On Saturday, Cambridge competed in the Fulton County Championships along with Alpharetta High School, Milton High School, Roswell High School, and other area schools for the top title. While many swimmers were unable to compete individually due to time entry requirements, Cambridge still showed up to let people know that there's a new school in town and they're ready to fight for the top!
With only 25 athletes compared to the other squads of over 60 athletes, Cambridge placed ninth overall, beating out Westlake High School, with 180 points overall. However, many swimmers came to the pool ready to swim and earned season best times. The relay teams also felt the fire of excitement and competed at their highest level. Many other teams brought their best to the meet on Saturday. Many pool and meet records that had been set years ago were broken in the most extraordinary fashion, with some of the records previously set by Olympians, such as Eric Shanteau. Alpharetta High School came to the pool looking for the win, and they got it with 799 points.
The boys' relay teams knew that a state cut time was within their grasp, so they came out with the determination that they were going to put everything on the line to make that time. The boys' A-medley relay team (Erek Humm, Shaban Halim, Hawk Hammer, and Bryce Jewell) knew that their starts off the blocks were going to be a determining factor in their time. While the team swam a season best time of 1:57.87 (two second improvement), they were disqualified due to an illegal start. The team was not discouraged, as they know that next weekend will pose the same opportunity and they are determined to get it right.
The girls' A-medley relay team (Lauren Holliday, Maggie McGinty, Angela Ho, and Sydney Swenton) came with the same determination and shaved some fractions of a second off their time to come in with a state cut time of 2:06.35. The team placed seventh overall, earning vital points for the team and beating out the best relay teams from Alpharetta, Roswell, Riverwood and North Springs High School.
Other season best times came for our sprinters. Noah Sannes improved his 50-freestyle by over a second to swim a 26.47 and win his heat. Bryce Jewell followed in the next heat with a season best time of 26.04 and also won his heat. Hawk Hammer competed amongst some of the fastest in the county to finish first in his heat and seventh overall. His time missed the state cut by 0.3 seconds. Hammer is determined to make the cut in next weekend's meet. Hammer also swam a season best time in the 100-freestyle, shaving off a second to swim a 54.69. The time placed him 12th overall out of 42 competitors.
A second best time came for Erek Humm in the 100-butterfly, improving his time by two seconds to swim a 1:07.83. Humm also dropped two seconds from his 100-backstroke for a season best time of 1:05.50. The time earned him 15th place out of 30 competitors.
The girls had significant improvements in the freestyle events. Ashley Dale Henslee dropped an incredible four seconds in her 100-freestyle to swim a 1:03.97. Tori Bentley also dropped two seconds to swim a 1:03.48 and win her heat. Bentley placed 18th and Henslee placed 19th overall out of 40 competitors.
Another important event was the 500-freestyle. While Jake Todd did not swim a season best time, he was able to place eighth overall out of 20 competitors, gaining important points for the team.
The boys' 200 A-relay team (Hawk Hammer, Erek Humm, Bryce Jewell, and Noah Sannes) wanted redemption after the morning's disqualification. They knew that they were two seconds off the state cut time and wanted that time so badly. Their excitement paid off with a new season best time of 1:41.86 (with each swimmer swimming their fastest 50-freestyle time yet); however, there was a start that came so close that without extra technology to prove whether their toes left the block before the fingers touched the senor pad in the pool, the team could not prove that the start was legal. The time was disqualified. Their time would have placed them in sixth overall, beating out the best team from Roswell, North Springs, Centennial, and Westlake High School. As before, the team was not discouraged. They knew that they could swim their times again in a week and they would prove that they deserved a state championship appearance.
The girls' 200 A-relay team (Sydney Swenton, Maggie McGinty, Lauren Holliday and Ashley Dale Henslee) watched the boys and felt the excitement and possibility of state championships. With a season best time of 1:53.75, the team beat out the best teams from Riverwood and Roswell, placing them ninth overall. Their time was 0.75 seconds away from a state cut. While the team was disappointed in missing the time, they were excited that they came so close and feel a renewed excitement in the work they will put in during the week to get them the time they want next weekend.
Emily Dwane and Lauren Holliday were able to drop time from their 100-backstroke. Emily Dwane dropped two seconds to swim a 1:15.59 and placed 18th. Lauren Holliday also dropped two seconds to swim a 1:13.90 and placed 15th out of 32 competitors. Shaban Halim was able to join those celebrating season best times by dropping a second from his 100-breaststroke to swim a 1:17.60. Tori Bentley also dropped some time from her 100-breastroke to swim a 1:15.65, earning her a tenth place finish overall. Maggie McGinty finished fifth overall in the 100-breaststroke with a time of 1:14.60.
Other important times to mention would be Sophia LaMarca, improving her 100-freestyle time in the relay by two seconds, Carlee Bentley improved her 50-freestyle time in the relay, Ayana Dudley improved her 100-freestyle time in the relay by over a second, Angela Ho improved her 50-freestyle in the relay by a second, Sarah Moore improved her 100-freestyle in the relay, Alex Newcomer improved her 50-freestyle in the relay, Amanda Seibert improved her time in the 50 and 100-freestyle in the relays, and Sydney Swenton improved her 50-freestyle in the relay to swim an unofficial split of 27.82.
While the day presented many challenges to the Cambridge team, many were able to rise and swim season best times and support their teammates in the best way they knew how, by putting their heads down and getting to the wall. The team is energized and excited for the next few weeks of competition leading up to state championships the second weekend of February.
The Cambridge Bears will face off against some of the best in the state at North Georgia Regions at Dalton High School. Prelims will begin Friday evening Jan. 18th at 5:00 PM with the 500 freestyle and diving, and continue on Saturday morning Jan. 19th at 10:00 AM with prelims for the remaining events. Finals will be Saturday evening at 6:00 PM.