All season, the Emmaus boys track and field program has shown it can compete for league and district gold in May.

That hasn’t changed despite an 88-62 loss last Wednesday to rival Parkland, the season’s first for the Hornets. The team’s success heading into postseason action next week is a combination of talent, skill, desire, coaching and a few intangibles.

“Track and field is like a puzzle and each athlete is a puzzle piece,” said Emmaus head coach Kami Reinhard. “We do our best to figure out how each athlete fits best to perform as a team, not only this year, but in future years as well.”

The team also has a characteristic most track coaches find elusive - depth in nearly every sport.

“All groups have equally contributed to team points this year,” said Reinhard. “That is our number one focus for our team. We also have been able to give opportunities to nearly all of our athletes, which helps us develop and look ahead to the future of our team as well.”

A good team usually has team leaders and in that regard, there’s a distance runner who stands out.

“Geoffrey Kleinberg shines in this sentiment,” Reinhard said. “Team leaders are the athletes who constantly lift their teammates up, help their teammates become better even if that means they are better than they are, and treat their teammates the way they would want to be treated.”

This season, Kleinberg has performed well. Against the Trojans, he finished fifth in the 800-meter run and was a member of the first-place 4-by-800 relay team with teammates Shep Henseler, Dylan Bassett and Jarrett Lysek. Teammate Ethan Strzempek won the 1600 and had a strong third-place finish in the 3200 against Parkland.

“Ethan initially thought he could only be competitive in the 3200, but is quickly realizing he has more speed than he thought, which will convert to a better 3200 time as well,” said Reinhard

Kyle Ryan won the 300-meter hurdles by three-tenths of one second over Parkland’s Rhian Romain, while Emmaus pole vaulter Aiden Hurlburt and long jumper Henseler won their competitions, respectively. Another Hornet to watch is Davonte Hinds, who easily won the shot put competition against the Trojans. Meanwhile, senior Tristan Schmidt had no trouble claiming first place in the shot put and javelin throw.

Emmaus finished the regular season by hosting East Stroudsburg on May 3. The EPC Championship Meet is scheduled for May 10 at East Stroudsburg South High School, with District 11 action set for the following week at Blue Mountain High School.

Parkland 88, Emmaus 62

100: 1. Mustapha Salau (P) 10.9, 2. Tyler Vicari (P), 3. Dylan Simon (P); 200: 1. Mustapha Salau (P) 22.1, 2. Connor Sherwood (P), 3. Aidan Dougherty (E); 400: 1. Mustapha Salau (P) 49.8, 2. Jarrett Lysek (E), 3. Imam Humza (P); 800: 1. Brady Hoffman (P) 2:06.2, 2. Tristan Schmidt (E), 3. Matthew Norton (E); 1600: 1. Ethan Strzempek (E) 4:51.5, 2. Paul Abeln (P), 3. Avi Hochhauser (P); 3200: 1. Samuel Dalton (E) 11:01.6, 2. Cameron Price (P), 3. Ethan Strzempek (E); 110H: 1. Justin Trexler (P) 15.0, 2. Rhian Romain (P), 3. Kyle Ryan (E); 300H: 1. Kyle Ryan (E) 42.3, 2. Rhian Romain (P), 3. Alex Harmon (E); 4x100: 1. Parkland (Tyler Vicari, Dylan Simon, Rhian Romain, Connor Sherwood) 43.1, 2. Emmaus (Matthew Bruchak, Aidan Dougherty, Colin Bryce Gabe Trexler). 4x400: 1. Parkland (Imam Humza, Brady Hoffman, Tyler Vicari, Mustapha Salau) 3:30.6, 2. Emmaus (Geoffrey Kleinberg, Shep Hensler, Dylan Bassett, Jarrett Lysek); 4x80: 1. Emmaus (Matthew Norton, Oscar Felegy, Holden Brown, Geoffrey Kleinberg) 8:30.1, 2. Parkland; High jump: 1. Connor Johns (P) 5-7, 2. James Kelly (P), 3. Quinlan Johnson (E); Pole vault: 1. Aiden Hurlburt (E) 13-0, 2. Brian Warren (P), 3. Luke Rautzhan (E); Long jump: 1. Shep Hensler (E) 19-4, 2. Connor Sherwood (P), 3. Jonathan Daphnis (E); Triple jump: 1. Connor Sherwood (P) 39-7, 2. Ben Price (E), 3. James Kelly (P); Shot put: 1. Davonte Hinds (E) 41-5 1/2, 2. Noah Rhode (P), 3. Marc Ramos (P); Discus: 1. Tristan Schmidt (E) 115-11, 2. Julius Reyes (P), 3. Christopher Facchiano (P); Javelin: 1. Tristan Schmidt (E) 198-11, 2. Andrew Nguyen (P), 3. Christopher Facchiano (P).