In the Emmaus Natatorium on December 21st, an animated and electric crowd full of family, friends, and alumni experienced an exciting meet put on by the Parkland and Emmaus swim and dive teams. As always, this is the meet that you do not want to miss. The Parkland boys’ team extended their dual meet win streak over the Hornets to two by winning 103-83. On the girls’ side, the Lady Trojans again took down the Hornets 104-82. Each race and place counted, as this was one of the most important dual meets of the 24-25 high school season.
The meet kicked off with the girls’ record-breaking 200 medley relay where Parkland’s relay clocked in at a time of 1:45.26, taking down the Emmaus pool record of 1:47.31. Leading off the relay was freshman Baylee Kish, followed by juniors Kelsey McPeek and Milla Hahn, and anchored by sophomore Sydney Labaugh. In the 200 free, LaBaugh continued that momentum and took gold in a time of 1:55.26. Emmaus’s Mabry Krause (2:00.35) and Parkland freshman Kenzi Schultz (2:01.58) followed in second and third. M. Hahn kept it rolling into the 200 IM to win it in a time of 2:09.79. Keilani Silva from Emmaus took second in 2:15.96, and Grace Zhang, a junior from Parkland, followed in third in 2:21.36. Right before diving, the 50 free ended in a photo finish where Veronica Karboski from Emmaus placed first with a time of 24.78. She was followed by McPeek (25.02) and Karboski’s fellow teammate Sriya Reddy (25.57).
As for Parkland’s diving team, there was a 1-2-3 finish to help contribute to their win. Sophomore Sam Shultz secured first with 251.25 points, junior Johanna Cook took second with 214.05 points, and sophomore Addison Dietrich followed in third with 178.55 points.
After diving, the fast races continued on. M. Hahn secured first to take her second individual win in the 100 fly in a time of 58.01, followed by Emmaus’s Sophia Harmon who went 1:01.22. In third was Kish with a time of 1:01.77. Next was a close race in the 100 free. Karboski took first in 55.61 seconds, followed by freshman Farrah Hahn (56.56) and sophomore Kendall Davis (57.21). K. Schultz took her first individual win of the night in the 500 free with a 5:21.89. She was followed by Emmaus’s Natalie Cheplick (5:22.85) and Parkland senior Julianne Zafirro (5:27.56). Another great relay performance was put on by Emmaus’s 200 free relay team Karboski, Silva, Harmon, and S. Reddy. They clocked in at a time of 1:40.39 to take the win. Labaugh claimed her second individual gold of the night in the 100 back with a time of 56.31 and broke the Emmaus pool record of 56.33. Emmaus’s Mabry Krause touched at 59.16 and Kish had a close finish in third in 59.61. In the last individual event of the afternoon, the 100 breaststroke, McPeek claimed first in a time of 1:04.66. Emmaus’s Druthi Reddy (1:12.16) and Harmon (1:13.23) placed 2-3. Emmaus’s 400 free relay team consisted of Silva, Karboski, Krause, and Cheplick who touched at a time of 3:41.74 to finish off the day.
As for the boys, they put on a show with many impressive performances. Parkland flexed their depth again this year as everyone needed to pitch in to contribute to this win. The 200 medley relay event was won by Parkland’s senior Gabe Krizel, sophomore Ethan Coleman, junior Thomas Price, and senior Douglas Bell in a time of 1:35.73, only 0.42 of a second ahead of Emmaus’s relay. The energy from the crowd during that relay did not disappoint. The fast races continued into the individual events where Parkland’s sophomore Dominic Faenza took first in the 200 free with a time of 1:45.43. He was followed by Emmaus’s Brady King (1:46.55) and Parkland senior Pedro Terran (1:46.86). In the 200 IM, Emmaus’s Roman Herman finished first in a time of 1:59.18 only 0.14 ahead of Coleman (1:59.32), and Parkland senior Colton Chung took third in 2:02.66. A tight race followed in the 50 free. Griffin Messenlehner from Emmaus won in 20.96, Price followed in second in 21.60, and sophomore Jacob Piccini from Parkland came in third in 21.94. As for diving, Parkland senior Bradley Kunz secured first with 251.25 points, Emmaus’s Douglas Cornish finished second with 193.80 points, and Parkland junior Ari Levin took third with 188.90 points.
After the impressive diving performances, a great race took place in the 100 fly. Emmaus’s Julian Vlaeminck went a 52.33 to out-touch Price by 0.24 of a second. Vlaeminck’s teammate, Carter Smith, took third in 53.28. Next in the 100 free where Herman took his second individual gold with a 47.90, Piccini followed with a 48.32, and Bell placed third in 49.40. Faenza followed this event up with an electric come-from-behind effort to claim his second individual gold of the meet with a 4:41.29 in the 500 free. King placed second with a time of 4:44.21 and Parkland senior Michael Toth took third in 4:51.65. In the 200 free relay, Parkland clinched gold by .10 of a second and their relay team consisted of Piccini, senior Eric Friday, Faenza, and Bell. Messenlehner became another double individual winner of the meet after he claimed gold in the 100 back. He clocked in with a time of 50.89, followed by Krizel’s 53.29, and Teran’s 54.98. In the last individual race of the night, Coleman secured first in a time of 1:00.61, Emmaus’s Carson Mosel (1:02.80) and Graham Lovett (1:02.94) finished 2-3. Emmaus’s King, Lovett, Messenlehner, and Herman finished off the meet with a 3:13.32 finish in the 400 free relay.
Both Parkland and Emmaus entertained a packed crowd on the first full day of winter break for both teams. This meet was a great test for both teams as they now transition over to their winter break training and prepare for the rest of their 24-25 schedule. Both the Parkland Men’s Team and the Lady Trojans will advance to 5-0 on their seasons. We expect to see improvement throughout the winter as both teams continue to train with purpose and prepare for districts.
