The dual meet season is winding down and are districts just a month away. Recently, both the Emmaus boys and girls swimming and diving teams picked up victories in an East Penn Conference dual meet against Liberty. The girls won 128-58, while the boys beat the Hurricanes 118-61. With one dual meet remaining, the boys are 8-0 in the EPC and 8-1 overall, while the girls are 7-1 with an overall record of 7-2 this season.

On the girls’ side, Natalie Mack was in the top spot in one individual event and in three relay events. The senior took the top spot in the 100-yard butterfly and was on relay teams that captured the 200-yard medley, 200-yard freestyle and 400-yard freestyle contests.

Two other Hornet swimmers picked up three wins.

Morgan Gould was on the 200-yard medley and 400-yard freestyle relay teams and was the top finisher in the 100-yard freestyle event. Hailey Reinhard was on the 200- and 400-yard freestyle teams and took the top spot in the 200-yard freestyle event.

Emmaus girls relay teams took the top three spots in the 400-yard freestyle relay and in individual events. They also took the top three spots in the 100-yeard freestyle, 500-yard freestyle, and backstroke. Gould finished ahead of teammates Gloria Klees and Veronica Karboski, who finished second and third, respectively, in the 100 free. Junior Mandy Barnes edged out teammate Bella Marsh by just .09 seconds to win the 500-yard freestyle and Jillian Fidelman placed third. Hornets’ swimmers swept the 100-yard backstroke with Izzy Sparaco winning, followed by Georgia Magditch and Mia Baldwin.

“We have some girls developing that we didn’t anticipate seeing come this far this year,” said Emmaus head coach Tim O’Connor. “It is always nice when they surprise us and come in every day, do their work and are highly coachable. I am always evaluating and it’s not always about times. It’s about how you do things. If you do things the right way, the times will come.”

For the boys, Ryan DeJohn, Andrew Taylor and Logan Shriver won three events each.

Shriver posted the best time in both the 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard backstroke. DeJohn was the winner of the 100-yard freestyle and Taylor won the 100-yard breaststroke. All three were members of the 400-yard freestyle team and DeJohn and Taylor were on the 200-yard medley relay team.

Shriver had teammates Anderson Borst and Reid Lovett both finishing behind him in the 100-backstroke and Jack Reppert, the fourth member of the 400-yard freestyle team won the 100-yard butterfly event with Emmaus’ Julian Vlaeminck and Jack Engle finishing second and third, respectively. Griffin Messenlehner was the fourth member of the winning 200-yard medley team.

In diving, Robbie Barnes won the boys’ diving event while freshman Elle Bagley finished second on the girls’ side and Keira Gilboy placed third.

“We’ve demanded a little bit more of the team this year,” said O’Connor. “Some kids have had a tough time with that. Others are looking at it and understanding that being on the Emmaus swim team gives an expectation of commitment, excellence, discipline and toughness that you are going to have to develop. It’s a situation where you make the team and then we are always watching and evaluating how you handle situations.”