On Saturday, January 16th, Cambridge swimming and diving took on significant competition from all over the state and came out with a win for the boys' and girls' teams. The meet at Cumming Aquatic Center marked the last meet of the season where the whole team would be together and able to compete, so it was an important moment for the squad to celebrate together one last time for the season. The victory was a culmination of all the hard work the team has put in this season and a preview of what has yet to be seen in the last few weeks.

1. Cambridge 457
2. Starrs Mill 331
3. McIntosh 289
4. West Forsyth 283
5. Forsyth Central 207
6. Northview 172
7. Commerce 143
8. Whitewater 120
9. Social Circle 98
10. Pinecrest Academy 52
11. Mount Pisgah Christian 46
12. Dawson County 40
13. North Forsyth 28
14. Wayne County 22
15. Central Carroll 20
16. Kings Ridge 12
17. Lumpkin County 8

1. Cambridge 399
2. McIntosh 381
3. Starrs Mill 357
4. Northview 281.5
5. West Forsyth 264.5
6. Forsyth Central 191
7. Whitewater 118
8. Lumpkin County 104
9. Pinecrest Academy 45
10. Mount Pisgah Christian 31
11. Social Circle 23
12. North Forsyth 16
13. Central Carroll 15
14. Dawson County 9 

Diving

In the diving event, divers had the option to dive a 6 or 11 dive sequence. Three of the four divers opted for the shortened routine. Turner Mignerey was the only male in the meet to do the shortened agenda and he took advantage of the smaller routine to try out some new dives he intends to do at state in a few weeks. This will be Mignerey's first appearance at the state meet in his first year diving, which is impressive in itself. We anticipate to see more great performances from him in the coming seasons. Since he was the only male 6-dive competitor, he scored first place points for the meet and scored 191.30 points for his dives. On the girls' side, Haley Copeland and Renee Wang took part in the 6-dive sequence competition. Out of the five divers in the event, Copeland was named the 6-dive champion and took first place with a score of 158.00. Wang also had a great performance and earned some top points for her dives. Her performance earned her third place with a score of 132.60. For both Copeland and Wang, this meet marked the end of their season and they did an awesome job. 

In the 11-dive portion of the meet, Maddie Chaloux and Simon Finlayson were among some of the top competitors. Both had great performances and took advantage of the opportunity to try out their potential state routines and figure out what parts need attention in these last weeks of the season. Finlayson was able to earn second place for his performance and Chaloux was able to secure third place. Both of their performances earned important points for the team. 

Boys' Swimming Recap

Starting with the first event of the meet, you could tell the meet would be a close one. Cambridge's boys' medley relay A-team (Erek Humm, Jason Yang, Ethan Nalwasky, Jared Keim) took third place overall out of 28 relay teams with a time of 1:50.65, which was just behind the top relay teams from McIntosh and Starrs Mill. The B-relay (Sean McGinty, Kyle Daniel, Cole Pieroni, Cameron Chong) took 11th. 

In the 200-yard freestyle event, Jake Todd had a standout performance by taking second place in the event overall out of 29 swimmers, but also for shaving almost three seconds off his seed time. Jason Hink also had a standout performance in the event. It was Hink's first time competing in the event, and his time placed him in fourth place overall. Nick Mirchandani took 15th in the event. 

In the 200-yard individual medley event, Jason Yang earned some big points for the team with is third place finish and a new season best time. Cole Pieroni swam the event for the first time this season and did a great job, earning ninth place overall. 

In the 50-yard freestyle, Jared Keim was the first from Cambridge to finish with a seventh place finish out of 100 swimmers. His finish marked a new personal best time of 24.16. Conor Wesolowski finished in 14th place with a new bested time of 25.03. Dawson Hall improved his previous seed time to finish in 15th with a time of 15.12. Cameron Chong finished in 23rd, Connor Fleming finished in 30th with a new best time of 26.35, and Manav Kumar finished in 73rd. 

In the 100-yard butterfly event, Dawson Hall's performance earned him 5th place out of 24 swimmers. Ethan Nalwasky followed up with an 8th place finish, Cole Pierogi finished in 15th with a new personal best time, and Connor Fleming finished in 19th place. 

In the 100-yard freestyle event, Jason Hink had his second standout performance of the day and shaved two seconds off his best time to swim 53.90 and take fifth place out of 82 swimmers. Conor Wesolowski took eighth place and shaved off a few hundredth of a second from his seed time, Jared Keim took 10th and shaved off almost a full second from his best time, Cameron Chong took 23rd place, Nick Mirchandani took 33rd place, and Manav Kumar took 52nd place with a new best time. 

In the 500-yard freestyle event, Jake Todd took on the event for the first time this season. Todd has competed in the 500-yard freestyle event at state in his freshman and sophomore year and was looking to put another state event on his list of options. Taking second place, Todd swam 5:06.43, which is four seconds faster than his best time. Sean McGinty had a very good performance and has developed a great strategy for the event moving forward. His performance earned him 8th place overall. 

In the 200-yard freestyle relay, the A-relay (Erek Humm, Jared Keim, Dawson Hall, Jake Todd) took second place and was just out-touched by the McIntosh A-relay. The B-relay (Conor Wesolowski, Cameron Chong, Nick Mirchandani, Jason Hink) finished in 10th, and the C-relay (Connor Fleming, Kyle Daniel, Manav Kumar, Cole Pieroni) took 16th. 

In the 100-yard backstroke event, Erek Humm finished in third place overall, followed by Sean McGinty in 10th. 

In the 100-yard breaststroke event, Jason Yang had a great swim and finished just a half-second off the state qualifying time. HIs performance earned him fourth place. Ethan Nalwasky took 12th place, Kyle Daniel showed a big improvement in his technique and earned 13th place. 

In the last event of the night, the boys' team didn't know their exact points, but knew they were close and needed a solid performance in the event to take the meet. The A-relay (Jake Todd, Erek Humm, Dawson Hall, Conor Wesolowski) took second place overall in a close race for first. The Bears and West Forsyth were out in front fighting for first place. In the end, the race came down to the touch and Cambridge came up short. Second place secured necessary points to take the meet. The B-relay (Jason Hink, Connor Fleming, Sean McGinty, Ethan Nalwasky) took sixth. 

The boys' team was greatly appreciative of the diving points from Mignerey and Finlayson. Between the diving points and the determination of the team to swim the best they ever have, the boys' team narrowly took first place and is able to bring home some hardware and a new reputation. These boys are the real deal. 

Girls' Swimming Recap

Cambridge girls' team started off strong with a second place finish in the 200-yard medley relay. The A-relay team (Nicole Detjen, Katie Fishman, Olivia Mahler, Sydney Swenton) followed closely behind the McIntosh team, but couldn't catch them, and had to settle for second, still with a solid performance. The C-relay (Julia Dinardo, Natalie Henderson, Carolyn McLain, Avery Osborne) took 9th, followed by the B-relay (Darby Goodyear, Sarah Moore, Emily Powers, Ashley Dale Henslee) in 11th. The D-relay (Ashley Robinson, Melissa Mandato, Chloe Paskins, Brigs Riddick) took 13th, and the E-relay (Colleen McCreanor, Ayana Dudley, Ella McIlvain, Irazu Lara) took 23rd out of 34 teams. 

In the 200-yard freestyle event, Alex Newcomer competed in the event for the first time since the very beginning of the season. Newcomer swam over three seconds faster than she did at the beginning of the season and the earned her third place overall finish out of 33 swimmers. Darby Goodyear finished soon after in fifth place with Chloe Paskins touching the wall in the next lane immediately after for a sixth place finish. Haskins dropped over four seconds from her seed time. Annah Morgan finished in 10th place, Anna Salvadori finished in 11th place, Sydney Anderson finished in 12th place, Julia Dinardo finished in 17th place, and Ella McIlvain finished in 18th place. 

In the 200-yard individual medley, Katie Fishman had a solid performance and earned fourth place overall. Olivia Mahler finished right after in fifth place, followed by Lindsey [Liam] Robinson in sixth place. Emily Powers finished in 11th place out of 20 swimmers. 

In the 50-yard freestyle event, Caley Cramer finished in third place overall out of 135 swimmers with a time of 26.73. Katie Durden finished in 15th overall, Ashley Dale Henslee finished in 20th, Sydney Swenton finished in 24th, Carolyn McLain finished in 27th with a new best time of 29.05, Ashley Robinson finished in 37th, Nicole Detjen finished in 38th, Avery Osborne finished in 42nd, Cat Kania finished in 50th, Melissa Mandato finished in 52nd, Brigs Roddick finished in 60th, Natalie Henderson finished in 63rd, Srijita Nandy finished in 66th, Kerrigan McCabe finished in 67th, Amani Kanso finished in 69th in her first race back after her elbow injury, Ayana Dudley finished in 75th, Colleen McCreanor finished in 78th, and Irazu Lara finished in 83rd. 

In the 100-yard butterfly event, Caley Cramer finished in 5th place overall out of 15 swimmers. Her time was just off the state cut time that she hopes to get at Metros next week. Olivia Mahler took eighth overall, and Emily Powers took 11th. 

In the 100-yard freestyle event, Paula Morales shaved off almost a second and a half from her best time to swim 1:00.18 and earn 5th place. Katie Durden was the next from Cambridge and she earned 11th place, Ashley Dale Henslee finished in 18th place, Sarah Moore finished in 21st place, Anna Salvadori finished in 23rd place, Isabella Empoliti took 25th, Nicole Detjen took 26th, Carolyn McLain took 30th, Annah Morgan took 33rd, Lindsey [Liam] Robinson took 35th, Sydney Anderson took 41st, Sophia LaMarca took 43rd, Avery Osborne took 44th, Ella McIlvain took 46th, Cat Kania took 52nd with a new best time, Srijita took 61st, Irazu Lara took 63rd, Kerrigan McCabe took 65th, Ayana Dudley took 68th, and Amani Kanso took 71st. 

In the 500-yard freestyle event, Alex Newcomer had her second standout performance of the season. Taking second place, Newcomer shaved off 25 seconds from the last time she swam the event. Newcomer had a great swim and earned a lot of points for the Bears. Chloe Paskins had another time-dropping performance and took third place overall, also earning a lot of points for the team. 

In the 200-yard freestyle relay, the A-relay (Caley Cramer, Katie Fishman, Paula Morales, Katie Durden) took third place and tied with the McIntosh A-relay. The B-relay (Nicole Detjen, Sydney Swenton, Anna Salvadori, Darby Goodyear) finished in 10th, the C-relay (Isabella Empoliti, Julia Dinardo, Sophia LaMarca, Avery Osborne) finished in 12th, the D-relay (Annah Morgan, Brigs Riddick, Ashley Robinson, Melissa Mandato) finished in 17th, the E-relay (Emily Powers, Lindsey [Liam] Robinson, Ayana Dudley, Cat Kania) took 20th, and the F-relay (Kerrigan McCabe, Colleen McCreanor, Srijita Nandy, Irazu Lara) took 21st. 

In the 100-yard backstroke event, Darby Goodyear was the first from Cambridge to finish, and her performance secured 10th place with a new best time, followed by Paula Morales finishing in 12th place, also with a new best time. Julia Dinardo finished in 19th place, Isabella Empoliti finished in 20th place, Ashley Robinson finished in 29th place, and Colleen McCreanor finished in 30th place. 

In the 100-yard breaststroke event, Katie Fishman had a great swim and took third place overall, followed by Sydney Swenton in 10th place, Natalie Henderson in 17th place, Sarah Moore in 19th, and Melissa Mandato in 23rd. 

The girls' team had been taking top spots all day, but in order to secure the meet, they needed to finish strong. The girls' A-relay team (Caley Cramer, Katie Durden, Paula Morales, Alex Newcomer) could not catch Starrs Mill as they were far ahead, but they wanted to make sure to beat out all other competition, and they were able to hold on long enough to take second. The B-relay (Ashley Dale Henslee, Sarah Moore, Chloe Paskins, Anna Salvadori) finished not far behind in fifth. The D-relay (Isabella Empoliti, Sydney Anderson, Cat Kania, Carolyn McLain) took 10th, the C-relay (Lindsey [Liam] Robinson, Ella McIlvain, Sophia LaMarca, Annah Morgan) took 12th, and the E-relay (Kerrigan McCabe, Srijita Nandy, Natalie Henderson, Amani Kanso) took 18th. 

The girls' team, with the help of the diving points, was able to had a safe lead against the other squads and take home some significant hardware to Bear Country. The girls' team has been strong all season and it will be great to see them finish out the season with some solid swimming. 

Preview

Due to the snow and weather problems, the Metros Championship meet held at Westminster is being pushed to Monday evening January 25th at 5 PM. Typically the meet is a prelims and finals format meet, where the top 20 swimmers return for finals in the evening, the meet will have to be condensed to a finals only meet (no second session) to be held on a week day. Come cheer on your Bears on Monday night in their last regular meet of the season and their last chance to swim some state qualifying times! 

Mark your calendars for next Saturday, January 30th at the Mountain View Aquatics Center! This will be our seniors' last meet and where they will each be recognized for their contributions. 

Unfortunately, due to restrictions in time and space, the dive portion of the meet will not be rescheduled. Next time you will hear about Chaloux, Finlayson and Mignerey will be at the state meet!