Led by the best divers on the Western Slope, the Durango Demons were untouchable in Grand Junction.
The Durango High School girls swimming team took first place at the Western Slope League Championships on Saturday at the El Pomar Natatorium. The Demons scored 370 team points, led by a podium sweep in the 1-meter diving.
Elise Tidwell scored 330.25 points, followed by Caroline Tidwell’s 303.95 and Sarah Lawton’s 285.40 for a first-through-third finish in the event.
DHS also saw Anne Mummery take first place in the 100-yard backstroke in impressive fashion. She blew away the competition with a time of 58.81 seconds, well ahead of Montrose’s second-place Madeline Chandler, who finished in 1 minute, 3.34 seconds.
Those wins helped the Demons stay clear of second-place Glenwood Springs, which scored 295 team points. Montrose took third with 287, Grand Junction scored 257, and Gunnison rounded out the top five with 236 points.
Mummery added a third-place finish in the 100-yard free to her first in the backstroke. She finished in 54.04 seconds, just behind winner Kennedy Quist of Aspen, who finished in 52.21.
Elli Earl, Jocelyn Earl and Mira Joyner picked up sixth-place finishes, with Joyner’s coming in the 200-yard individual medley and Elli Earl’s in the 200-yard free. Elli Earl also finished fourth in the 100-yard breast stroke. Jocelyn Earl took sixth in the 500-yard free.
Durango’s relay teams also scored several points. The 200-yard free relay team of Catherine Dellinger, Bryn Joyner, Haley Warren and Violet Witchel took third place in 1:49.21. Aspen won the event in 1:42.45.
The Demons’ 400-yard free relay team of Elli Earl, both Joyners and Mummery took fourth in 3:50.73. Aspen also won that relay in 3:42.69.
DHS’ 200-yard medley relay team of Lillian Bisantz, Ellie Gervais, Lacey Hoselton and Warren took sixth in 2:08.67. Grand Junction won that relay in 1:53.15.
DHS will take its team to the state tournament Friday and Saturday in Thornton at the Veteran’s Memorial Aquatics Center.
heraldsports@durangoherald.com
