The Emmaus swim team headed west for their annual pilgrimage to the State College Individual Tri-Meet against State College and North Allegheny to open the 2012-2013 season. The result was a second place finish for the boys team and a third place finish for the girls.

Junior Cody Wimmer had a strong showing for Emmaus, finishing first in the 200 and 500-yard freestyle events in individual competition. Wimmer was also part of the 200-and 400-yard freestyle relay teams that finished first and third, respectively.

"My best events are the freestyle events and I think we're going to be pretty good in the freestyle relays, too," said Wimmer.

Emmaus boys also took a fifth place finish in the 200-yard relay to go along with their first place finish in the event. Both teams have two seniors with Greg Ritchie and Thomas Fang joining Wimmer and junior Matt Kline on the first place team and seniors David Larsen and Marc Primelo teaming with junior Frank Jordan and sophomore Matt Bussiere on the fifth place team.

Fang returned to finish third in the 50-yard freestyle, while Ritchie captured fifth in the same individual event. The boys were especially strong in the 100-yard freestyle, taking three of the top five spots when Ritchie finished second, Fang fourth and Kline fifth.

While Emmaus was especially strong in freestyle events, they had some nice showings in other events as well. Two boys teams were in the top five finishers in the 200-yard medley relay, finishing second and fourth. In the 200-yard IM, junior Andrew Bond and and sophomore Carter Paules finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Robert Bishop finished second in the 100-yard butterfly. Emmaus boys also took three of the top five spots in the 100-yard breaststroke.

Junior Natalie Schaeffer posted the highest individual finish of the day for the girls, placing second in the 500-yard freestyle, where Shanna Carwell also finished fourth for Emmaus. Schaeffer also took a fourth place finish in the 200-yard freestyle. Morgan Weigner took third place in the 100-yard breaststroke and returned to help the girls to a fourth place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

Emmaus and State College competed in girls diving, with Emmaus taking three of the top five spots. Anna Overholts and Serena Speer finished first and second respectively. Madeleine Ordiway rounded out the Emmaus finishers with a fourth place finish.

"Overall, I thought that we did pretty well. Now, we have to get back into the pool and work on some things that didn't turn out too great for us. If we showed anything, it was that we're going to swim aggressively and be competitive throughout the events," said coach Tim O'Connor.

O'Connor and his team will have plenty of time to get their work in, but they'll also need the time to rest up before facing a tough schedule. When the team returns to action next Tuesday, it will start a stretch of three meets in five days, with Freedom at home and then a trip to Allen and long-time rival Parkland all coming before Christmas.