn Ross said. “A lot of the girls show some really great potential, and I’m really excited for the season.”
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
