There was no argument over who got to hoist the District 11 trophy over the heads of their teammates after the Emmaus boys captured the District 11 Swimming and Diving Championship for the ninth straight season. Lone senior Tom Schlechter did the honors, with others later joining in after Emmaus finished ahead of second place Liberty 388-353.5, with Parkland finishing third with 314.5 points. Emmaus will send four individual swimmers – Schlechter, juniors Ethan Carr and Connor DeJohn and sophomore Patrick McAllister – to states, along with relay teams in both the 200-yard medley relay and 400 freestyle relay events.

The girls team didn’t leave with a trophy, but did finish second overall, trailing Parkland, who won the event for the eighth straight year, by a score of 509-426, with Liberty finishing third with 309.5 points.

Last year, the Emmaus contingent to the PIAA Championships at Bucknell didn’t include any members from the girls team. That changes this season, with three individual swimmers – senior Casey Young and freshmen Chelsea Gravereaux and Katie Champagne – qualifying for the meet, along with relay teams in the 200 and 400 yard freestyle relay events.

“Now is just where you really try to sharpen a lot,” said coach Tim O’Connor of the work the team will put in between now and March 16-17 when the state competition takes place at Bucknell University. “We didn’t have any girl swimmers in the meet last year, so I’m really looking forward to getting these girls in there, especially these young ones.”

Young, Champagne and Gravereaux were teamed with freshman Abby Heilenman on the 200 freestyle relay team that won their event, with the same group of girls also qualifying for states in the 400 freestyle relay, finishing second to Parkland. In relay events, the top two teams earn a trip to states.

Three Emmaus swimmers, Carr, McAllister and junior Jason Yerger, battled it out in the boys 100 yard backstroke. McAllister came in seeded just .22 seconds ahead of Carr, but in the end, it was Carr that pumped up his performance to beat McAllister by just over two-seconds. Yerger trailed McAllister by just .03 seconds to give Emmaus a one-two-three finish in the event. Only the top finisher in each event gets a trip to states, giving Carr the trip over McAllister, who would get his ticket to Bucknell in the 100 yard freestyle. Carr is also going for the 200 yard individual medley.

Schlechter easily won the 500-yard freestyle, finishing just over eight seconds ahead of Parkland’s James Connolly. Schlechter also won the 100-yard butterfly, giving him two events to compete in at states.

“It’s just phenomenal,” said a smiling Schlechter after the event. “For our team to have this kind of season [going undefeated and winning both the conference and district titles] and then get to go to states in two individual events, is just amazing. I’m so happy with the way this season turned out.”

DeJohn qualified for states in the 200-yard freestyle, roughly one-half second ahead of Parkland’s Hyunbin Kim, with Yerger gaining another third place finish.

In relays, Emmaus qualified in both the 200-yard medley relay and 400-yard freestyle relay. With the top two teams qualifying, Emmaus finished second to Liberty in the 200 medley and first in the 400-yard freestyle. Both relay teams were made up of Schlechter, DeJohn, Carr and McAllister.

McAllister was named EPC Boys Swimmer of the Year Award. Emmaus had second place finishers on both the boys and girls side for the Dennis McGinley Award for the top performers in the district meet, with Carr finishing second to Liberty’s Robert Negron on the boys side and Gravereaux placing second behind Parkland’s Siena Salvaggio.

“This whole meet was amazing,” said Gravereaux. “It’s so exciting to get to swim in this type of environment and I’m really looking forward to states.”