Emmaus senior Jacob Light has a unique story. And if you don’t know him personally, you might not be aware of his accomplishments.

Light has competed in gymnastics for 13 years at Parkettes. The sport is virtually absent at the high school level anymore and is decreasing at the collegiate ranks, too, leaving his story untold more so than varsity sports these days.

But that never stopped Light from trying to accomplish his dream of becoming a Division I gymnast. Last Wednesday, Light was one of six Emmaus High School boys that were recognized for receiving athletic scholarships to play a sport at the Division I or II levels.

“Ever since I was a little kid starting gymnastics, it’s always been a dream of mine to go Division I and compete at basically the highest level I can,” said Light, who chose the University of Illinois. “It means so much to me that I’ve been given that opportunity and I can fulfill that dream.”

Light is ranked No. 1 in Pennsylvania and is a two-time national champion in the still rings event. He’s also helped his Parkettes team to three state titles in the past four years, so despite the limited amount of college institutions that offer gymnastics, there was plenty of interest in Light.

A number of other Big Ten teams sought the coveted gymnast, including Penn State, Ohio State and Minnesota. Stanford was also in the mix.

“It’s actually really limited now,” Light said. “The numbers have been gradually decreasing over the past 20 years or so as he [Emmaus Athletic Director Dennis Ramella] mentioned, especially at the collegiate level as well, not just in high school. It no longer exists in high school at all really. There’s around 15 Division I programs in the entire country, so scholarships and opportunities are very competitive.”

But despite the slim chance at an opportunity, Light’s talent catapulted him to one of the top performers in the nation.

“Their academics there are at the top of the level,” said Light, who plans to major in kinesiology. “And on my trip there, I really gelled with the team. They have a great team atmosphere.”

Along with Light, several varsity sports stand outs also inked letters of intent last week in the EHS auditorium.

Last fall was the first time that Ryan Paradise and Jacob Feiertag chose to run cross country. They enjoyed success in track and field in the spring and decided to pursue distance running in the fall of their senior year. That move certainly paid off in helping both gain Division I offers.

Paradise will attend Lehigh University for cross country and track and field, while Feiertag joins Saint Joseph’s University for track and field.

“I know them [Lehigh athletes Dan Reichenbach and Hanna Brosky] from the team, and they’ve told me all about how great of a team it is and how they’re pretty much a family,” Paradise said. “I met a couple of other people on my official visit, and everybody I met is pretty cool and welcoming.”

Lehigh is also perfect for Paradise’s plans in the classroom.

“The team was just absolutely awesome,” said Paradise, who also received interest from Lafayette, Bucknell and Rochester. “All of the coaching staff, they were just great people and they know what they’re talking about. And then academics, I want to be an engineer. Lehigh is so well known for its engineering program.”

Feiertag decided in early January that Saint Joseph’s was his ideal place even without track and field. Playing the sport he loves made the decision all that much easier.

“The way I went about the college decision process was, ‘If I wasn’t running what college would I want to go to?’” Feiertag said. “And Saint Joe’s stood above everything else of those other two schools. The environment, the city of Philadelphia and the connections they have, I feel was where I would have the most fun for me, as well as the opportunity for me to succeed after college.

“I wanted to go there before I even wanted to run track. I get to go there as one of my top choices and I get to run there, which makes it that much better.”

Feiertag will major in premed biology.

Matthew Fitzmaurice, the reigning District 11 singles champion, will continue his tennis career at Division I Loyola University of Maryland.

“Loyola was kind of a diamond in the rough I found, and once I found it I had my heart set,” Fitzmaurice said. “I contacted the coach and met with him. It was absolutely incredible to go out there and have the meeting with him.”

Fitzmaurice is a four-time team MVP for the Emmaus boys tennis squad.

Hornet senior John Fritz recently capped a historic career on the soccer field for Emmaus. He captured the single-season scoring record at Emmaus in his junior year and was named the East Penn Conference’s MVP that year as well. He finished his career second on the all-time scoring list for career goals and points.

“I guess all of my hard work has paid off,” said Fritz, who will play soccer at the University of Pittsburgh. “But it’s not time to stop. You have to keep moving forward. It’s going to become a new challenge and I look forward to it.”

Fritz also had interest from the Air Force, Navy and Bucknell.

“Most of my friends are at Pitt, so that was a major pull,” Fritz said. “I wasn’t exactly sure what my major was going to be, but then I kind of figured it out and that canceled out the Air Force and the Navy.”

Eric Miller, a First Team EPC all-star on the offensive and defensive lines on the Hornets’ football team, will continue his playing days at Kutztown University.