Liberty’s boys swim team racked up points and smashed records on day one of the District XI Class 3A Swimming Championships last Friday night at Parkland High School.

“I was really happy. Everybody did their best times. It was a great weekend. It was totally a team effort and really fun the way it came together,” said Liberty coach Reik Foust, who also credited assistants Evan Kocon and Jeff Matyus.

In the first boys event of the night, the top-seeded Hurricane 200 medley relay team of Danny Lehr, Malcolm Collins, Patrick Gilhool, and Addison Collins lived up to their billing by winning district gold and doing it in district record time: 1:32.09.

“I was very nervous because I knew we were coming in seeded first, but you can’t just expect to win,” said Lehr, who was first in the water. “My start felt really good. My underwaters were lacking a little bit, but on top of the water, my hand speed and my feet were going crazy. I was very, very happy, and honestly, I never felt that proud of myself after a race before.”

Freedom’s foursome of Andrew Ehret, AJ Black, Luke McClure, and Ryan Rummel won the fourth-place medal in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:41.78.

“It felt pretty amazing. We were fifth coming into it, and it’s nice having the opportunity to medal. It was awesome,” said Rummel, who swam anchor for the Patriots. “I touched the wall and looked up, and it said fourth, and I knew we medaled right away. We were cheering and screaming. We told each other we did a good job. We worked our butts off this season and we got it. We achieved our goal.”

Malcolm Collins won the Hurricanes’ first individual-event medal, district bronze in the 200 IM with a time of 2:03.13.

Addison Collins was the district gold medalist in the 50 freestyle with a time of 21.01, and Lehr placed third in the same event with a time of 21.41.

Gilhool then went on to win gold in the 100 butterfly while setting a district record time of 48.1.

“I was really hyped for the fly after the medley relay. That set the tone for the rest of the day,” Gilhool said. “Now my attention is on states and seeing how well I do there. I would love to win a state championship. I’m right in there with a bunch of guys, so it’s just who shows up, being prepared, ready to swim. Any given day, any of us could win. I’m excited.”

Brooke Sergent placed third in the 100 fly for Liberty’s girls with a time of 59.35.

In the final event of day one, Gilhool, Lehr, Malcolm Collins, and Addison Collins teamed up once again as a top seed and this time clinched district gold in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:23.88.

“I don’t like to look at the seeds that much but we had some other teams coming up to the locker room, telling us they were gunning for us, and we better watch out, so we kind of knew what was gonna happen,” laughed Lehr, who added it only made the ‘Canes swim faster. “A hundred percent when you hear that.”