Fall high school sports are less than a month away with the Durango boys golf team starting practice and having matches in early August.
Other sports will follow shortly after that and Durango High School will be buzzing with cheers and athletic activity.
For the final installation of this series, let’s look back at the best performances from Durango’s fall athletes in the 2023-2024 school year. Each team will get a top performer and a runner-up. These top performances are based on statistics available and the importance of winning is factored in.
Football: Tyler Harms’ performance against Mead
Durango quarterback Tyler Harms was one of the big reasons the Demons were 8-1 in the regular season. The big, strong, senior quarterback rarely made mistakes and was able to throw accurately and run for first downs when needed.
All of Harms’ abilities were needed during the first round of the 3A playoffs against Mead on Nov. 11.
After beating Mead 30-16 in the regular season, the Demons faced Mead again and fell into a big hole. Harms was without his star running back Jaxon Fancher who was out with an elbow injury.
Harms did throw a costly interception which put the Demons down 27-10 with 9:27 to go in the third quarter. But Harms led the Demons back with three second half touchdown throws for a 31-27 victory.
The senior leader threw for 280 yards and had four touchdown passes that afternoon. Harms also ran for 97 yards which was critical for the Demons’ rushing attack without Fancher.
Harms propelled Durango to that win in a game where he and the team could’ve given up down 17 in the second half. Harms is a huge loss for the Demons and the success of Harms’ replacement will likely dictate the Demons’ success this fall.
Runner-up: Jaxon Fancher’s performance against Grand Junction Central
In 2023, Durango football was well-rounded with playmakers on both offense and defense. This is what led to so many blowouts for the Demons. In a few games, one side of the ball dominated while the other had some issues.
One of the games was against Grand Junction Central on Sept. 15. The Demons gave up 28 points, the second most they gave up in the regular season. But the Durango offense saved the day, especially Fancher.
He rushed 17 times for 204 yards and three touchdowns. This performance helped the Demons overpower Grand Junction Central 51-28.
Who knows what would’ve happened in the playoffs if Fancher was healthy. Regardless, his offensive firepower will be missed this fall.
Volleyball: Sarah Somrak’s performance against Fruita Monument
Sarah Somrak was one of the leaders of Durango’s volleyball team last year. She was one of the more athletic girls on the team and had the experience of playing since her freshman year.
Somrak used her experience and skills on the second night of a back-to-back against Fruita Monument on Sept. 30.
After getting off to a 2-0 set lead, the Demons struggled to finish and dropped two sets to go into the final set tied 2-2 with Fruita. Durango bounced back at won the final set to win the match 3-2.
Somrak was a big part of that. Sophomore Hadyn Neiman and junior Avery Rike each had 15 kills, but they also had more errors and were less efficient. Somrak finished with 14 kills, zero errors and a 45.2 kill percentage, which was the highest on the team for anyone who had more than two attempts.
It was an important game because it was a league game at home. It would’ve been a brutal loss for the Demons after being up 2-0.
Somrak ended up winning Southwestern League Player of the Year and will be hard for Durango volleyball head coach Kelley Riffilato to replace.
Runner-up: Hadyn Neiman’s performance against Grand Junction
Hadyn Neiman had a breakout season last year as a sophomore. She led the Demons with 141 kills for the year and was a reliable player on a team that had many players miss time due to injury.
One of Neiman’s more impressive performances was against Grand Junction on Sept. 29. She finished the game with 11 kills and five aces to help lead Durango to an easy 3-0 win.
It’s very impressive to see a sophomore lead a team in kills and aces in the same game. Neiman will be a key this fall as Riffilato and the Demons look to get back to the playoffs.
Softball: Jenna Glueck’s performance against Basalt
The Durango softball team had a challenging season last fall and finished 4-17 with one of those wins coming from a forfeit.
Despite the team’s struggles, there were still some bright spots to look back on.
In one of the Demons’ wins against Basalt on Sept. 23, Glueck pitched a dominant game. She had 11 strikeouts and gave up only three hits in five innings pitched in Durango’s 20-4 win.
Glueck led the team in strikeouts last year as a sophomore and is poised to have a strong junior year as the Demons look to improve.
Runner-up: Karina Trujillo’s performance against Montrose
Durango got off to a decent start last fall by splitting its first two games of the season against Montrose. After dropping the opener 15-0, the Demons bounced back and beat Montrose 8-7 on Aug. 19.
Junior Karina Trujillo was a big part of that win. She went 2-3 with a triple and scored two runs to lead the Demons’ batting efforts in the win.
Trujillo will be a senior this fall and should be a key member of a team returning everyone except two seniors from last year’s roster.
Boys golf: Zach Griswold’s performance at state
Demons senior Zach Griswold was a top performer on the Durango boys golf team last fall. His experience paid off on the course as he made his third state championship appearance to finish off his Durango golf career.
Griswold finished 18-over-par after two days on The Bridges Golf & Country Club in Montrose and finished tied-33rd on Oct. 3.
The Demons senior was Durango’s lone representative at the 4A state championship. Durango head coach Kirk Rawles will need some younger talent to represent Durango at state this fall with Griswold’s graduation.
Runner-up: Drew Jepson’s performance at the Montezuma-Cortez tournament
Drew Jepson made an immediate impact in his first high school golf match. A freshman last fall, Jepson burst on the scene with a team-best 75 to finish third overall at Conquistador Golf Club in Cortez on Aug. 8.
Jepson attends Bayfield High School but plays with the Demons. He’s a player to watch this fall for Durango’s boys golf team.
Cross country: Charlie Dillman’s performance at Desert Twilight
Charlie Dillman impressed all of last fall with his stellar speed and endurance in cross country for Durango.
A senior last fall, Dillman’s crowning achievement was his performance at the Desert Twilight Invitational in Mesa, Arizona. This was arguably the biggest meet of the year for Durango and had teams from as far away as Florida and California.
Dillman ran his best-ever 5,000-meter time and finished second, crossing the line in 15 minutes and 48.6 seconds.
This was even more impressive considering Dillman was ill a few days before the race.
Runner-up: Lacy Ruggiero’s performance at the SWL Championships
There’s no doubt Lacy Ruggiero has a bright future in cross country and track and field. Ruggiero made her mark last fall as a freshman and showed impressive speed for her age and for high school cross country in general.
Ruggiero had one of her best meets at the Southwestern League Championships on Oct. 5. She ran a personal best 18:40.7 and finished seventh.
The rising sophomore is one to watch this fall and spring for Durango.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
