On Wednesday, November 16th, Cambridge traveled to Gainesville to swim at Riverside Military Academy. The men's and women's team both ended the evening with top finishes and a number of new state cuts to add to their February meet agenda.
- Cambridge 221
- North Forsyth 188
- Tallulah Falls 91
- Cambridge 161
- North Forsyth 156
- Riverside 122
- Tallulah Falls 72
Some of the highlights of the evening included the men's and women's A-Medley Relays finishing just off the state qualifying time. The men's relay (Sean McGinty, Jason Yang, Connor Christiansen, Connor Fleming) finished in fourth overall with a time of 1:55.78, and the women's relay (Darby Goodyear, Katie Fishman, Brooke McLain, Maggie Duffner) finished in second overall with a time of 2:09.41.
In the 200-yard freestyle event, Austin Daniel finished in first with a healthy lead and a time of 1:49.27, easily making the state qualifying time requirement. Jason Hink, Nick Diponzio and Clayton Johnson also finished in scoring position by taking 5th, 6th, and 7th. Lauren Jonsson also easily finished in first from the girls' team with a state qualifying time of 2:03.77. Also in scoring position were Chloe Paskins, Darby Goodyear, and Isabella Empoliti in 3rd, 4th, and 7th.
Jason Yang finished in third overall in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:23.51, followed by teammates Ben Balmes in 4th, Gabe Montes in 5th, and Cole Pieroni in 6th. On the girls' side, Ashleigh Hays took second overall with a state qualifying time of 2:23.17, followed by teammate Maggie Duffner in 4th, and Morgan Young in 7th.
In the 50-yard freestyle event, freshman Brooke McLain took 2nd with a time of 27.79, following by teammates Katie Fishman and Morgan Young in scoring position by taking 7th and 8th place.
In the 100-yard butterfly event, freshman Zak Parker took 2nd overall with a time of 59.07, followed by teammate Connor Christiansen in 4th. For the girls', freshman Abby Grottle took first with a state qualifying time of 1:01.39, followed by teammate Katie Durden in 3rd, and Carolyn McLain in 6th.
The 100-yard freestyle event was a particularly strong event for the Cambridge boys' team. Freshman Matthew Gaines took first with a state qualifying time of 51.09, followed by Zak Parker in 2nd, and Jason Hink in 3rd. Also in scoring position was Nick Diponzio in 7th. Abby Grottle quickly re-entered the competition pool to take first in the 100-yard freestyle as well. Her time of 55.43 easily qualifies her for the state meet. Teammate Paula Morales took 4th, with Brooke McLain taking 6th and Libby Jones taking 7th.
In the 500-yard freestyle, Sean McGinty took third overall, with the girls' also finishing in high standings. Lauren Jonsson took first easily with a time of 5:30.71, which qualifies her for the state meet. Darby Goodyear finished in 3rd and Chloe Paskins finished in 4th. Ella McIlvain also scored the team points by taking 8th overall.
In the 200-yard freestyle relay, the Cambridge boys' A-Relay (Austin Daniel, Zak Parker, Jason Hink, Matthew Gaines) had a tough battle with the Riverside A-Relay team, but finished just three-tenths of a second faster to take first place. The girls' team (Abby Grottle, Ashleigh Hays, Lauren Jonsson, Katie Durden) also fought the entire race to edge out the North Forsyth team and take first place. With their lead-off legs, Austin Daniel and Abby Grottle both went state qualifying times in the 50-yard freestyle.
In the 100-yard backstroke event, Austin Daniel had a tough battle with the top seeded athlete from North Forsyth and finished just behind him to take second place, but his time of 54.40 will qualify him for the state meet and he earned vital points for the Bears. Matthew Gaines also fought till the end to take 3rd overall with a state qualifying time of 59.36. Sean McGinty finished in 7th and Connor Christiansen finished in 8th, both scoring points. For the girls' team, Libby Jones finished in 2nd overall with a time of 1:09.37, followed by Katie Durden in 3rd, Paula Morales in 5th, and Isabella Empoliti in 8th, all scoring points.
In the 100-yard breastroke event, Jason Yang finished in 2nd overall with a time of 1:08.93, followed by Ben Balmes in 5th and Cole Pieroni in 7th. In scoring position for the girls' team was freshman Ashleigh Hays in second with a time of 1:15.61, Katie Fishman in 3rd, Natalie Henderson in 4th, and Brigs Riddick in 8th.
For the last event of the day, the boys' 400-yard freestyle relay A-team (Austin Daniel, Jason Hink, Zak Parker, Matthew Gaines) trailed closely to the North Forsyth top seeded relay team and tried to match their speed at the end and could not keep up. They finished with a state qualifying time of 3:26.61 in 2nd place overall. Austin Daniel's lead-off leg also qualified him for the 100-yard freestyle event at the state meet. The girls' relay team (Abby Grottle, Paula Morales, Lauren Jonsson, Ashleigh Hays) did not have to fight nearly as hard to maintain the top spot. They were far ahead of the competition and at the end, took first place easily by 15-seconds with a time of 3:59.41, a state qualifying time.
Looking forward, the team will face off against 12 other teams at the Water Warrior Invite at the Cherokee Aquatic Center at 3:30 PM. The meet will include teams like Alpharetta High School and Lassiter High School, among many others. The Bears are looking to continue their undefeated combined team score record in the bulk of their season. Come and cheer them on!
The following week we will see our divers take to the water for the first time this season along with our swimmers on December 9th at the Campbell Invite at the Cobb Central Aquatic Center!