Up against stiff competition, the Durango Demons held their own in the pool again Saturday.

Durango High School’s boys swimming team took fourth out of five teams at the Grand Junction invitational. The host Tigers won the event with 616 points to run away from second-place Montrose, which scored 493.

Glenwood Springs finished in third with 382 points, ahead of Durango’s 235 and Moffat Country’s 196.

The best finish for a Durango swimmer Saturday was Tommy Pannell’s third-place result in the 500-yard freestyle. He finished in 5 minutes, 35.50 seconds, while winner Tyler Sweet of Grand Junction won in 5:11.29.

Pannell also took fifth in the 50-yard freestyle in 24.66 seconds. Luke Herron of Glenwood Springs won the event in 23.28, edging teammate Connor Somers, who finished in 23.72 seconds.

Durango’s Ben Miller scored 130.75 points in the 1-meter dive, good for fourth place. He also took fourth in the 100-yard backstroke in 1:03.79. Glenwood Springs’ Zachary Baker was first in the event in 57.81. Durango’s Iain McCourt took fifth in the race, and the Demons’ Robert Smith was sixth.

Smith also took sixth in the 100-yard breast stroke in 1:20.89. Montrose’s Korban Christianson won in 1:04.10.

Rounding out DHS’ individual finishes was Jason Clark’s seventh-place finish in the 100-free in 1:02.52.

The Demons’ 200-yard free relay team took fourth in 1:45.10 behind first-place Grand Junction, which finished in 1:36.16.

The 400-yard free relay team was fifth in 4:16.21, with Montrose winning the event in 3:32.76.

DHS will test itself in tougher waters next Friday and Saturday at the Jefferson County Open on the front range.

heraldsports@durangoherald.com