As Emmaus prepares for their its meet against Parkland to wrap up the regular season, three Emmaus divers competed in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Diving Competition this past Saturday at Parkland High School. Senior Andrew Vanim finished second in the competition, behind Nazareth’s Steven Stasolla. Emmaus’ Brendan McCourt finished fourth and Drew Stenger was seventh in the competition.

At an EPC meet last month, Stasolla was also the top diver, with McCourt and Vanim finishing second and third, respectively.

“Yeah, we kind of share who beats who when we dive,” said Vanim. “Stasolla is so good and we’re all trying to catch him, but between our teammates, we have our own competition and it’s a lot of fun and I think it’s good for the program.”

With the freshman McCourt and sophomore Stenger, Emmaus will have divers to continue the resurgence of the program, which has been a long time in the making. Swimming coach Tim O’Connor credits diving coach Frank Donnelley with helping to turn the program around.

“I went to diving practice last night and Frank and his staff are great with kids in our own program,” O’Connor said. “In addition, creating their own youth diving group I hope will pay off down the line. Frank is a caring and knowledgeable coach and person, and the results with what he has done already, speak for themselves. We are very lucky to have him and I am excited to continue working with him.”

Coming into Thursday’s meet against Parkland, the boys and girls teams for both schools are undefeated in EPC events. The winner of the meet will be crowned the EPC Champion and both schools are hoping for sweeps on both sides to cement their season.

“Our kids are excited for Thursday,” remarked O’Connor. “It has been a long time since our programs have both met and were undefeated in the league. And to think that this year the last meet is set up to have such meaning is exciting for all. I know our kids are motivated to do their best and I expect them to.”

Two years ago, Emmaus traveled to Parkland and dismissed a long-held tradition of dumping water from their home pool into the Parkland pool. The tradition has been carried out by both schools for a number of years. The reasoning was that there was a much more businesslike approach to the meet that the team wanted to present. Will this year’s team revive the tradition? That’s a guarded secret.

“The kids said they know how they are going to be on deck, so it will be a surprise to me,” said O’Connor. “I just want them to be motivated to do their best and show great sportsmanship. I hope they both hold true.”

This year, Emmaus will have some help from the diving program, which had been dominated by Parkland for years. While Emmaus didn’t have any female divers competing in the EPC event and Parkland is strong in girls diving, the boys hope to make up some ground in team points in the diving event.

“We’ll be ready to compete,” said Vanim. “We know how huge this meet is and we hope to help our team by picking up points in diving. This is especially nice because it’s my senior season and I just want to be sure to enjoy the experience and go out knowing that we all gave it a great shot.”