Catherine Sirignano is set for her senior season in the pool at Emmaus High School. She has been part of a class that is hungry for a district championship and looking to snap the three-year stranglehold that Parkland has on district gold.

Just before their freshman season, the girls’ team won districts, which snapped the Lady Trojans 10-year reign at the district meet and this year’s group of seniors want to leave their mark and exit Parkland High School with district gold early next March.

“I know I am excited and have been working hard and the whole team is excited because we spent a lot of time swimming together over the summer and we got to know the incoming freshmen over the summer,” said Sirignano. “We have all been working our butts off and we are excited to get the season going.”

This year’s team is on the younger side with just four seniors – Morgan Gould, Natalie Mack, Hailey Reinhard and Sirignano – and a class of eight freshmen swimmers.

The seniors had solid mentors when they joined the program, and they are looking to carry that tradition forward and help to make the adjustment for the younger swimmers as easy as possible.

“The seniors were great role models for me, especially since I knew a lot of them from when I was even younger because we swam together,” said Sirignano. “I always looked up to them and asked them questions about how they do things and what I need to be doing. They gave me advice and I am trying to pass that along now and I want the younger swimmers to feel comfortable coming to me.”

“I like the way our older swimmers are working with the younger ones,” said coach Tim O’Connor. “When we were handing out uniforms to the freshmen, Georgia Magditch (a junior) was there and I asked if they knew her and they all said ‘oh, yeah, we all know Georgia.’ That’s what I want where the younger swimmers all know the older swimmers and are comfortable around them and feel secure enough to go to them with questions.

“We have really had to stress to the young kids what it takes to win and emphasize that this is going to be a little different than what they are used to swimming at the lower levels. Fortunately, we have good role models on this team who know what it takes to be successful.”

O’Connor mentioned the success that senior Hailey Reinhard had during the cross country season and how she is setting an example of what needs to be done and how things work at the varsity level.

Another example that O’Connor hopes will be passed down is that swimming is not just something you do during the season if you want to be at the highest levels. He is fine with students playing fall or spring sports but emphasizes that they cannot focus on any sport just during the season.

“A lot of our kids have bought into the fact that you can’t just swim during swimming season and expect to be at an extremely high level,” said O’Connor. “If you are playing a fall or spring sport, it’s important to find time to get in the pool even just one day a week and put in some work. You can stay in shape and do your cardio, but there is nothing like getting into the water and Hailey (Reinhard) has been an excellent example of that. She worked during the fall season and came in here and was ready to go because she never lost that feel of being in the water.”

The team also has four divers this season. Junior Keira Gilboy, sophomores Sara Christine and Kaylee Harinsky and freshman Elle Bagley will compete to keep Emmaus competitive in the diving portion of matches.

The EPC diving meet takes place Jan. 14, with the conference championships on Feb. 11 and district championships on February 25.

The highlights of the swimming schedule include the annual rivalry meet with Parkland on Dec. 22, Wilson West Lawn on January 20, and Liberty on January 24.

The team will also compete in the Bucknell Invitational, Wilson Relays and Cedar Crest Classic throughout the season.