Both the Parkland boys and girls teams put up challenges in their season finale against rival Emmaus, with the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference championship on the line. In the end though, Emmaus pulled off wins late in the meet to beat the Parkland boys 98-88 and the girls 100-86. The Emmaus win over the girls was especially surprising because Emmaus hadn’t beaten the Parkland girls in about a decade or more in the regular season.

The girls trailed Emmaus 39-23 going into diving, but picked up 10 points over the Lady Hornets to close the gap dramatically. The two teams stayed at a six-point separation after the 100 butterfly, but Emmaus picked up wins in the 100 freestyle and the 500 freestyle to give themselves a little breathing room.

Zoe Sheridan had a strong second-place showing in the 100 and Megan Sicinski and Nicole Nesland finished second and third, respectively in the 500, keeping things close for Parkland. Second- and third-place finishes for Parkland in the 200 freestyle relay also kept things close through the first nine events on the girls side.

Emmaus worked a little more separation, but again, Parkland battled back when Sicinski won the 100 breaststroke, trailed closely by her sister Courtney, to give Parkland first- and second-place finishes, again cutting into the Emmaus lead. In the 400 freestyle relay, Emmaus took first and third to win the meet. The team of Sheridan, Nicole Nesland, Abby Sheridan and Courtney Sicinski finished second in the final event for Parkland.

Diving also helped the boys team close the gap from an 18-point advantage to a 14-point advantage thanks to first and third place finishes. Chris Lehman finished third, while Jon Hansell put together a fantastic set of dives to finish first, edging out Emmaus’ Andrew Vanim when Hansell nailed his final dive to get the win.

“That was the best set of six dives that I’ve ever had in my life,” said Hansell, a senior. “It’s the perfect send off, I loved it.

“The feeling is great and I have such an incredible team that’s family and it means a lot to me for my last meet of the year, with the exception of districts. I pray that this is going to continue for districts and I do well there. I am so ready for districts.”

Hansell hasn’t officially chosen a school, but plans to major in business management in college.

Parkland’s Matt Engler, another senior, was among the top performers for the Trojans in the rivalry meet and thought the team put on a good performance.

“We exceeded expectations for today and had a lot of great races and a lot of upsets,” said Engler, who finished first in the 100 butterfly and second in the 200 individual medley in his individual events. Engler also teamed with Matt Ceh, Hyunbin Kim and Adam Kucharczuk to finish first in the 200 freestyle relay and teamed with Ceh, Kim and Charles Villano to finish first in the 400 freestyle relay.

Besides his two first-place finishes in relays, Ceh won the 50 and 100 freestyle individual events.

“We’re excited for districts and really looking forward to it,” said Engler. “Tapering is starting soon and hopefully we can put up some great times at districts.”

The district diving championship is Saturday at Emmaus High School. The girls competition begins at 9:30 a.m., with the boys taking to the boards at 2 p.m. Swimming districts will be held at Parkland High School March 3-4.