Competing Friday and Saturday at the Southwest League Championships at Colorado Mesa University, the Glenwood Springs Demons’ girls swim and dive team came just short of winning a third straight championship, falling just two points shy of a win behind Fruita Monument.

The Wildcats recorded a team score of 361.5, narrowly edging out Glenwood’s 359.5. During Saturday’s Finals, the scoring was back and forth all night and it came down to the final event of the night, the 400 Freestyle Relay. The Demons went into the relay with a 10-point lead, but Fruita had an advantage.

In Friday’s preliminary session, the Wildcats qualified both their A and B relays for the championship final, while the Demons qualified just their A relay for the championship final and their B relay for the consolation final. After a strong second-place finish in the consolation final, the girls from Glenwood were looking strong. The only task remaining for Glenwood was to out-touch both the Fruita relays in the A Final.

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In Friday night’s preliminary session the Demons placed fourth, just .74 hundredths behind the Fruita A relay and well ahead of the Wildcats’ B relay. The final race was close as the four girls on each team proceed with their 100-yard sprint., but in the end, Fruita senior freestyle specialist Natalie McConnell managed to reach the wall .24 hundredths (3:55.19) ahead of Glenwood freshman sprinter Kylee Smith (3:55.43).

“We knew it would be a close battle,” Glenwood Head Coach Steve Vanderhoof said. “Fruita swam very well and won a couple of close races, including the final relay, which was the difference. We went into this championship meet with four girls and three relays qualifying for the 3A state championship. We qualified seven additional girls and will take a total of eleven girls to the state meet. An eleven-member team is the largest Glenwood Springs has taken to the state championship in many years. I am very happy for the girls and we are proud to represent Glenwood Springs High School at the state meet in Denver.“

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At the Southwest Conference meet, Glenwood had a total of 15 top-3 finishes, with two winners. Sally McDonnell won the consolation final in the 200-yard Freestyle with a time of 2:12.86, while Sophie Moon won the consolation final of the 500 Freestyle with a time of 6:11.73.

In other consolation final events, Kendall Mueller placed seventh in the 50-yard Freestyle with a time of 28.84 seconds, while Lily Maccachran placed second in the 100-yard Butterfly with a time of 1:09.89. Emily Borel placed fifth in the 500-yard freestyle consolation final with a time of 6:24.35, while Stephanie Kehoe placed seventh in the 100-yard backstroke consolation final with a time of 1:15.58. Rounding out individual consolation finals, Molly Hancock (second, 1:18.29), Mueller (sixth, 1:20.43) and Moon (seventh, 1:20.79) finished strong in the 100 Breaststroke consolation final.

The B relay team of Moon, Hancock, Maccachran and Mueller placed second in the consolation final of the 200-yard Medley Relay with a time of 2:08.61, while the B relay of Sarah Helm, Maggie Friemel, Borel and Mueller placed third in the 200-yard Freestyle relay consolation final with a time of 1:57.47. Wrapping things up in the consolation final of the 400-yard Free relay, the B relay of Mae Lang Burns, Helm, Borel and Mccachran placed second with a time of 4:27.02.

In championship finals on Saturday, the Glenwood A relay of Zoe Lyon, Macy Stinson, Kaitlyn Vanderhoof and Kristen Davis placed third with a time of 1:57.72, while the 200-yard Free Relay A team of Vanderhoof, Stinson, McDonnell, Stinson and Smith placed second with a time of 1:48.40. Rounding things out for the Demons in championship relay events was the 400-yard Free Relay A team of McDonnell, Davis, Lyon and Smith placed fourth with a time of 3:55.43.

Smith got off to a fast start in individual events for the Demons, placing third overall in the 200-yard Freestyle with a time of 2:04.26, while Davis (second, 2:18.66), Stinson (fourth, 2:20.80) and Vanderhoof (seventh, 2:33.09) turned in strong performances in the 200-yard Individual Medley.

Freshman diver Abby Scruton had a big day in the 1-meter diving competition, placing fourth overall in her first regional meet with a combined dive score of 328.80. In the 100-yard Butterfly championship final, Smith again placed third, clocking in with a time of 1:04.55, while Lyon placed third in the 100-yard Freestyle championship final, recording a time of 58.44 seconds.

Closing things out on the day at the Southwest Conference championships, Davis placed third in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:38.41.

Thanks to some outstanding individual performances at CMU, seven additional Glenwood swimmers earned berths in the state meet Thursday through Saturday in Denver.

Here’s an official list of Glenwood participants in the 3A state meet:

Abby Scruton – 1-meter diving

Kylee Smith – 100 Freestyle and 200 Freestyle

Macy Stinson – 100 Backstroke and 200 Individual Medley

Zoe Lyon – 100 Backstroke and 100 Freestyle

Sally McDonnell – 100 Freestyle and 200 Freestyle

Lily Maccachran – 100 Butterfly

Molly Hancock – 100 Breaststroke

Kendall Mueller – 100 Breaststroke

Sophie Moon – 500 Freestyle and 100 Breaststroke

Kristen Davis – 500 Freestyle and 200 Individual Medley

Kaitlyn Vanderhoof – 200 Individual Medley and 100 Breaststroke

200 Medley Relay team (Lyon, Davis, Stinson, Vanderhoof)

200 Free Relay team (Vanderhoof, McDonnell, Stinson, Smith)

400 Free Relay team (McDonnell, Lyon, Davis, Smith)