In the last regular season dual meet of the cross country season, Freedom’s boys’ team defeated Liberty, 24-31 last Tuesday at Freedom.

“This is the first time we’ve done it in my four years in the regular season,” said Patriot senior Dan Bauer. “We beat them last year at leagues, but it’s great to see that our team managed to do it this year.”

Liberty’s Cole Frank won the boys’ race with a time of 16:37.

Freedom’s Alex Heidemann placed second in 16:52, and Alex Hume came in third in 16:54.

Liberty’s Emrick Leshko was fourth in 17:12, and Freedom’s Eric Mann placed fifth in 17:28.

“It was really fun, and I was like, let’s finish strong at the end, let’s just get this done,” said Mann. “I tried holding a 5:25 in the first mile. That was my goal and I didn’t get it, but I saw the clock and I was like, I might as well go as fast as I can.”

Sixth place belonged to Freedom’s Eli White with a time of 17:56, Liberty’s Luke Daignault was seventh in 18:03, and Freedom’s Joe Bauer was eighth in 18:05.

Hayden Shiban placed ninth in 18:13, and Phil Bezas was 10th in 18:20, both for the Hurricanes.

Last Tuesday was also Freedom’s senior night.

“I definitely gave it my all,” said Dan Bauer. “I think I ran really well, and I think our whole team, collectively, ran really well. And Liberty exceeded our expectations. It was a very competitive race.”