Right after finals were over and everyone else was getting ready for vacation, the Cambridge swimming and diving squad was taking to the pool against some of the best in the state at the Emory pool, Saturday December 20th.
On the women's side, out of 26 total teams, Cambridge fell into 19th overall. On the men's side, out of 27 teams, Cambridge came in 12th overall, coming in ahead of some top squads in the region including Milton and Chattahoochee.
Men's Recap
Starting off a very long day, the men's squad had an impressive start to the day with the medley relay. The A-relay team (Jake Todd, Ethan Nalwasky, Erek Humm, Austin Daniel) swam a point-earning 14th place overall, out of 58 relay teams, with a time of 1:51.09. The B-relay team (Conor Wesolowski, Kyle Daniel, Matt Hogan, Alex Mahler) also had a solid performance and will most likely accompany the A-relay team to the state meet either as alternates or as participants in the final state relay team.
In the 200-freestyle event, Jake Todd was the first from Cambridge to touch the wall with a new personal best time of 1:54.43, which automatically qualified him to compete at state. Todd has already qualified for the 500-freestyle and the 100-backstroke. Todd has his eyes on other events to qualify in, but he will need to choose two individual events and two relays to compete in for the state meet at Georgia Tech in February. Todd's time earned him 12th place overall out of 68 swimmers. Next Cambridge Bear to finish was Conor Wesolowski, with a time of 2:02.88 and a 26th place finish overall, improving his entry time.
In the 200-individual medley, Connor Fleming improved his seed time in this most challenging event. Fleming was accompanied by Adam Montes, who performed just off his best time.
In the 50-freestyle, 211 swimmers competed in the single event. Austin Daniel, with a state-qualifying time of 23.22, earned 11th place overall. Daniel has already qualified for the 100-freestyle, 200-freestyle, the 500-freestyle, 200-individual medley, 100-back and 100-butterfly. Daniel will only be allowed to choose two of the events to compete in, in addition to two relays, for the state meet in February. Following Daniel, Matt Hogan came in 56th, Alex Mahler in 58th, Jared Keim in 63rd, Jason Hink in 79th, Nick Mirchandani in 100th, Connor Christiansen in 122nd, Austin Thistleton in 131st, Cole Pieroni in 149th, and Manav Kumar in 206th.
Alongside the swimming competition, the diving events were taking place. The boys' team had both divers competing at the meet, Simon Finlayson and Jack Braglia. While Braglia improved on a number of his first dives from his earlier competitions, he did not make it to the final round of competition. Finalyson's scores earned him a place to continue on. Finlayson earned a season-best score of 286.35 and a sixth place finish overall out of 20 divers. Finlayson's technique has improved significantly over the course of the short season and with an increase in difficulty, he can earn his spot at the state diving competition. Both Braglia and Finlayson will have four more chances to earn state cuts in January, starting with Fulton County Championships on January 10th.
In the 100-butterfly, Ethan Nalwasky was the first from Cambridge to finish in 21st place overall, out of 59 competitors. His time of 58.74 is just off the state qualifying time. Teammate Erek Humm finished in 32nd, followed by Jason Yang with a season best time in 36th, Kyle Daniel in 56th, and Connor Fleming in 57th.
In the 100-freestyle event, 170 boys entered the competition. The first from Cambridge was Jake Todd with a time of 52.79, just off the state qualifying time. Todd hopes to add it to his list of state meet potential races. Overall, his time earned him 18th place. Next to finish was Matt Hogan in 37th place and a new individual event best time of 55.62. Jason Hink came next in 57th place with a new best time of 57.21, Sebastian Lara in 74th, Connor Christiansen in 88th, Jared Keim in 97th, Austin Thistleton in 106th, Cole Pieroni in 121st, and Nicky Northen in 148th.
In the 500-freestyle, Austin Daniel improved his state qualifying time to 5:06.30, which is his best time at a high school meet. His time earned him 13th place overall out of 47 competitors. Sean McGinty came next with a new personal best time of 5:51.85, beating his previous time by 10-seconds. His time earned him 37th place overall.
In the 200-freestyle relay, the A-relay team (Conor Wesolowski, Jared Keim, Jason Hink, and Alex Mahler) swam a solid race to finish 25th overall out of 66 relay teams. In the B-relay team (Nick Mirchandani, Sebastian Lara, Connor Flemming, Connor Christiansen) almost all members went under 27-second for their 50-freestyle split, which earned them 45th place overall.
The 100-backstroke event, Sean McGinty was the first from Cambridge to finish with a time of 1:06.58 and in 40th place overall out of 76 competitors. Conor Wesolowski was just behind him in 43rd place.
In the boys' 100-breaststroke, Ethan Nalwasky came in 19th overall out of 87 swimmers with a time of 1:09.11. Following closely behind him was Jason Yang in 23rd place with a new season best time of 1:09.85, and then Kyle Daniel in 27th with a time of 1:11.64, David Le in 51st, Sebastian Lara in 57th, and Nick Mirchandani in 70th.
The boys' team has been particularly strong in the 400-freestyle relay, and they showed no exception at Emory. With a 12th place overall finish out of 48 relay teams, the A-relay squad (Matt Hogan, Jake Todd, Conor Wesolowski, Austin Daniel) swam a new school record of 3:33.38, which improves their seed time going into state. Of all of the relays that Cambridge has put together, this group has the strongest chance of returning to finals at state in a top 20 position. The B-relay team (Connor Christiansen, Sebastian Lara, Alex Mahler, Sean McGinty) finished in 32nd place overall.
Women's Recap
The girls' team starting the day with a point-earning finish with the medley relay A-team (Nicole Detjen, Katie Fishman, Caley Cramer, Katie Durden) with a 17th place finish, out of 63 relay teams, and a time of 2:04.84.
In the 200-freestyle event, Chloe Paskins was the first of the ladies to touch the wall with a time of 2:21.69 and a 30th place finish overall out of 67 swimmers. Annah Morgan was next to finish at 39th place, followed by Isabella Empoliti in 42nd, Ella McIlvain in 45th, Sydney Anderson in 47th, Anna Salvadori in 51st and Amanda Seibert in 58th.
In the 200-individual medley, Katie Fishman finished in 27th overall, out of 54 swimmers, with a time of 2:36.71, just slightly off her best time. Olivia Mahler finished a bit behind Fishman with a 34th place overall.
Similarly with the boys, the girls' team had a significant number of competitors in the 50-freestyle. Overall, 264 girls competed in the single event. The first to finish from Cambridge was Caley Cramer in 22nd place and a time of 27.13. Following Cramer was Alex Newcomer with a 34th place finish, then Katie Durden in 38th, Ashley Dale Henslee in 46th, Angela Ho in 51st, Nicole Detjen in 58th, Sophia LaMarca in 122nd, Kat Jackson in 124th, Melissa Mandato in 131st, Lauren lee in 144th, Chloe Phelps in 159th, Srjita Nandy in 164th, Cat Kania in 172nd, Amani Kanso in 174th, Bella Kane in 186th, and Irazu Lara in 196th.
As with the boys' team, the girl's diving competed at the same time as the swimming competition. Maddie Chaloux has been an incredible addition to the girls' squad and shows true state potential. From the beginning of the season, she has amazed teammates and judges with her technical skill and precision in her dives. Previously, Chaloux earned the required points to qualify for the state competition, but needed to increase her difficulty in order to continue on. In this meet, Chaloux attempted higher levels of difficulty in her dives, but with 48 other divers in the competition, she was not given the opportunity to finish her entire dive sequence. Chaloux finished 20th overall. As with Braglia and Finlayson, Chaloux will have four more chances to qualify for state and she intends to do so.
In the girls' 100-butterfly, Olivia Mahler got close to her season best time from last year with a time of 1:08.63 and a 29th place finish out of 62 swimmers. With more speed work, Mahler has the potential to earn a state cut in the event. Teammate Bella Kane came in 61st.
The girls' 100-freestyle was a packed event with 185 competitors. First in was Caley Cramer with a time of 58.83, just off the state cut time of 58.50. Her time earned her 18th overall. Next was Alex Newcomer in 31st, Angela Ho in 48th, Ashley Dale Henslee in 53rd, Anna Salvadori in 62nd, Lindsey Robinson in 72nd, and Sophia LaMarca in 97th.
In the 500-freestyle, Darby Goodyear touched the wall first for Cambridge in 18th place overall out of 42 swimmers. Her time of 6:16.10 improved her seed time by over 10-seconds. Sydney Anderson was next in 26th place, getting her closer to her best time from last season. Next was Ella McIlvain in 28th place with a new personal best time.
In the 200-freestyle relay, 72 relay teams competed. The Cambridge A-relay (Ashley Dale Henslee, Angela Ho, Nicole Detjen, Lauren Holliday) swam a solid race and placed 15th overall with a time of 1:53.74, just off their best state cut time of the season. This was Holliday's first race after returning from shoulder surgery in the summer.
In the girls' 100-backstroke, Nicole Detjen was the first to finish in 22nd place overall out of 91 competitors, with a time of 1:06.86, less than a second off the state cut time. Katie Durden came next in 33rd, Isabella Empoliti in 43rd, Darby Goodyear in 50th, Julia Dinardo in 53rd, Amanda Seibert in 72nd, and Colleen McCreanor in 79th.
In the girls' 100-breaststroke, Katie Fishman finished in 19th overall out of 94 competitors, with a time of 1:17.16. Following Fishman was Sarah Moore in 45th, Lindsey Robinson in 47th, Melissa Mandato in 61st, Ayana Dudley in 63rd, and Irazu Lara in 90th.
Just as the boys' team had an impressive finish to the day, the girls' team was no exception. Also with a 12th place overall finish out of 47 relay teams, the girls A-relay squad (Katie Durden, Ashley Dale Henslee, Alex Newcomer, Caley Cramer) swam a new school record of 4:02.04 and improved their seed time at state tremendously. The B-relay sqad (Darby Goodyear, Angela Ho, Lindsey Robinson, Anna Salvadori) also had an impressive finish in 25th place overall.
Preview for Upcoming Weeks
The men's and women's teams have a tough schedule coming up in January. Immediately upon return from break, the team will compete in Fulton County Championships at Marist on January 10th at 11:30 AM.
Come and support the best of the swimming and diving program as they compete against our region rivals!
Following Fulton County Championships, the team will take on Wesleyan the next Thursday, January 15th, and then will travel to Dalton for North Georgia Regions Friday and Saturday (January 16th and 17th).
The last meet of the regular season will be Metros with diving taking place on January 23rd and swimming on January 24th at Westminster.
