Durango High School’s Kylie Behn returned to her home pool Friday night at the Durango Recreation Center against Pagosa Springs a little more than two months after she tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee at the DHS powder puff football game in October.
The senior and defending Colorado High School Activities Association’s Class 3A diving state champion helped Durango defeat the Pirates 216-44 on Friday. Behn placed second in the 1-meter diving event – to her younger sister, Alexis, as Kylie scored 197.85 points, while Alexis scored 209.00. It was a win-win for the Behn family, as Kylie’s score was good enough to qualify for her second consecutive state championship meet in February. Alexis needs one more strong showing to also qualify for state.
Dive coach Mark Fleming said Kylie’s road back to competition was amazing to see.
“That’s way beyond what I was expecting for her this year,” Fleming said. “When I heard she tore her ACL, I thought she may have been recovered by the end of the year, maybe, if we were lucky by the middle of the season, but not this soon. So, for her to compete from the very beginning, and she’s already qualified for state, it is just overwhelming, really. I’m beyond happy for her.”
Kylie said she was thrilled to be back competing on the diving board so soon.
“Tonight was pretty good. My knee wasn’t hurting, which was great, but I really liked competing against my friends and my sister,” she said. “It’s really nice to compete against someone you’re so close to and who I’ve been going up against for so long.”
Durango’s dominance not only came on the diving board but the pool, as well, as the Demons won all 12 events against first-year program Pagosa Springs. Sophomore Quinn Schmidt won two events and a relay, including the 100-yard freestyle race, in which she broke the 1-minute barrier with a time of 59.72 seconds, a personal best.
“I think they all swam really well, and we’re continuing to improve our technique,” DHS head coach Tom Joyner said. “Our swimmers who came to us from (Durango Swim Club) swam really well for us tonight. We were also able to see an almost immediate improvement from last weekend to tonight, especially from the middle of the pack. I thought they were fantastic.”
Pagosa Springs had its second meet in program history, and head coach Heather Miller thought her team continued to improve.
“I think it’s one of those times where we’re just behind the 8-ball because we’re just starting out,” Miller said. “But even for where they’ve been, the experiences they’ve had, they’re doing awesome. I think we saw significant improvements from our meet in Salida with some really good time drops from then; it was great to see.”
Also starring in DHS’ win was freshman Angela McManus, who won the 50-yard freestyle in 26.80 seconds and helped her side win the 400 freestyle relay in 4:13.21. Fellow freshman Rachel Thilow won the 200 individual medley in 2:34.08 and the 100 butterfly in 1:08.36.
Durango will compete at the Cheyenne Mountain Invitational next weekend in Colorado Springs.
“We’re going to get a good, accurate look of what the state meet for us will look like and where we’re at as a team next weekend,” Joyner said. “I really think this can be an exciting group, and tonight showed why. This is a great start to the season, and I think we’re on the right path.”
bploen@durangoherald.com
