If you’re a frequent reader of The Durango Herald sports section, you know that in the last two months, I’ve complimented the Durango High School spring student-athletes many times. Why? Because what these kids did was extraordinary.
Let’s give these student-athletes the props they deserve one last time before turning our focus to the upcoming fall season.
The Durango High School spring sports teams achieved something for the first time in at least a decade, if not ever: All spring sports were represented at state as either a team or with a few individuals.
Demons girls golf led the way with a runner-up finish at state in 4A. Girls soccer made it to the state quarterfinals; girls and boys track and field had all-state performers; baseball won its regional and advanced to state; girls lacrosse made it to the second round of state; boys lacrosse lost in the first round of state and girls tennis had eight players go to individual state.
It’s an incredible feat for any high school, but especially for Durango, with its student-athletes having to travel farther than anyone in the state for league games and playoffs.
These kids are used to traveling at least three hours for high school league games, six hours for playoff games in Denver and missing school. It may seem normal to these student-athletes, but as someone who didn’t grow up here, it’s not.
I grew up in Central New York and played three sports in high school. Almost all of our league games were within 30 minutes of my high school and our longest league game was about an hour and 20 minutes. A lot of the time, the state championship site was less than two hours away. This seems pretty standard for the American high school sports experience.
So it was shocking to me when I moved out here for this job in September of 2023 and found out how far these kids were traveling. If I had a megaphone that could reach across the country and tell everyone how far these kids are traveling, most of the country would also be shocked.
There aren’t many places in the country like Durango, for many awesome reasons, and there aren’t many places in the country like it for student-athletes. It’s hard to find another location in this country where a school is isolated from other schools of its size by large mountain ranges and the capital is in the opposite corner of the state, six hours away.
When I was in high school, I thought it took some sacrifice to balance school, sports, family and a social life. These kids take it to another level, especially these spring student-athletes.
It can be tough to keep your eye on the ball (to use a sports metaphor) during the spring when summer is coming as a student-athlete. You’re so close to having no homework in that class you dislike or are struggling in. The weather is getting nicer and warmer. You want to be down at the field playing sports with friends or going to summer parties. Concerts are coming up and so is traveling with friends and family.
For seniors, senioritis can be setting in as you’re more excited about your next chapter, whether that’s college, a full-time job or trade school.
Therefore, it can be easy to lose focus on your spring sport while you look at all the possibilities of what you can do in the summer.
Durango High School spring student-athletes did the opposite. They had a lot of success in ending their school year and should be commended for it. These student-athletes sacrificed family time, parties with friends and time in the classroom for their teams.
What these student-athletes accomplished is especially impressive when considering some of the changes these teams went through.
The boys lacrosse team’s success this season was incredible. The team was described as a frat the past few seasons before Valeria Skarbek took over as head coach. She showed how far discipline and structure can go as she flipped the culture, leading to wins.
After winning five games in the previous four seasons, the Demons went 6-9 overall and made the state playoffs, led by a coach who’d never coached boys lacrosse before.
It’s also important to remember how much of an advantage lacrosse teams on the Front Range have. There’s better competition around and there’s much more of a lacrosse culture up there for youth lacrosse players in Durango, which gives those kids a head start on the kids here that they usually never relinquish.
The girls soccer team also had a new coach in Zac Keeler. The Demons had to keep up the success the team had in the past few years while bouncing back from a terrible playoff loss in the first round of state the previous season.
Demons girls soccer did both of those and more with a new coach; they won the league for the first time in four years and won two games in the state playoffs.
Another incredible turnaround was the Durango baseball team. The Demons went from 8-15 overall and lost their last 11 games in 2024 to 15-10 overall, regional champions and made it to the state playoffs in 2025. First-year head coach Masen Hibbeler did wonders with his expertise and aggressive style of play, unlocking his team’s athleticism and talent.
For all three of those sports to have success with new coaches is pretty extraordinary. You’d expect one of those teams to take a step back and stumble out of even making the playoffs with a new coach leading. Credit to the student-athletes, coaches and members of the athletic department.
While this season was very successful, it could be the start of multiple successful spring seasons. Baseball and girls tennis have a lot of players returning next year. Girls lacrosse, golf and soccer have promising young pieces ready to step up and continue the success.
But who knows what could happen? Injuries and things in life, more important than high school sports, could stop another season like this. So above all, give these kids one more pat on the back or one more congratulatory text.
Nothing is guaranteed next year.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
