The Durango girls golf team lost two of its top players from last season, but that hasn’t stopped the Demons from staying undefeated this season after a successful trip to Montrose.
Head coach Kirk Rawles’ squad is six for six in tournaments so far this season after winning the Cobble Creek Invitational on Monday at the Links at Cobble Creek and the Black Canyon Invitational at Black Canyon Golf Course on Tuesday.
“This was probably two of the toughest days as far as the weather went so they did great,” Rawles said.
Durango won on Monday with a team score of 46-over par with the top three scorers from each team combining for the team score. Montrose was second at 61-over par, and Fruita Monument was third at 69-over par.
Teams faced windy conditions at Cobble Creek, according to Rawles. The greens were rolling well. There’s water on 16 holes at Cobble Creek, with open fairways, but players need to be strategic around the greens.
The Demons were well-balanced on Monday, with senior Jayden Craig finishing second at 12-over par. Junior Dylan Livingston was tied third at 15-over par, senior Riley Harms and sophomore Kierstin Maycock both finished tied-ninth at 19-over par and sophomore Kailen Noonan finished tied 12th at 20-over par.
“I’m excited that we have a really good group put together,” Rawles said. “Kiersten and Kailen are getting their miles in and they’re really good miles, as far as being sophomores and putting some good rounds together.”
Livingston had troubles with consistency on Monday, according to Rawles, as she would hit shots other players couldn’t hit, followed by a bad shot. Harms had a good round going, but struggled with her final two holes.
Conditions were poor at Black Canyon with cloudy skies, wind and cold temperatures. The Demons still got the job done, with a winning score of 38-over par. Montezuma-Cortez was second at 60-over par and Montrose was third at 60-over par.
Livingston took the win in the tough conditions at 9-over par, beating Gunnison’s Aiden Tomlin in second at 12-over par and Craig in third at 13-over par. Livingston was much more consistent on Tuesday. She finished with three birdies, five pars, eight bogeys and two double bogeys.
Rawles said she putted the ball well and was good around the green on Tuesday. She showed off her ridiculous power with a 319-yard drive at the end of her round.
“She closed her second nine with a 39,” Rawles said about Livingston. “That’s just an exceptional round. If it’s a sunny day and 70 degrees, that’s probably a 75 (+3). There are those factors in it. It was bitterly cold out there. It’s tough to play when you’re wrapped up in all your clothes and have a tough time feeling the club.”
Behind Livingston and Craig was Harms in tied-sixth at 16-over par. Maycock finished 10th at 21-over par.
The Demons hit the road to play at Bookcliff Country Club in Grand Junction on Monday and Adobe Creek National Course in Fruita on Tuesday.
The Durango girls lacrosse squad showed it can win different styles of games with two road wins at Fruita Monument last weekend.
On Friday, the Demons were down numbers, slowed the pace down, and won 10-7. The next day, the offense exploded in a convincing 20-11 win.
“We played a relatively smart, slow game on Friday, which kept plenty of gas in the tank for Saturday,” Durango girls lacrosse head coach Eric Elliot said. “About halfway through the first half (on Saturday), you could really see the effect of our conditioning, as opposed to Fruita’s conditioning, where we pretty much do whatever we wanted to at that point.”
The Demons improved to 7-2 overall and 5-1 in the 4A Mountain West League with the two wins. Fruita dropped to 3-3 overall and 2-2 in the 4A Mountain West League.
Durango learned a valuable lesson with their 1-1 road trip to Legend and Rampart the weekend before Elliot said. The team put so much energy into getting the program’s first 5A win against Legend that the Demons didn’t have enough gas in the tank against Rampart and lost by one. This led to Durango slowing down the pace on Friday.
Friday’s game didn’t start on the best note for the Demons as they trailed 3-0 early. However, they responded by taking care of the ball, getting better on the draw and playing smarter offense. Durango led 5-4 at the half and increased the margin in the second half.
Elliot credited his team’s defense with shutting down Fruita’s top players on Friday. Junior goalie Jody Holden finished with seven saves, and Elliot thought sophomore Keelyn Reynolds did a great job causing turnovers for the Durango defense.
Junior Indie Eaton and freshman Janelle Dingler each finished with three goals for the Demons. But sophomore Kaitlyn Downey stood out on Friday with two goals, doubling her season total. Downey’s family is from Grand Junction, and she had a nice cheering section for her stellar game. Elliot said Downey never picked up a stick before January, but she’s exceeded his expectations.
“She may be the tallest kid on the team, but she’s got really good hand-eye coordination coming from playing on the softball team, and then last year, her freshman year, she played on the basketball team,” Elliot said about Downey. “She’s got some good field vision as well, but she has a short-term memory, so if she does make a bad pass or drops a pass, it doesn’t affect her.”
On Saturday, Durango raced out to a 3-0 lead, but Fruita countered with a 4-0 run. Durango pulled away to end the first half and ran away in the second.
Senior Taylor Babcock and freshman Janelle Dingler each finished with six goals. Eaton added five. Elliot has been impressed with how Babcock and Dingler have worked together on offense despite their age difference.
The girls lacrosse team plays at Eaglecrest on Friday at 6 p.m. and at Palmer Ridge on Saturday at 10 a.m.
The Durango High School track and field teams were successful in Grand Junction at the Phil Wertman Invitational, with the Durango boys leaving victorious.
Twenty-two boys teams competed at the Phil Wertman, with the Demons coming out on top with 100 points, followed by Grand Junction in second with 97 points and Fruita Monument in third with 82.3 points.
Senior sprinter Seb Tripp led the way with his personal best in the 100-meter in 10.95 seconds to win. Durango track and field head coach Johnny Bertrand said Tripp is the first sprinter to break 11 seconds in his 20 years coaching, and Bertrand is proud to see Tripp achieve a goal he set at the beginning of the season.
Junior Rocco Enea won the boys 1600 race with a PR of 4:30.03. Enea has been rapidly improving over the past year, taking nearly 30 seconds off his time from last year, and has improved five seconds in the past two meets this season. Junior George Preston won the boys long jump with a PR of 21 feet and three inches. Preston’s jump was a bit unexpected because he asked Bertrand to jump right before the 4×400. His jump put Durango in first place in the standings.
On the girls side, junior Lacy Ruggiero finished first in the 1600 in 5:09.75 for a PR. Senior Evie Morris finished first in the girls 100 hurdles with a PR of 16.40 and a PR in the 300 hurdles in 46.37 seconds. Senior Aileen McManus finished first in the girls long jump in 16-7.00.
Once again, the girls 4×100 continues to get faster and faster, breaking another school record in 49.73 to finish first.
The Demons will host 19 other schools in the Ron Keller Invitational on Saturday at 8 p.m. at Durango High School.
The Durango baseball squad looked like it was on its way to a sweep of Grand Junction Central after the Demons’ 13-3 win on Friday, but the Warriors fought back on Saturday for the 16-10 upset win.
Saturday’s loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Demons and dropped their record to 9-5 overall and 3-1 in the 4A/5A Southwestern League. Grand Junction Central moved to 7-6 overall and 1-1 in the 4A/5A Southwestern League after the win.
Durango dominated the day before, taking a 7-2 lead through three innings. Durango then outscored Grand Junction Central 6-1 in the fourth and fifth innings to end the game early.
Senior Dylan Burns led the Demons’ hitters, going 3-3 at bat with a home run. Senior Dawson McInnes went 2-2 at bat, and senior Ollie Peterson went 1-1 at bat. Junior Coen Anderson pitched three innings, finishing with three strikeouts, three hits allowed and two runs. Senior Sam Clark pitched two innings, finishing with a strikeout and four hits allowed.
Grand Junction Central’s bats were on fire to start Saturday’s game as the Warriors raced out to a 14-4 lead after three innings. Durango scored four unanswered in the fourth, but it wasn’t enough to get back into the game.
Seniors Brady Hoerl and “Bubba” Padilla each had two hits for the Demons. McInnes had the most successful day on the mound, finishing with four strikeouts, four runs and seven hits allowed.
The Demons play at home on Friday against Fruita Monument at 3 p.m.
Durango girls tennis continues to play well outside of tournament play, winning four of its last five matches. The latest was a 5-2 win over Pueblo West on Thursday.
In No. 1 singles, junior Natalie Christensen won, 6-1, 6-0. No. 2 singles sophomore Ella Claassen won, 6-3, 6-0. Junior Annabeth Hanson won in No. 3 singles, 6-0, 6-2.
The No. 3 doubles pairing of sophomore Willa Rider and junior Zoe Boespflug won for the Demons, 6-1, 7-5. Then Durango’s No. 4 doubles pairing, sophomore Georgia Barrow and junior Sophia Dainty-Guilfoyle won, 6-4, 6-3.
Durango also competed in the Pueblo South Colt Invitational on Friday. Claassen had the best performance in No. 2 doubles, making it through four rounds to get to the semifinals, where she beat Pueblo County’s Noel Tapia, 6-2, 6-3, to advance to the finals. Claassen lost to Lutheran’s Elle Philson, 2-6, 2-6, in the finals.
The No. 3 doubles pairing of Boespflug and Rider also advanced to the finals, via a three-set victory, 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, over Lutheran’s Emery Haasch and McKenna McCormick. However, the Durango pair lost in the finals to Kinley Kilcoyne and Harper Young from Air Academy.
Durango is scheduled to compete in the Hornet Invitational in Pueblo on Friday at 9 a.m.
The Durango boys lacrosse team is on a three-game losing streak after its 8-3 loss at Glenwood Springs on Thursday. The Demons dropped to 2-6 overall with the loss.
Durango returns home to play Fruita Monument at Escalante Middle School on Friday at 4 p.m.