After inclement weather postponed Freedom’s season opener in track and field last Monday, the Patriots were happy to be back for a new season on Wednesday against Emmaus at home where the Hornet girls topped the Pates 94.33-50.67.

“The kids are glad to be out here, and we’ve got a lot of new kids. This is the first time over half of our team hasn’t been on the track before,” said Freedom head coach Charlie Heidecker. “We’re very fortunate we have excellent team spirit this year, and as we start competing, we have to think, what’s my role, what’s my job within the team?”

Patriot jumper Gianna Dowling, who was clearly thrilled to be back for another season last week, scored two second-place finishes for the Pates.

“I was very excited,” said the Freedom senior. “We were going to have this meet on Monday, but it was really cold and snowy and the conditions weren’t good for anyone, so I’m really glad we were able to have it today.”

Dowling’s long jump distance was 15-02.00 and her high jump was 4-05.00.

“I’m usually stronger at high jump. I feel like my muscles are a little tighter than usual today, so it affected my elasticity while jumping, but on a warmer day I could do a lot better,” she said. “In high jump, I used my normal steps and that worked pretty well, and for long jump, I realized the original steps I took were a little too close to the board, so I fouled a couple times, but then I moved my step back and jumped up to 15-02.00.”

Sophia Walker took second place for the Pates in pole vault with a height of 7-06.00, and Jasmine Chui placed third in the same event with a height of 7-00.00.

Sydney Brown clinched first place in the 300 meter hurdles with a time of :49.40, and Evangelia Hahalis was third in the same event with a time of :56.40.

“I wasn’t expecting that at all. I thought everybody was going to be a lot closer to me, and when I was stuttering, I was worried, but I didn’t hear footsteps so I kept going,” Brown said. “The wind is blowing on you so each time you’re going over the hurdle, it pushes you back, but it feels good to be so close to my time from last year, so I’m doing pretty well for the first meet of the season.”

Isabel Rodriguez and Lauren Jancsarics also scored first place finishes for Freedom in discus (99-06.00) and in javelin (84-01.00), respectively.

Chloe Moschberger came in second in shot put with a distance of 31-11.00.

In sprints and distance events, Natalie Toth placed third in the 400 meter dash in 1:08.00, and Ava Fihlman placed second in the 3200 meter run in 12:12.20. Fihlman also scored points with a third place finish in the 1600 meter run in 5:42.40.

Freedom’s next meet is scheduled for Thursday when the Patriots will host Parkland.