Liberty’s girls 200 medley relay team of Lilah McClarin, Leah Onia, Audrey Bloss-Ferry, and Elle Surowiecki put other teams on notice after clinching the silver medal at the District XI Class 3A Swimming Championships on Feb. 20 at Parkland High School.

Only starters McClarin and Onia knew how far ahead the Hurricanes were as Bloss-Ferry and Surowiecki finished off the race.

“I kind of blacked out, but I was focused on just going as fast as I could,” said Bloss-Ferry. “I think my underwaters really paid off and all of the training from the season showed up. I didn’t even realize we placed so well at that moment. I had no idea that we were that far ahead.”

Neither did Hurricane anchor Surowiecki.

“Getting to the finish, I was like, oh my gosh, I just did that, maybe we got fourth,” Surowiecki laughed. “I definitely felt that pressure before the race and leading up to it. I was making sure I had the right timing with Audrey. We’ve been working on that. I was just going and going, and that (last) lap was the fastest I ever swam.”

The Hurricane relay entered the district meet as the fifth seed.

“I think my start was pretty strong,” said McClarin. “It was really funny because I started, and then I saw Leah go and we were second, and I saw Audrey go and we were still second, and I was like, oh my God, we could be second, and Elle finished it off. She was great.”

Liberty’s time was 1:51.98.

“When I dove in, I was just focused on having a legal pick-up, not jumping a little bit because we were all very anxious to swim that event,” said Onia. “I was very happy with my split. I think my pull-outs showed up, and I don’t think it could’ve been a better race.”

Freedom’s 200 medley relay team of Lily Campbell, Daisy Stewart, Laney Stewart, and Kaylee Buglino placed sixth with a time of 2:01.21.

Later in the meet, McClarin, Onia, Bloss-Ferry, and Surowiecki captured a fourth place medal in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:44.85.

Laney Stewart, Daisy Stewart, Sequoia Searfass, and Buglino placed eighth in the same relay with a time of 1:49.27.

In the last individual event of the meet, Onia won the bronze medal in the 100 breaststroke.

“I was exhausted at the end of that swim,” Onia said. “To wait all day for it since it was my first event of the day, it was starting to get to me, but I knew I had to stay composed, and once I finished the race and saw I got third, I couldn’t believe it.”

Onia’s time was 1:09.58.

“Seeds three through nine were all 1:11, so it was gonna be a wild race, and it could’ve been anyone’s,” she said. “I put all my trust in my coaches to get me to this point, so to finish my high school career with a third place medal, I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end. Maybe it was the drive of wanting it more or it’s just how things went.”

Bloss-Ferry had a fifth place finish in the 100 butterfly in 1:01.78 and placed sixth in the 100 free in 56.26.

McClarin took fifth place in the 100 backstroke in 1:02.61, and Surowiecki placed seventh in 1:05.51.

Liberty’s 400 free relay team of Sophie Terry, Surowiecki, Estella Mikovich, and Onia took sixth place with a time of 4:02.08.