The Emmaus swimming and diving teams have had to endure a long layoff. Because of bad weather and a rise in coronavirus cases at the school, sports teams were shut down all last week. Those shutdowns mean that both the boys and girls teams have had nearly two weeks off since they last competed.

The boys have gotten off to a 5-0 start, while the girls are at 4-1. Both teams squared off against Whitehall and Allen recently in a tri-meet that was held virtually with all three schools swimming the events in their own pool and then the times being compiled to give the results.

On the girls’ side, Mya Puentes had a big day picking up first-place swims in both the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle, while contributing as part of the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 200-yard medley relay teams that also captured first-place finishes. Peyton Rautzhan picked up three first place finishes in the 100- and 200-yard freestyle events and as part of the 400-yard freestyle relay team.

Kera Reinhard, Hailey Reinhard, Avery King and Lauren Sharp also had first place finishes in individual events and Morgan Belisle was the top scorer in diving.

“It’s been difficult in that there hasn’t really been a lot of consistency to the season,” said Emmaus head coach Tim O’Connor. “Obviously, it’s best for swimmers to be in the pool on a consistent basis and getting their work in but we haven’t been able to do that. With that being said, I think some of the swimmers have really stepped up and have put up good times and I think Mya is a good example of that.”

On the boys’ side, Nick Soares and Michael Iacobelli both grabbed top times in three events. For Soares, he finished first in the 200-yard individual medley and 500-yard freestyle in individual events and was part of the 200-yard medley relay team that took a first-place finish. Iacobelli was also part of the 200-yard medley team and the 200-yard freestyle relay team, that posted top times. In individual events, Iacobelli led the competition in the 100-yard breaststroke event.

Connor Shriver took first in both the 100- and 200-yard freestyle events, while Alex Magditch won the 50-yard freestyle; Luke Rautzhan won the 100-yard butterfly; and Ethan Ferris was the top finisher in the 100-yard backstroke.

“We’re seeing a lot of the seniors, guys like Nick Soares and Luke Rautzhan and Michael Iacobelli, kind of rise to the top on the boys’ side,” said O’Connor. “The good news is that some of the underclassmen are also putting up some good times and are showing some real progress even though the season has been a strange one.”

The EPC Diving Meet was held recently at Emmaus and the Hornets had two girls competing. Morgan Belisle finished sixth with a score of 258 and Molly O’Connor took seventh with a score of 234.85.