Coming off of their 10th straight District 11 Championship, Emmaus has four members of its boys swimming team competing in individual events at the upcoming PIAA Championships set for Friday and Saturday at Bucknell University. T

he girls team, which finished runner-up to Parkland in districts, is sending three swimmers in individual events.

The highest seeded swimmer from Emmaus is Chelsea Gravereaux, who is seeded fifth in the 200 freestyle. The sophomore, who is headed to states for the second straight season, is also competing in the 100 freestyle, where she is seeded 14th.

Last year, Gravereaux finished eighth in the 200 freestyle and 13th in the 100 freestyle, but is looking forward to having more of a comfort level at this year’s meet.

“I think I’ll be a little more relaxed than I was last year,” said Gravereaux after her performance at districts. “I know more what to expect and I think I’ll be better prepared to compete than last year.

“It was a great experience to swim there and I’m looking forward to going again this time.”

Ethan Carr comes in as the top-seeded swimmer on the boys side, with a sixth-seed in the 200 individual medley, an event that he not only won, but established a new district record in to take gold at districts. Carr finished 10th last season, but is looking for a higher finish in his senior trip to the state meet.

“I think I’m a stronger swimmer now than I was even just a year ago, and I’m going to really push myself out there for my senior swim, to go out on a good note,” said Carr. “I know I’ll be as ready as I can possibly be when we head for Bucknell.”

Carr is also seeded ninth in the 100 backstroke for states.

Andrew Vanim will have perhaps the most interesting trip to states. The senior comes in seeded 11th in diving and 20th in the 50 freestyle, leaving him to compete in both the swimming and diving portion of the meet.

Vanim missed states last season, but ends his high school career with two individual medal opportunities.

Connor DeJohn enters states swimming in both the 100 and 200 freestyle events, while Jason Yerger will join Carr in the 100 backstroke event at states.

On the girls side, Katie Champagne will swim both the 100 backstroke and the 200 IM, while Reilly King will compete in the 500 freestyle.

In relays, Carr and Vanim teamed with junior Ricky Thomas and freshman Cooper Kocon to qualify for the 200 medley relay, where they will be seeded 17th. Emmaus is also the 17th seed in the boys 200 freestyle, which has Vanim, DeJohn, senior Nathan Luey and freshman Devin Metzger. The highest seeded relay team is the boys 400 free relay team with Seniors Carr, DeJohn and Yerger and junior Thomas competing.

Girls relay teams include the 400 free relay team of Champagne, Gravereaux, Abby Heilenman and King, who are all sophomores and are seeded 13th in the event. Champagne, Gravereaux, Heilenman and senior Marissa Decker won gold in the 200 freestyle relay at districts and are seeded 18th in states.

“I think we’ll have a very good team going to Bucknell,” said Emmaus head coach Tim O’Connor after districts. “We’ve got a good mix of older swimmers, who have been to states before, and younger swimmers, who have also been there as maybe a freshman or sophomore and are going back.

“We also have opportunities for young swimmers to make their first trip and find out what all of this is about, so I’m going to be looking forward to seeing just how well we compete.”