Freedom High School’s girls’ swim team clinched a two-point victory on Friday when the Patriots defeated Stroudsburg 91-89.

“We knew, going in, it would be pretty close,” said Freedom junior, Reilly Ward. “[Coach] Jon [Larson] told us to try our hardest and stay psyched up.”

Several events were won by Freedom, but the Mountaineers were able to gain points by taking second and third places in those races, keeping the score close throughout the meet.

“We were all very excited to get a win. Our season has been pretty hard. We lost some girls to graduation last year, but we got a lot of new, enthusiastic swimmers,” Ward said.

Ward took first place in the 200 free, and Emily Justice was fourth. Rileigh Ellis won the 200 IM, and Andie Graney placed fourth.

In the 50 free, Alex Koehl came in first, and Laura Davison was fifth.

Ellis was a repeat winner with a victory in the 100 butterfly, and Megan Schupp was fifth. Ward was also a repeat winner with a victory in the 100 free, and Linda Mao came in fourth.

Koehl won the 500 free, her second victory of the day, and Davison placed third.

In the 200 free relay, Ellis, Koehl, Graney, and Ward came in first, while Mao, Schupp, Madison Young, and Bridget Tarnowski came in third. Those finishes scored 10 points for Freedom.

“Before I went in, I knew I had a head start, and while I was swimming, I knew I was ahead, but I was still swimming as fast as I could,” said Ward, who anchored one of the relay teams.

Young won the diving event, and Leigha Evans placed second.

Ward said, “We had the lead after diving, but we had to keep it up.”

In the 100 backstroke, Mao came in second place, and Graney was fourth. Tarnowski was second in the 100 breaststroke, and Justice was third.

With three teams in the 400 free relay, two of which were Stroudsburg’s, the Patriots needed a minimum second-place finish to win the overall meet. Koehl, Justice, Tarnowski, and Schupp accomplished that second-place finish.

Ward said, “Everyone was excited. We were jumping up and down.”

Freedom’s boys’ swim team also defeated Stroudsburg 117-51.

Andy Conzola, Colin Burnette, Brandon Burnette, and Nick Carbonaro won the 200 medley relay to open the boys’ competition.

Troy Watlington placed first in the 200 free, and Brandon Burnette was first in the 200 IM.

The Patriots scored a 1-2-3 finish in the 100 butterfly with Tyler Higgins, Cameron Bell, and Brandon Burnette, respectively, and Conzola won the 500 free.

Al J Bell, Conzola, Brian Seitz, and Higgins teamed up to win the 200 free relay, and later in the meet, Al J Bell, Colin Burnette, Seitz, and Higgins won the 400 free relay.

Colin Burnette also won the 100 backstroke, and Dominic Fresoli was second. The Patriots had another 1-2-3 finish with Al J Bell, Higgins, and Seitz, respectively, in the 100 breaststroke.

This Thursday the Patriots will take on the Liberty Hurricanes at Freedom in one of the friendliest rivalry meets of the year.

“We’re all really excited and training hard. We know they have the advantage, but everyone is really psyched,” said Ward.