As is tradition, Freedom and Liberty’s swim teams faced off in their last meet of the regular season on Feb. 7 when the Hurricane girls topped the Patriot girls, 113-65, at Freedom.

“Looking at today versus the beginning of the season, we dropped a lot of time. A lot of kids are applying their techniques. Some kids were swimming events they never swam and dropping time, so I think right now where we are, I’m very happy with it,” said first-year Freedom head coach Alexa Kutch. “They were coming off a pretty long meet week, but the fact that they were able to bounce back and provide some new times, I’m happy with it.”

Freedom swimmers Sofia Nabyt and Alivia Deemer won two of the closest races of the day.

Nabyt out touched Katie Bruno in the 200 IM with a time of 2:31.93 to Bruno’s 2:32.33, and Deemer out touched Leah Onia in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:15.16 to Onia’s 1:15.37.

“In the first 50, [Onia] was ahead of me, and then while I was in my second 50, I saw her next to me, and I sped up. That’s when I went ahead of her,” Deemer said. “When all my teammates were screaming, I looked at the board and realized I beat her. It felt really good. I had never won a breaststroke event before. I think [Coach Kutch] was trying to switch up the lineup, and last week, she threw me in it, and I did really well, so I think it’s going to be one of my events from now on.”

Liberty’s 200 medley relay team of Lilah McClarin, Natalie Brezinsky, Audrey Bloss-Ferry, and Chelsea Hearn took first place in 2:00.60.

Ella Lowe placed first in the 200 freestyle in 2:30.91 for the Pates.

In the 50 free, Sophia O’Hara sprinted to first for the Hurricanes in 27.96, and Bloss-Ferry was first in the 100 free in 1:00.24.

Liberty diver Keller Pooley wrapped up her season undefeated in dual meets with a score of 231.20.

“It’s definitely the best season I’ve had. Last season I was trying so hard to get to 200 points, and I just got 231 today, so I’ve been pretty safely over 200 the whole season which is really good for me,” Pooley said. “I know I got the highest scores on my reverse dive. That one has always been a struggle for me, so I was really happy with that, but I was also happy with my back one-and-a-half somersault. This is a really good way to end the regular season.”

Brezinsky won the 100 butterfly in 1:03.45, teammate Jaina Eisenhardt won the 500 free in 6:56.18, and McClarin was first in the 100 backstroke in 1:10.79.

Liberty won the 200 free relay in 1:32.49 with Brezinsky, Hearn, Bloss-Ferry, and O’Hara, and first-place points were awarded to Freedom in the 400 free relay with Lowe, Paige Anderson, Margaret Marshaleck, and Deemer. Their time was 4:37.17.

“My philosophy going into the season stayed the same, and I think it showed in the pool,” said Coach Kutch. “I had a great group of kids who were pretty much dedicated to the sport the whole time. So, I would say, overall, a pretty good season for the first time being head coach. I couldn’t really do it without (assistant coach) Erin Wetmore and (diving coach) Mark Parry.”