A late top-five finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay pushed the Durango High School boys swim team into fourth place at the Western Slope League Championships on Saturday in Grand Junction.
DHS had 108 points, while Montrose won the league meet with 445 points.
“We all realized when we played them back at home that they were pretty unbeatable,” DHS head coach Tom Joyner said.
The Demons’ 200-yard medley relay finished fifth in 1 minute, 57.61 seconds.
Ruben Barnes took eighth in the 200-yard freestyle in 2:27.54.
Josh Miller finished second in the 200-yard individual medley in 2:08.26.
Paul Cross was 12th in the 50-yard freestyle at 25.65 seconds.
Robert Smith finished eighth in the 500-yard freestyle at 6:32.31, which was 13 seconds faster than his seed time.
Barnes was 11th in the 500 at 6:49.56. He dropped 24.8 seconds between the qualifying heats and finals.
The Demons’ 200-yard freestyle relay team finished in eighth place at 2:07.59.
Tommy Pannell finished ninth in the 100-yard backstroke in 1:06.14.
“It was a breakout swim for him,” Joyner said.
Miller took third in the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:05.42, and Cross was sixth at 1:10.00.
The Demons’ 400-yard freestyle relay team took fifth in 3:50.03.
“It’s kind of tough, because this is the end of the season for almost half the squad,” coach Joyner said.
Cross, Ben Miller, Josh Miller and Pannell will continue their season at the Colorado High School Activities Association Class 4A State Championships on Friday and Saturday at the Edora Pool Ice Center in Fort Collins.
Barnes and Smith also will make the trip as alternates, but Joyner doesn’t expect them to swim unless there is an unexpected illness or injury.
“Sometimes districts is your better meet, and state is not quite as successful,” he said. “I think we’ve been working toward making state a successful meet.”
heraldsports@durangoherald.com
