Raider Relay Provides Preview of New Season

On Saturday, November 7th, the Cambridge Bears took on Chattahoochee, Alpharetta, Johns Creek and Milton High Schools at the annual Raider Relay meet at Dynamo Alpharetta.

With all events being relays, and swimming some relays that don't normally exist on a swim meet schedule of events, the meet give coaches of all teams involved a chance to check out the talent from the other schools and Cambridge had some new faces to show off and some returners with high expectations for the 2015 - 2016 season.

Even with some of the top swimmers unable to compete this week, the boys' team had some big talent to show off already this season. After an incredible 2014 - 2015 season, the boys' team is back and stronger than ever. You could tell from the first event of the meet that the boys' team has something to prove. In the medley relay, state is the obvious destination and now there are many boys that will be up for those four spots on this relay. In backstroke, captain Jake Todd had an impressive showing to start off his relay, which set the tone for the rest of the meet. In the 200-yard backstroke relay later in the meet, the boys took third with Todd anchoring the squad of Sean McGinty, freshman Dawson Hall, and Connor Christiansen. In breaststroke, Kyle Daniel and Jason Yang both had incredibly strong performances that make them both equal candidates for the top relay. In the 200-yard breaststroke relay, Daniel and Yang competed with teammates Ethan Nalwasky and Dawson Hall to take second place, beating out Chattahoochee, Milton, and Alpharetta. In butterfly, Ethan Nalwasky and freshman Dawson Hall had very strong showings in their respective butterfly events. The 200-yard butterfly relay also took second, beating out Chattahoochee, Milton, and Alpharetta. Nalwasky and Hall competed with teammates Jason Yang and freshman Konata Ford. For the freestyle portion of the relay, the position has many contenders. Strong performances were had by many including Jared Keim, Conor Wesolowski, Connor Christiansen, Jason Hink and freshman Konata Ford. The boys' team showed especially promising performances in the 400-freestyle relay, which was the strongest showing the boys' team had at state last year, with Todd having the strongest performance with a 54.21 in his 100-yard freestyle split. The biggest advantage the boys' team has this year is the opportunity for options and the stage for severe competition for spots on these elite relay squads will push many to have career best performances this season.

The girls' team has always had the advantage of numbers, but this year the team is strengthening and adding quality to the equation. The medley relay has always been a strength of the girls' team and they look to be on that track this year, already beating out the Milton and Johns Creek relay squads and clocking a state qualifying time of 2:03.11. Each stroke has many contenders. Starting with backstroke, the Cambridge girls took first place in the 200-yard backstroke relay later in the meet, out-touching Johns Creek by less than a second. In backstroke, Katie Durden, Caley Cramer, Darby Goodyear, and freshman Lauren Jonsson all had strong performances that make them possible candidates for the backstroke position on the relay and individual backstroke appearances at state. In breaststroke, Katie Fishman had a solid swim, as did teammate and captain Sydney Swenton. The girls' breaststroke relay (which included Fishman, Swenton, Alex Newcomer, and Sarah Moore) took second only to Johns Creek, and trailing by less than two seconds. In butterfly, the 200-yard relay had Caley Cramer take the leg of the race, but Cramer is not the only one who could take that portion of the relay. Olivia Mahler is another contender for the state relay team, who swam the butterfly leg when the girls' team set the school record back at the state meet in 2014. In the last leg of the race, there's a significant list of girls that could easily take the anchor position of the relay. In the relay events throughout the day, Cambridge had a number of freestyle standouts. Casey Cramer, Alex Newcomer, Katie Durden, and Lauren Jonsson swam the 400 freestyle relay and took second only to Chattahoochee. On the relay, three out of four of the girls swam sub one-minute 100-yard freestyle splits to swim a time of 4:00.15, which is just two-second off the school's record in that event and a time that easily gets them to state.

As the Bears' team enters their fourth season, the focus has shifted to a much more competitive format. The training has gotten more challenging, the level of commitment for competitive athletes has increased, and the number of state performances is expected to exponentially increase. Cambridge expects to not just make it to the preliminary round, but to return to finals in every relay and every individual event they qualify for. The relay teams are no longer obvious for the boys' or girls' teams and so the air of competition has descended on the athletes in practices and is pushing them to their limits. It will be exciting to watch this team throughout the season show their true potential.

The Bears' will compete against North Springs next week at Dynamo Alpharetta, Saturday, Nov. 14th at 3:00 PM. Come support the Bears as they hope to win their first official meet of the season!

As we enter our fourth season, we will also be honoring those seniors that will be the first to go four years through the varsity swimming program.

Four Year Seniors:

Jake Todd
Sydney Swenton
Ashley Dale Henslee
Erek Humm
Kyle Daniel
Sarah Moore
Ayana Dudley
Sophia LaMarca
Sydney Anderson