2018-19 Season Preview
Head coach – Tim O’Connor (16th season)
Assistants – Doug Cornish, Seth Urffer, Kevin Remaly, Cody Wimmer, Frank Donnely (diving)
Last season – 10-1 EPC, 11-2 overall
Swimmers lost to graduation – Jess Hurlburt (Diver, Bucknell University)
Key returnees – Sr. Chelsea Gravereaux (EPC MVP, 1st Team EPC 100 Butterfly, 100 Free, PIAA state qualifier), Sr. Kate Champagne (1st Team EPC 50 Free; 1st Team EPC 100 Back, PIAA state qualifier), Sr. Maggie Champagne, Sr. Abby Heilenman (3rd Team EPC 50 Free, 3rd Team EPC 100 Free, PIAA state qualifier), Sr. Reilly King (3rd Team EPC 200 Free), Sr. Caroline Nelson, Sr. Jordyn Yerger, Jr. Lexi Shuryn, Soph. Bella Buchman, soph. Claire Engel, soph. Peyton Rautzhan (PIAA state qualifier 400 yd free. relay), soph. Kera Reinhard
Newcomers – Fresh. Avery King, fresh. Lauren Sharp, fresh. Chloe Vlaeminck, fresh. Laryssa White, fresh. Jai Puri, fresh. Morgan Belisle (diver), fresh. Audrey Davidson (diver)
Season opens – Saturday, Dec. 8 at Cedar Crest Invitational at Parkland HS
First league meet – Dec. 11 at Whitehall (4 p.m.)
Follow the team on social media (Twitter): @Emmaussports, @emmausgirlsswim
Coach O’Connor – “Absolutely they are going to go into the season as the team to beat and I think they’ve earned that, but until somebody beats Parkland they still have be the top dog. This group has a little experience beating Parkland in a dual meet two years ago when they were sophomores, but we haven’t been able to get over that hurdle at the district level.”
“If you look at our roster, everyone knows about our senior class with Chelsea (Gravereaux), both Champagne sisters in Kate and Maggie, Abby (Heilenman) along with Reilly (King), Caroline (Nelson) and Jordyn (Yerger) who has had a string of injuries but she’s back and training well and has been very positive.”
“Our junior group was not a big group to begin with last year. Lexi (Shuryn) has been doing a great job and she’s been solid. If you look at our sophomores, Bella (Buchman) has been committed. Peyton (Rautzhan) was on our relays as a freshman at the end of the year, Kera (Reinhard) is a great multi-faceted swimmer and has been doing a great job and Claire (Engel) came out of a nowhere last year to get a spot at the district lineup and she’s back now trying to improve on that.”
“On the freshmen side we have two divers in Morgan (Belisle) and Audrey (Davidson) joining Abby (Barnes) who is a sophomore. In addition, Lauren (Sharp), Avery (King) along with Laryssa (White) and Chloe (Vlaeminck) have been in our system and in our feeder program at EMAC and have really been developing. Those girls bring depth and that’s going to set us up in a nice spot.”