Freedom’s boys’ swim team got off to a strong start in their meet against Stroudsburg, winning the 200 medley relay and ultimately securing a 98-68 victory over the Mountaineers last Thursday at Freedom.

Colin Burnette, Grayden Hogan, Spencer Smith, and Al Bell took first place in the relay with a time of 1:45.55.

I led off with the backstroke,” said Burnette. “I think I was at a 27.0 which is right around where I want to be. I’ve been at 26.3 so anywhere between 26.3 and 27 is pretty good. Grayden got a bigger lead, and then we kept building on that momentum, and Al was able to bring us home.”

Hogan won two individual events, the 200 IM in 2:15.47 and the 100 breaststroke in 1:08.44.

Bell also won two individual events, the 500 free in 4:51.08 and the 100 backstroke in 59.27.

The backstroke had a 1-2-3 finish for the Patriots with Burnette being outtouched by Bell and with Dominic Fresoli who placed third.

Earlier in the meet, it appeared as if Burnette won the 100 butterfly, but it was later established as a disqualification.

“Basically, it was a technique issue,” Burnette said. “Coming off the second turn when I broke out, my legs kind of separated, so it kind of looked like I did a freestyle kick, and it’s not that it necessarily was a freestyle kick, it’s just that, because of the separation, that’s what it sometimes comes across as, but it’s better to know that now than to go to districts and do that.”

Bell, Jack Runco, Hogan, and Burnette closed out the meet with a first place finish in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:37.62.

Regarding the Patriots’ season so far, Burnette said, “I think it’s a completely different atmosphere. We lost a lot of good swimmers, obviously, but we have a lot of new and younger ones, and then the new coach [Will Berisha] adds a lot of energy and spark to the team. It’s just refreshing the way he gets into meets. He’s a very technique-oriented coach, so he’s able to fix a lot of our faults that we have, and it will pay off in the long run.”