When the Emmaus swimming schedule came out this season, there was one big change. The annual rivalry showdown with Parkland High School wasn't at the end of the schedule where its been the last few years. Instead, it was much earlier, coming right before the winter break. The move allowed alumni from both sides, who are home on break, to attend the meet, which is the biggest of the season for both teams.

The result was a raucous Parkland Natatorium, with the boys meet coming down to the final event. When all was said and done, the two sides had split, with Emmaus winning the boys competition 95-90 and Parkland taking the girls events 101-85.

Coming into the final event, the boys 400 freestyle relay, Emmaus trailed 86-85. The top relay teams from each side went neck-and-neck throughout the relay, with the Emmaus team of Greg Ritchie, Matt Kline, Andrew Bond and Cody Wimmer winning the event by just over a half second. To solidify the Emmaus win, the Hornets also took third place with a team comprised of John Woltornist, Roberth Bishop, Timothy Chien and Carter Paules.

To add to the intrigue, an error in scoring initially showed Parkland taking a 95-90 win over Emmaus on the scoreboard and on the final announcement. The error was quickly detected though and the Hornets were declared the winners.

"My heart didn't sink too much, because as a coach, you kind of know where you're at on the scoring and what you need to win in that situation," said coach Tim O'Connor. "But I did start to think, 'Did I miss something somewhere or miscalculate?' But in the end it all worked out."

Emmaus would have had a much easier time getting the team win if not for a Parkland juggernaut in the boys 100 yard backstroke. The Trojans grabbed the top three spots in the event, which gave them the team lead up until the final showdown in the freestyle relay.

"We know we're a little weak in the backstroke, but we've been working to develop ourselves and we're getting there. A good thing about having this meet earlier in the season is that now we see the level that we have to be at and we have a gauge on how much work we have to do," said O'Connor.

In an unusual occurrence, Emmaus swimmers shared the top spot in the 50 yard freestyle when Thomas Fang and Greg Ritchie finished in a dead heat for first place.

"I don't know that I've ever seen that in a sprint," said O'Connor. "That just doesn't happen."

On the girls side, the two teams were also close throughout the meet and again, the backstroke provided the Trojans with the opportunity to gain an edge over the Lady Hornets. Parkland took the top two spots and three out of the top five to outscore Emmaus 11-5 in the event, pulling them ahead to stay overall. Taylor Iobst finished third in the event, just two-tenths of a second out of second place and Tori Bingham took fourth for Emmaus.

The girls team had taken an early lead when they took two out of the three top spots in the 200 medley relay, the first event of the day. The team of Iobst, Morgan Weigner, Claire Frank and Maura Brennan took first by a little over one-tenth of a second. Third place went to Emmaus' team of Bingham, Kelly Schnaufer, Brooke Vanim and Jesse Hixson.

In diving, Emmaus took two of the top three spots, with Serena Speer taking second to Parkland's Amanda Zerphy and Anna Overholts finishing third. Maddie Ordiway finished fifth. On the boys side, Parkland grabbed the top three spots, with Matt Bussiere finishing fourth for Emmaus.

The Hornets are off until tomorrow when they host both Wyoming Valley West and Southern Lehigh in their annual Winter Invitational at the High School. The first 10 days of the New Year will bring home meets against Nazareth, Hershey and Easton.