GRAND JUNCTION – On Friday and Saturday, Durango High School’s track and field teams dominated the Southwestern League Championships. The DHS girls scored the most-ever points by an SWL girls team, with the Demons earning their first league titles since the 2022 SWL meet.
“We came in with high expectations of our athletes to perform well,” said Durango track and field head coach Johnny Bertrand. “One of our goals every season is to get a league championship. I tell the kids that at the beginning of the year. When we got our plaques, I held them up and said, ‘everybody here contributed to this success. Coaches, athletes, everyone here did something to help us be league champs.’”
Durango’s girls team scored 167 points, 76 more than second-place Fruita Monument’s 91. This point total was also the most points ever scored by an SWL girls team in the 16-year history of the meet. The DHS boys also dominated, scoring 163.5 points, 43 more than second-place Palisade’s 120.5.
According to Bertrand, Durango’s sprints, jumps, distance and throws all showed their strength and depth, which is what allowed DHS to perform so well. This strength and depth earned the Demons 20 boys’ podium finishes and 19 girls’ podium finishes. Here are all the DHS athletes who earned a medal:
Boys:
110-meter hurdles: Senior Xavier Sutherlin, second place, 14.75 seconds
100 meters: Junior Seb Tripp, first place, 11.09 and sophomore Mason Miller, third place, 11.25
200: Tripp, first place, 22.78 and Miller, third place, 23.13
300: Sutherlin, second place, 40.88
400: Senior Malakai Baier, second place, 50.22 and sophomore George Preston, third place, 51.97
800: Junior Slader Schweitz, third place, 2:07.28
1,600: Freshman Caden Voss, first place, 4:42.15
3,200: Senior Luke Swenk, first place, 9:53.52, senior AJ Bonanno, second place, 9:57.13 and Voss, third place, 10:06.43
4x100: Miller, Tripp, junior Grant Gordon and junior Gus Halls, first place, 43.38
4x200: Gordon, Preston, senior Gage Voiles, and freshman Hanson Long, second place, 1:31.97
4x800: Sophomores Ben Lively, Jack Purcell, Jackson Fisher and Bonanno, second place, 8:27.53
Long jump: Miller, third place, 20 feet 7 1/2 inches
Discus: Junior Owen Cheatham, first place, 155-10 and junior Oliver Clark, third place, 134-6
Pole vault: Gordon, second place, 13-4
Girls:
100 hurdles: Junior Evie Morris, second place, 17.22 and junior Aileen McManus, third place, 17.93
200: Junior Juliana McKown, third place, 26.93
300 hurdles: Morris, first place, 48.01
800: Sophomore Lacy Ruggiero, second place, 2:16.98 and senior Sofia Voss, third place, 2:22.68
1,600: Ruggiero, first place, 5:08.20 and junior Ayumi Lambert, third place, 5:30.26
3,200: Ruggiero, first place, 11:23.81, Lambert, second place, 11:50.31 and senior Mira Quayle, third place, 12:33.31
4x100: McKown, junior Sam Riddell and freshmen Kynzlee Boren and Hailey Tripp, second place, 50.63
4x200: McKown, senior Ainsley Sampson, junior Molly Bertrand and freshman Teagan Kroeger, first place, 1:48
4x400: Ruggiero, Voss, Kroeger and freshman Maeve Daley, second place, 4:12.49
Triple jump: McManus, second place, 34-5 1/2
High jump: Riddell, tied for second, 4-11
Shot put: Junior Oshi Reider, third place, 34-5 1/2
Discus: Senior Violet Mazenko, third place, 106-6
Pole vault: Freshman Abby Gordon, second place, 8-04
Bertrand hopes that the Demons can string together a few league championships in the coming years.
“We're going to lose some great seniors, but we had every grade level scoring us points this week,” Bertrand said. “We’ll miss our seniors, but the future still looks good the next two years coming up.”
Some Durango athletes will be heading to Teddy’s Last Chance Qualifier in Fort Collins this Saturday to try to qualify for state, while those who are comfortably qualified already will be resting and getting ready for the state championships, which begin on May 16.
