As the defending champ and winner of 11 of the past 12 District 11 girls team titles, Parkland entered this year’s district meet with a bull’s-eye in its back. Emmaus, the only other team to capture a girls district during that span, had plans of unseating the Trojans.

Heading into the meet’s final event, the Hornets were within reach of their goal. Parkland needed to beat Emmaus in that final race to secure this year’s crown.

The 400-yard freestyle relay team did exactly what was necessary, taking third place in 3:40.46, well ahead of the fourth-place Hornets (3:43.88).

“We wanted to get first and we wanted to go to states,” said Parkland senior Ashley Settle, who was joined on the relay by teammates Simone Lin, Kelsey McPeek and Madison Roseman. “But overall it was a team thing. We wanted to make sure we could close out well.”

That final swim closed out the team title for Parkland, which finished with 426 points to the Hornets’ 409. Nazareth (296) was a distant third.

The 400 free relay was one of 11 events that saw Parkland girls swimmer win medals, including five gold medallions.

Freshman Milla Hahn led the way with two individual first-place finishes and another as a member of the medley relay team along with Lin, McPeek and Roseman.

Hahn won the individual medley with a time of 2:09.46, beating second-place finisher Marianne Tassinari (East Stroudsburg South) by more than three seconds. She also took first place in the 100-yard butterfly at 58.67, edging Nazareth’s Ava Palochik (58.94) by a fraction of a second.

“The last 50 yards were stressful because I tried to catch up really fast,” Han said. “I was behind by a lot.

“But then in the backstroke I started to pull ahead, which isn’t my best stroke so that was pretty good.”

Lin, a senior, also earned four medals at the meet. She won the 500-yard freestyle in 5:15.95 and was second in 200 free (1:56.15) in addition to two relay medals.

Lin, along with all the district champs, will compete in next week’s state championship meet at Bucknell University. She made trips to states with relay teams as a freshman and sophomore, but didn’t swim last season. This will be her first trip to states for an individual event.

“It’s been such a fun season and I loved every moment of it,” Lin said. “I have an awesome team backing me up. They got me motivated, going, encouraged, all of the above. The 500 is such a long race you need a team to keep you motivated.”

McPeek, a freshman, also swam to a gold medal in her first district meet. She was seeded third for the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:09.91. She swam the event in 1:06.04, a second better than Liberty’s Natalie Brezinsky (1:07.16) in second place.

“I think I knew that I had a chance at getting first,” said McPeek. “I just wanted to get a good time.

“I was kind of nervous, but I had a lot of fun. All of my teammates pumped me up a lot and really supported me.”

McPeek just missed a medal with a fifth-place finish in IM (2:15.15).

Settle earned a pair of individual medals to go along with her relay hardware. She took third place in the breaststroke (1:08.07) and fourth in IM (2:13.83).

She was one of several Trojan seniors competing in their final meet at the Parkland High School pool, which annually hosts the swimming portion of the district championship meet.

“It is really bittersweet,” Settle said. “It’s only my second districts, but I have been training here forever, since I was so young. It’s really special to be here.

“When I came in as a freshman I never thought I would be able to be where I am today. It’s just really special to celebrate it with the team.”

Parkland opened the meet with a victory in the first event, the medley relay. Lin, McPeek, Hahn and Roseman swam the event in 1:48.36 to beat second-place Emmaus (1:50.60) by more than two seconds.

The Trojans also picked up a medal in the 200-yard freestyle relay as the team of Natasha Goldman, Sydney Platt, Hahn and Settle finished in 1:41.36.

Sophomore Julianne Zaffiro earned one individual medal, taking second place in the 500 freestyle in 5:20.59. She also just missed the medal stand with a fifth-place performance in the 200 free (2:01.10).

Roseman, a junior, swam two individual events, finishing sixth in 50 free (25.22) and seventh in 100 free (55.28). Junior Sada Fleischaker just missed the medal stand with a fifth-place finish in breaststroke (1:10.74) and a sixth-place swim in the 500 free (5:32.16).

Goldman, a senior, swam to an eighth-place finish in 200 free (2:02.73) and was 11th in butterfly (1:04.16). Fellow seniors Sydney Platt (9th in 50 free, 25.82; 13th in 100 free, 57.74) and Ava Smith (13th in backstroke, 1:07.82) also finished out their high school careers at the district championship meet.

Sophomore Emma Kushner finished eighth in two events, the backstroke (1:04.19) and IM (2:20.28). Freshman Ella Rafeld was eighth in IM (2:20.28) and 10th in backstroke (1:06.45), while classmate Mackenzie Platt finished ninth in 200 free (2:05.35) and 12th in 100 free (57.74). Freshman Taylor Coombe took 10th place in butterfly (1:03.82) and 13th in breaststroke (1:15.47).

The Parkland boys team finished third at the meet with 329 points. Emmaus (478) took the boys team title with Nazareth (416) finishing second.

The Trojans boys team earned medals in four events, including all three relays and one individual event.

Sophomore Gabe Krizel picked up a fourth-place medal for the individual medley (1:59.81) and was part of the fourth-place medley relay team along with senior Blaine Christ, junior Dannik Khais and senior Marcus Moreef. They swam the event in 1:36.96. Krizel also placed seventh in backstroke in 56.31.

Khais also earned a sixth-place finish in backstroke in 55.56 and an eighth-place finish in 100 free (49.18), while earning medals in the medley relay and 400-yard freestyle relay, which took fourth place in 3:21.53. Moreef, sophomores Doug Bell and Pedro Teran were also part of the 400 free relay.

The 200-yard freestyle relay also finished fourth. That foursome included Bell, senior Anshul Dadayyapally, freshman Thomas Price and sophomore Colton Chung.

Chung was a sixth-place finisher in individual medley (2:04.25) and took eighth place in butterfly (55.23).

Christ finished seventh in breaststroke (1:04.53) and 12th in IM (2:11.29). Teran took eighth place in two individual events, including the 500 free (5:03.59) and 200 free (1:50.94).

Moreef capped an outstanding high school career at the meet, finishing eighth in 50 free (22.82) and 11th in 100 free (50.67).

Price was 11th in butterfly (56.66), while Bell took 15th in 50 free (23.62) and 16th in 100 free (52.66). Dadayyapally was 11th in 50 free (23.11) and 13th in 100 free (51.57).

Sophomore Michael Toth finished ninth in 500 free (5:05.26) and 11th in 200 free (1:52.95). Freshman Jacob Grab was 10th in 500 free (5:07.85) and 12th in 200 free (1:53.41). Sophomore Eric Friday finished 14th in butterfly (57.53) and 15th in 200 free (1:58.65). Junior Eric Linchuk placed 11th in backstroke (57.86) and sophomore Jack Chu took 15th place in 500 free at 5:25.19.

All district champions earn automatic berths into the state meet, while other finishers can qualify for states if their times are among the fastest from district meets across the state.