The Durango Demons track and field teams showed off their new facility to league rivals at Friday and Saturday’s 5A/4A Southwestern League Championships. They also showed off their supreme talents.
Several records fell during the two-day event on the newly renovated DHS stage, and the Durango girls were responsible for two of them en route to a dominant first-place effort and Southwestern League title. Durango’s boys had outstanding performances as well, but finished second to Montrose.
“We had a lot of good individual performances on both teams, but the girls did well up and down the line,” Durango High School assistant track and field coach Johnny Bertrand said. “The boys are getting better and better. Our girls team is so well-rounded. They score points all over the place.”
Demons senior and Fort Lewis College commit Jessica Lee set the tone for meet with Friday’s first-place pole vault clear of 9 feet, 10 inches. In the process, she set the Durango High School record beating the previous school-best 9-9 mark.
“Coming into this meet my personal best was 9-6, but I’ve been focusing on my technique and trying to get the little things down perfectly,” Lee said. “It was a really good day to vault and everything just came together.”
Demons freshman Madeleine Burns also had a win Friday night after cruising to victory in the 3,200. She also won the 1,600 the next day in 5:33.30.
“I wasn’t too happy with my times but the team is doing incredible,” Burns said. “It’s a nice group. Even though I’m a freshman they’ve all been so nice and helpful. It has been a really fun year.”
The fun began early on Saturday as Durango’s Lana Razma started the action with a win in the long jump with a leap of 16-4.5. The junior also placed third in the triple jump with 33-2.75.
“It wasn’t my best jump but it was so exciting to get to compete in such a big meet at home,” Razma said. “Everyone is just one big family on this team. It’s neat to see how much everyone cares about each other. We all stand at the gate and scream for whoever is running and that’s part of being a winning team.”
While Razma’s effort got the team off to a good start, Teagan Garand was putting points on the board all day long. Garand won the 100-meter dash in 13.09 before winning the 200 and saving the best for last.
The Demon girls’ 4x400 team of Emma Fitzgerald, Garand, Bekah Moenning and Abby Scott closed out the team’s win with an exclamation point in the last event. The girls broke the league record with a time of 4:01.16.
“I’m proud to have won the individual races, but the team one just means so much more,” Garand said. “There’s just something about being a part of a group that pours our hearts out for each other. I haven’t been a part of anything like this before.”
Moenning (2:22.26) and Fitzgerald (2:23.51) finished first and second, respectively, in the girls 800. Moenning, a sophomore, has been a mentor to the freshman Fitzgerald and the two have clearly formed a formidable bond for a pair of underclassmen.
“I see her and I want to get chase after her and I think that makes her run faster,” Fitzgerald said of Moenning. “I want to see her do good and I feel like if I do good, she’ll do good too. It’s so important for me to have her to chase.”
Alex Poulter and Azalea Santillon gave the team a boost with a one-two finish in the shot put. Poulter’s personal-best throw of 34-10 beat Santillon’s second-place throw by a foot.
“It was a personal best for me so I feel great,” Poulter said. “I keep improving just like the rest of the team. I’ve played a few different sports and track is really like a family. I think that’s why we’ve all been getting better and better.”
Poulter also took fourth in the discus.
The 4x800 relay team of Kiara Hamlin, Elli Trussel, Anna Smagacz and Maggie Wigton took second place in 11:07.29 and the 4x200 team (Lilah Hwang, Jeep, Izabel Roshchin, Kiley Ryan) also came in second. The 4x200 team with Cassandra Blau, Jacey Jeep, Danielle Lee and Razma finished third in 1:52.91. Blau also finished third in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.25 and Danielle Lee was fifth in the 400 with a time of 1:05.79.
Kathleen Duft finished third in the 100-meter hurdles in 17.33 and third in the 300 hurdles in 49.41. Ryan was fourth in the 300 hurdles in 52.32.
Durango’s Camden Garland got the boys team off to a good start as he won Friday’s pole vault clearing 12-0. Dylan Baken was second at 11-6 and Nainoa Umbhau was third at 10-0 to round out a podium sweep for DHS.
On Saturday, Durango sophomore Alex Hise won the 100-meter dash in 11.13 seconds and Oliver Haaland took second with 11.46.
“It wasn’t my best time,” Hise said. “I’m happy with the win, and I felt good out there, I’ve just been shooting to get sub-11 and I didn’t get there today.”
Hise also finished third in the long jump (20-2.5) behind Fruita Monument’s Gunner Rigsby. Rigsby also set a new meet record and won the triple jump with a mark of 46 feet, 8 inches.
The Demons 4x400 team of Garland, Hise, Paxton Scott and Aiden Urban took first place with a season-best time of 3:29.74.
Urban also ran a personal best 1:59.38 for third place in the 800 and Coltin Gallegos was fifth in 2:04.83. Cole Waddell took third in the 110 hurdles for DHS with a time of 17.59 and Scott finished fourth in the 400 in 51.89. Aidan Fitzgerald was third in the 1,600 in 4:32.84 and Harry Steingberg was fourth in 4:32.86.
Durango’s 4x200 relay team of Haaland, Hise, Garland and Scott came in second place with a time of 1:31.59. The 4x800 relay team of Sam Dippold, Marcus Flint, Ethan Holst and Luke Tichi placed third with a time of 8:42.34. The 4x100 team (Martin Cuntz, Ethan Jack, Adison Lyman, Corbin Lyman) finished fourth in 46.06.
DHS had two top-five finishes in the discus throw as Chandler Schneider was fourth with 133-7 and Braden Evans was fifth in 130-3. Schneider also took fourth in the discus. David Lee was fifth in the high jump with a leap of 5-6.
The Demons did well, but it wasn’t enough to beat the mighty Montrose team.
Indians two-time state champion all-state senior Ian Meek won the boys 3,200 Friday under the lights in 9:51.00. Montrose’s Sean Graff was third in that race and DHS’ Marcus Flint took fifth.
Meek also won Saturday’s 800 and 1,600 and contributed to a 4x800 relay team win in his last SWL championship meet. He’s primed to add to his collection of state titles later this month.
“It’s so hard to predict what will happen at state,” Meek said. “We’ll do whatever our training leads us to do. I had a great time out here today, though. The track here is fantastic. Our home track is so old and beat up so racing on this one felt super fast. I felt super light out there and it’s just a cool place to run.”
Durango has already qualified nearly 20 competitors for the CHSAA 4A state championship meet May 18-20, but the runners will get one more shot to post state times next weekend in Grand Junction.
jfries@durangoherald.com
