On Friday night November 21st, the Cambridge Swimming and Diving team faced off against North Springs and South Forsyth at their first home meet of the season at Cumming Aquatic Center.
The boys' team came away with the top placing, while the girls' team took second and the team took second overall. Throughout the evening, the team came away with eight state cuts that will qualify them to compete at Georgia Tech at the state meet in February. This was also the first opportunity the Cambridge divers had to compete at the same meet with their swimming teammates, which was pivotal in the teams' success that evening.
South Forsyth 210
Cambridge 140
North Springs 62
Cambridge 191
South Forsyth 185
North Springs 37
South Forsyth 395
Cambridge 331
North Springs 99
The boys' team started off the evening strong with taking three scoring positions in the 200-medley relay. The A-Relay (Sean McGinty, Kyle Daniel, Conor Wesolowski, Alex Mahler) took second place with a time of 1:55.19, the B-Relay (Tony Guerra, Jason Yang, Matt Hogan, Jared Keim) took third, and the C-Relay (Cole Pieroni, Sebastian Lara, Adam Montes, Jason Hink) took the fifth place position, all scoring vital points for the Bears. In the 200-freestyle relay, three individuals finished in scoring position. Noah Sannes was the first from Cambridge to touch the wall, finishing in fifth place, following narrowly by Tony Guerra in sixth and Nick Mirchandani in seventh. A close race came up next in the 200-individual medley. Austin Daniel, already a state qualifier in other events from Wednesday night's performance, was out to add another event to his meet agenda. Following closely to top competitors from South Forsyth, Daniel narrowly finished in second overall with another state cut of 2:06.60. Less than a second off of the state qualifying time was teammate Ethan Nalwasky, finishing in fourth overall with a time of 2:12.89. Following closely behind were teammates Conor Wesolowski (finishing in fifth) and Jason Yang (finishing in sixth), all in point-earning positions. In the shortest race of the evening, Cambridge put up three point-earning times in the 50-freestyle. Senior Alex Mahler took to the pool, neck and neck with top swimmer from South Forsyth. The entire 50-yards, both boys were pushing for the lead and it had to come down to the touch that only a touchpad could capture. Mahler ended up slightly out-touched by less than a tenth of a second, placing him in second with a time of 24.55. Teammate Matt Hogan was not far behind with a finish in fifth with a new best time of 25.87, and new-to-swimming teammate Jason Hink finishing in seventh with another personal best time of 26.38. The boys' team took over the 100-butterfly competition, placing in four of the top five finishes overall. First to finish was Austin Daniel with another impressive and state-qualifying performance, placing him second overall with a time of 57.60. After Daniel, the Bears reached for the wall to occupy the next three positions as well. Ethan Nalwasky took third, Erek Humm took fourth, and Matt Hogan took fifth, locking out the other teams of top point-earning finishes. The boys' team felt the competitive pressure coming from South Forsyth and continued to step up their game. In the 100-freestyle event, Cambridge's Jake Todd was seeded first in the heat, but by less than a tenth of a second. Taking to the pool, Todd pulled slightly ahead, but as the race progressed, South Forsyth's top competitor came off the wall ahead pulling into the last 25 yards. Todd surged forward in a last bust of adrenalin to beat out the competitors and maintain his top position in the event with a personal best time of 52.74. Teammates that also brought in points with the event were Sebastian Lara in fifth and Austin Thistleton in seventh. In the 500-freestyle, Sean McGinty took to the pool again for the second time this week in the dreaded long-distance event. Dropping over three seconds from his best time, McGinty was the first from Cambridge to touch the wall, placing him in third overall. Teammates Tony Guerra and Noah Sannes finished closely behind in fourth and fifth place. The boys' team had not yet qualified for the 200-freestyle relay at the state meet, so the boys had a lot riding on their performance. All members of the A-relay team (Austin Daniel, Erek Humm, Ethan Nalwasky, Jake Todd) had been tested all night with difficult events and challenging competition, but they had to dig deep to get this event in the books. They fought back and forth with the top relay team from South Forsyth, but came up just slightly short in their finish to earn second place. Even with a second place finish, their time (1:37.16) was well within state qualifying requirements, so this team will be making an appearance at the state meet in February. Teammates in the B-Relay (Alex Mahler, Jared Keim, Jason Hink, Matt Hogan) weren't far behind with their third place finish, followed by the C-Relay team (Connor Fleming, Manav Kumar, David Le, Ben Walker) finishing in sixth overall, also earning points for the team. In the 100-backstroke, Cambridge claimed the third, fourth, fifth and sixth place overall positions. Jake Todd broke out and followed closely with the two top seeds from South Forsyth. With another impressive showing in the meet, Todd finished with a state qualifying time of 59.65 and a third place finish. Teammate Erek Humm touched next, followed by Conor Wesolowski, and Sean McGinty. The boys' team had four finish in point-earning positions in the 100-breaststroke. Both Jason Yang (1:12.31) and Kyle Daniel (1:12.50) put up best times for the season with their second and third place finishes. They were followed by teammates Sebastian Lara who took sixth and Nick Mirchandani who took seventh. In the 400-freestyle relay, the last event of the evening, the boys' team once again had to post their best time in order to qualify for state. Using the top seeded South Forsyth relay team as their motivation and pacing, the A-Relay (Jake Todd, Ethan Nalwasky, Erek Humm, Austin Daniel) surged forward. With all members posting solid times, especially from Todd and Daniel both posting times under 53-seconds, the A-Relay came in well under the qualifying time for state and also a new school record of 3:34.79. Their time earned them second overall. Teammates in the B-Relay (Cole Pieroni, Jason Hink, Austin Thistleton, Jared Keim) finished in fifth overall, followed by the C-Relay (Manav Kumar, Nicky Northen, Connor Fleming, Nick Mirchandani) finishing in seventh overall.
The girls' had tough competition throughout the evening, constantly being challenged on even their strongest showing events. The competition proved to be key in pushing the girls to swim faster and better than they had in previous appearances. The girls' team started off with all three relay teams scoring points. The A-Relay (Nicole Detjen, Katie Fishman, Olivia Mahler, Sydney Swenton) took second place and improved their state qualifying time to 2:04.97, the B-Relay (Darby Goodyear, Sarah Moore, Angela Ho, Ashley Dale Henslee) took fifth, and the C-Relay (Colleen McCreanor, Melissa Mandato, Anna Salvadori, Isabella Empoliti) followed closely behind to finish in sixth. In the 200-freestyle relay, Ashley Dale Henslee finished with an improved personal time of 2:24.95 in fourth place to put up points for the girls. In the 200-individual medley, Katie Fishman put up another great race to finish in fifth overall with an individual improved time of 2:37.62, followed by teammate Olivia Mahler in seventh place. The girls' 50-freestyle was no less exciting than the boys' event. Cambridge once again had to settle for second to South Forsyth with Alex Newcomer's performance, with a time of 27.67. Teammate Chloe Paskins wasn't far behind with her sixth place finish. As for the boys' team, butterfly is also a strength of the girls' team. First from Cambridge to touch the wall was Caley Cramer, finishing second overall with a time of 1:09.26. Teammate Olivia Mahler wasn't far behind with her fourth place finish, and Chloe Paskins with her sixth place finish. In the 100-freestyle event, the girls' team was positioned to post some great performances. Top seed for Cambridge was Katie Durden who did not disappoint with her third place overall finish and a time of 1:01.29. Following closely behind was Ashley Dale Henslee in fifth place with her best time of the season, and Nicole Detjen in sixth. Mirroring the boys' team performance in the 500-freestyle, the girls took the third, fourth and fifth place finishing positions. Darby Goodyear was the first to touch the wall, followed closely by Sydney Swenton and Sydney Anderson. Just like the boys' team, the Cambridge girls' 200-freestyle relay team had not yet qualified for a state meet appearance. A lot was riding on their ability to finish strong in this event. The A-Relay team (Katie Durden, Alex Newcomer, Sydney Swenton, Caley Cramer) were positioned to post a season best time, but with teammates having just competed in various very competitive event, especially Swenton just getting out of the pool from the 500-freestyle, anything could happen. The girls' team followed closely to the South Forsyth relay and closed in with the last leg of the relay. The girls pushed as hard as they could and came out with a close second place finish and a state qualifying time of 1:51.21. Teammates in both other relays also posted up points with the C-Relay (Cat Kania, Lauren Lee, Irazu Lara, Kat Jackson) finishing in fifth and the B-Relay (Bella Kane, Amani Kanso, Melissa Mandato, Colleen McCreanor) finishing in sixth overall. Two girls placed in point-earning positions in the 100-backstroke. Nicole Detjen, getting close to her season-best time last year, finished in fourth place overall with a time of 1:09.89, followed by teammate Isabella Empoliti in sixth place. Breaststroke has been a strong event for the Bears in the past years, and with some of the big contributors having graduated, it was time for those shoes to be filled. Freshman Katie Fishman has stepped up to the plate and posted a great time (1:16.71) with her second place finish, followed by teammate Sydney Swenton who had a stacked agenda for the evening and still managed to pull out a fifth place finish. Last point-earning finisher was Sarah Moore, touching the wall in seventh overall. In the last event of the evening, the girls' 400-freestyle A-Relay team (Caley Cramer, Ashley Dale Henslee, Alex Newcomer, Katie Durden) already had a state qualifying time, but the team looked to improve their seed by posting a better entry time and took advantage of the competition in the pool to push them forward. With all girls swimming their best times of the season, they did improve their seed time and also set a new school record in the event. With their time of 4:04.04, the girls' will certainly have a comfortable position going into the state meet. The B-Relay team (Anna Salvadori, Sophia LaMarca, Ayana Dudley, Isabella Empoliti) also had an impressive finish earning them fifth place, as well as the C-Relay team (Kerrigan McCabe, Cat Kania, Lauren Lee, Chloe Phelps) finishing in sixth.
The element of the evening that can't be ignored is the diving competition. All three divers, Simon Finlayson, Jack Braglia, and Maddie Chaloux, all performed at the top of their game to earn vital points for the Bears. Finlayson posted a new season-best score of 170.50 in his six dive sequence, compared to his first appearance at the Marist invitational. With significantly improved technique and attention to detail, Finlayson earned new high-point scores as well as increasing his level of difficulty. This was Braglia's first appearance of the season and his score of 108.55 was a great place to start. With his tumbling experience, his twists, tucks and turns are sure to become stronger and earn him higher scores moving forward. For the girls' team, Chaloux was amazing to watch, with her superior technique and extensive experience in tumbling and diving. Judges could tell with her strong positioning and tight tucks that she was bound for state. On some of Chaloux's most difficult dives, she earned her top scores of the evening. With an increase in level of difficulty, Chaloux is certainly bound for the state competition in February.
The Cambridge swimmers will take to the pool immediately following the break against Chattahoochee High School and Roswell High School at Dynamo Alpharetta on December 6th at 3:00 PM.
The next appearance for the divers will be on December 20th at the Madeleine Jude Brown Invitational at Emory, where they will also be joined by their swimming teammates.
