The Double Win Streak Grows for Parkland Trojans at the District XI AAA Swimming Championship Meet

The final day of the 2025 District XI AAA Swimming Championships was full of more best times and great races by all competing athletes. The crowd did not fail to bring their energy from Friday night to Saturday. The final session consisted of events 15-24.

Girls 100 freestyle kicked off day two of the meet. Anna Kirby (Stroudsburg, Sr.) earned herself her second individual gold of the meet with a time of 52.25, Keilani Silva (Emmaus, Fr.) came in second, Victoria Kuteras (Pocono Mountain East, Sr.) came in behind her, and Mabry Krause (Emmaus, So.) followed in fourth. As for the 500 freestyle, Natalie Cheplick (Emmaus, Sr.) finished first in a time of 5:22.55, followed by Julianne Zaffiro (Parkland, Sr.), Kenzi Schultz (Parkland, Fr.) in a close third, and Cami Johnson (Southern Lehigh, So.) fourth. The next event for the girls was the 100 backstroke where Sydney LaBaugh (Parkland, So.) took gold with a time of 56.27. In second was Kyla Spengler (Nazareth, Sr.), who was followed by Baylee Kish (Parkland, Fr.), and Farrah Hahn (Parkland, Fr.). The last individual event of the meet was the 100 breaststroke. Kelsey McPeek (Parkland, Jr.) placed first in the event with an impressive time of 1:04.25. Gianna Cusumano (Southern Lehigh, Sr.) took second, Sophia Harmon (Emmaus, Jr.), and Leah Onia (Liberty, Jr.) followed. To end the meet for the girls, Emmaus put on a show in the 400 freestyle relay and placed first with a time of 3:36.75 and consisted of senior Veronica Karboski, Silva, sophomore Mabry Krause, and Harmon. Parkland finished behind Emmaus, Easton took third, and Stroudsburg finished fourth.

After the girls’ 100 freestyle, the boys put on a great race themselves. Patrick Leach (Nazareth, Sr.) finished first in the 100 freestyle in a time of 46.82, followed by Jacob Piccini (Parkland, So.), Roman Herman (Emmaus, Jr.), and Jacob Brunetti (Easton, Sr.). The next event for the boys was the 500 freestyle where Dominic Faenza (Parkland, So.) took gold in 4:38.91 ahead of Emmaus senior Brady King. Reid Lovett (Emmaus, Jr.) and Michael Toth (Parkland, Sr.) followed. As for the 100 backstroke, Griffin Messenlehner (Emmaus, Sr.) came in first in a time of 50.56 and finished ahead of Pedro Teran (Parkland, Sr.), Gabe Krizel (Parkland, Sr.), and King. To finish up all the individual events of the meet, the boys put on an exciting race in the 100 breaststroke. Adam Barlow (Liberty, Fr.) finished first ahead of Anthony Quaranta (Nazareth, Sr.) by 0.36 of a second with a time of 58.26. Connor McGlynn (Nazareth, Fr.) and Ethan Coleman (Parkland, So.) took third and fourth. To complete Districts entirely, we got to watch a thrilling 400 freestyle relay race. The team that took gold was Emmaus in a time of 3:07.83, on the winning relay was Herman, Lovett, King, and Messenlehner. Behind them was Parkland, Easton, and Northampton.

The overall winner of the District XI AAA 2024 Swimming Championships for the girls was Parkland with a score of 533 marking this as their 28th District win. Emmaus was the 2025 District XI AAA runner up with a score of 382 and Southern Lehigh came in third with a score of 222. On the boys side, after ending Emmaus’s 16 year win streak last year, Parkland will continue to grow their winning streak to two consecutive years after a hard fought battle with 555 points. The runner up on the boys side was Emmaus with a score of 538, and in third place was Nazareth with 236 points.

Congratulations to all the teams on successful seasons and to each swimmer and diver on incredible swimming and diving performances. A special congratulations to sophomore Sydney LaBaugh from Parkland and senior Griffin Messenlehner on winning the Eastern PA Conference Outstanding Swimmer award! Lastly, a final congratulations to the winners of the Dennis McGinley award who is presented to the swimmer who earns the most individual points during the meet. Anna Kirby from Stroudsburg and LaBaugh tied on the girls side and Messenlehner was awarded it on the boys side!

Good luck to all the swimmers and divers who will be competing at states and representing District XI in two weeks.