For 16 straight seasons, the Emmaus boys swimming team ruled the local swimming and diving kingdom, taking 16 straight District 11 championships.

That string came to an end last season and to make matters worse, it was rival Parkland that ended the streak for the Hornets.

The task this season is to get that district championship back into the trophy cabinet outside the Emmaus natatorium where the Hornet boys team believes it belongs.

To do that, Emmaus will have to fill some holes that were left by the loss of key swimmers like Andersen Borst, Logan Hartman, Garrett Longbons, and Logan Shriver, who all left their mark on the team for four seasons in both individual and relay events.

Those swimmers were not just part of Emmaus’ success in the EPC and districts, but at states as well where Emmaus finished 17th overall and finished with the top team score from any of the District 11 teams.

“Our boys team lost some huge points from our district and state teams last year,” said Hornet head coach Tim O’Connor, who enters his 23rd season at the helm of the Emmaus team. “We do return a solid bunch along with some youth moving up the competitive scale, which should help us to be successful this season.”

Among those returning are senior Griffin Messenlehner and juniors Reid Lovett and Joe Lyons. Messenlehner was part of the state team last season and captured a seventh place finish along with Borst, Hartman, and Shriver in the 400-yard freestyle relay at Bucknell.

Messenlehner, Brady King, and Julian Vlaeminck are the lone seniors on this year’s boys team which also has 10 juniors, 10 sophomores, and two freshmen.

Emmaus has a long tradition of senior swimmers who pass along their knowledge to the younger swimmers and even though there are just two seniors, the junior class has experience and had some success in the past and will be able to help provide leadership.

In their opening meet on Monday, Emmaus downed East Stroudsburg North in boys’ swimming by a score of 136-33. Junior Roman Herman took two top finishes in individual events with wins in the 100 and 200-yard freestyle events, winning the 200-yard event by nearly 10 seconds over junior teammate Aaron Kenny, who also teamed with classmate Ridley Hartman and sophomore Graham Lovett to take the top spot in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

Next up for Emmaus is a quad-meet at State College this week. Their next dual meet and first home meet of the season comes on Tuesday when they host Allentown Central Catholic.