The Emmaus girls track and field team had only one loss during the regular season in 2025, which came against rival Parkland. The Hornets (7-1) were able to avenge that loss by winning the team title at the East Penn Conference Championships.

With the 2026 spring season just getting underway, Emmaus is hoping to remain among the EPC elite. Head coach Kami Reinhard understands that with a new season comes new challenges and opportunities for the team.

“Last year we had the majority of our top performers return,” Reinhard said. “This year is very different, as we graduated one of the largest classes to date. We have a young and inexperienced team, and there will be a few rebuilding years ahead.”

Kayla-Rayne Quinones (third in the 100-meter hurdles and 12th in the 300-meter hurdles), Payton Campbell (fourth in 3200-meter run, seventh in 1600-meter run, and 21st in 800-meter run) and Morgan Fletes (fifth in the long jump) all have graduated after posting in the top five of their respective events at last year’s district meet. Quinones and Campbell both qualified for states a season ago, too.

Despite those losses, Reinhard returns a number of talented athletes with a bit of state-meet experience.

Senior Mady McCartney leads that list after placing second in the 3200-meter run (10:29.51) and 11th in the 1600-meter run (5:05.53) at the state meet. McCartney was last year’s District 11 Class 3A champion in the 1600-meter run (4:53.13), while finishing second in the 3200-meter run (10:36.58).

“Our strength this year is that we have multiple senior girls who are PIAA state-level athletes to lead our team and the future,” Reinhard said. “Our weakness is that we need more time to figure out where athletes fit best on our team.

“I don’t want them placing expectations on themselves at this point of the season, as we already see that we have a dedicated group of girls working hard.”

Another state qualifier from last season was Claudia Walls, the district champion in the high jump event with a mark of 5-5. Now a senior, she also placed third in the triple jump (37-3) and fourth in the long jump (17-6 1/2), respectively. At states, Walls took 18th in the high jump (5-2) and 22nd in the triple jump (36-7).

Leading the returning sprinters on the girls side is senior Gabby DeVita. She—along with Quinones, Sophia Pratt and Morgan Tandy—qualified for states as a member of the 4x100 relay team for Emmaus. DeVita placed seventh at districts in the 100-meter dash in a time of 12.72 seconds. Senior Marleigh Llewellyn (100- and 300-meter hurdles) figures to be a strong athlete in the sprint events as well.

Senior Kayleen Louis returns to the field after placing sixth at districts in the shot put event with a mark of 33-11 1/4.

“With the weather factor and an unusual amount of illness affecting our girls team in the last two weeks, it’s pretty difficult to predict how things will go team-wise,” Reinhard said. “We are coming off the first EPC championship meet win since I’ve been head coach. And sometimes after those seasons, there is some rebuilding that needs to occur.”

Reinhard and the Hornets enter the season with some questions, but also with some experience that will bode well for leading this inexperienced group. A number of newcomers, including freshmen Bridget Aquino (sprints), Nitzana Jamaica Romera (multiple events) and Myla Felegy (distance), figure to be key pieces in their first season competing at the high school level.

“In my prior eight years as head coach, we either had zero losses or just one loss on the girls side,” Reinhard said. “It may be different this year, and there is a lot of power and patience involved with keeping their eyes fixed on the end goal of the postseason. We are calling this season the ‘season of opportunity.’”

Emmaus travels to face Stroudsburg on Wednesday to open its season.