Durango High School’s girls swimming and diving team made a big splash in its first weekend in the pool.
The Demons opened their schedule with a double dual meet win in Cortez on Friday against Fruita Monument and Montezuma-Cortez. They followed up with their first home win on Saturday at Fort Lewis College’s Natatorium where Durango beat Cortez and Fruita again.
Friday’s action saw the Demons post four Colorado High School Activities Association 4A State Meet qualifying times. Two of the qualifying marks came in relays and two were posted individually by senior Division I recruit Anne Mummery.
“Everyone from our first-timers to our veterans swam well,” said Demons head coach Tom Joyner in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “It was nice to get some of the qualifying times out of the way because it takes some pressure off and allows the girls to swim a bit freer. It also gives them something to look forward to and work toward as the season goes on.”
Mummery’s 100-yard Freestyle time of 57.56 seconds and her 1 minute, 5.75 second mark in the 100 backstroke already gets her in the state meet in the first weekend of the season. The Pepperdine University committed Mummery was also a part of the 200 Medley Relay team with Catherine Dellinger, Elli Earl and Mira Joyner that posted a qualifying time of 2:02.34. The 400 Freestyle Relay team of Earl, Joyner, Mummery and Violet Witchel finished in 4:04.57, which was also good enough to qualify for the state meet.
Junior Emily Doughty (1:14.96) and freshman Steevie Delio (1:15.12) were impressive in the 100 Butterfly and Witchel’s 26.83 in the 50 Freestyle was a second and a half better than the next swimmer.
Other fine efforts came from new team member Leslie Hall-Lobato in the 50 Freestyle and 200 Freestyle Relay along with sophomore Anastasia Hermesman’s 500 Freestyle and fellow sophomore Witchel’s 50 Freestyle.
Saturday’s home opener was highlighted by another state qualifying time, this time from the 200 Free Relay team of Dellinger, Joyner, Mummery and Witchel.
The Demons’ divers were also impressive in their first action of the season. Kylie Behn’s 162.7 on Friday and 181.8 on Saturday led by a large margin. Robin Bumgarner, Tess Burgwald, Joci Earl, Ruby Epstein, Lia Henriksen and Sadie McAliney finished in the top seven spots in the diving competitions.
“It was good to see the hard work pay off and I was happy with the confidence we had in the pool,” said Joyner. “I was impressed with the team unity. The girls all pulled for each other and I’m proud of the work they’ve put in so far.”
jfries@durangoherald.com
