Cambridge Swim & Dive Team Finishes 4th at Fulton County Championships, Thurs. Jan. 12th

Posted: Jan 25, 2017

Last Thursday, January 12th, Cambridge swimming and diving took on 10 other teams in the annual Fulton County Championships. The Bears have steadily jumped rank every year and this year was no exception. While the Bears couldn't take down the dynasty of Johns Creek, they certainly made their presence known in this incredibly competitive arena.

Girls' Team Scores

Johns Creek 474
Alpharetta 318
Centennial 314
Cambridge 252.5
Chattahoochee 186
Northview 178
Milton 162
Riverwood 108
North Springs 96
Creekside 61.5
Westlake 56

Boys' Team Scores

Johns Creek 401
Milton 297
Alpharetta 282
Centennial 254
Cambridge 230
Northview 226
Riverwood 162
Chattahoochee 160
Westlake 80
North Springs 78
Creekside 0

Combined Team Scores

Johns Creek 875
Alpharetta 600
Centennial 568
Cambridge 482.5
Milton 459
Northview 404
Chattahoochee 346
Riverwood 270
North Springs 174
Westlake 136
Creekside 61.5

Before the swimming events began, the divers took to the boards. Senior Simon Finlayson had an outstanding performance and earned first place overall by only a little over a point. This is Simon's third year on the team and only third year diving competitively and he has turned into an incredibly strong athlete. Simon will be competing at Metros next week for his last meet before the state championship where he will lead the boys' team in the new conference. Simon hopes to walk on to a collegiate dive team next year. Turner Mignerey is a junior and another one of Cambridge's state-qualifying divers. Turner took third overall at Fulton County Championships and will compete next weekend at Metros and join Simon at Georgia Tech in February for state championships. On the girls' side, senior Maddie Chaloux took second place overall at Fulton County Championships. Maddie is a state-qualifying diver and, like Simon, will be going to state for the third year in a row. Last year, Maddie finished in the top 20 in the state at championships and this year she hopes to improve that position as her final dive competition. Maddie is a three-sport varsity athlete and competes at the highest level in all of them. Haley Copeland, a second-year diver, took ninth place overall at Fulton County Championships and will participate in her first state competition this year. Being only a sophomore, Haley has a tremendous amount of potential and will inevitably become a top scorer for the Bears. Noor El-Gazairly is a freshman on the team and has shown a lot of promise. She has caught on quickly to the most challenging skills and she will no doubt be a big contributor in the seasons to come. She took 11th overall at Fulton County Championships. Margeaux Messier was the last girl from Cambridge to compete and, also being a freshman, she has improved a lot over the span of the season. It will be exciting to see her grow in the sport and be an even bigger part of this program in the years to come. Margeaux took 14th overall at Fulton County Championships. As a result of the extraordinary performances by the divers, Cambridge was in first place following the dive event.

Cambridge had multiple notable swim performances in the meet on Thursday. The top performances included the boys' medley relay (Sean McGinty, Konata Ford, Connor Christiansen, Ben Balmes) taking ninth out of 18 teams, followed closely by the B relay (Nicholas DiPonzio, Jason Yang, Cole Pieroni, Clayton Johnson) in 12th. For the girls' team, the A relay (Libby Jones, Katie Fishman, Chloe Paskins, Katie Durden) took seventh overall out of 20 relay teams.

In the 200-yard freestyle event, Austin Daniel took fourth place overall, followed closely by freshman teammate Matthew Gaines in eighth, both with state qualifying times. Zak Parker finished right behind them in ninth overall out of 30 athletes. In the girls' event, freshman Abby Grottle had an incredible performance and took first overall out of 33 athletes by over a second and a half. Teammate and fellow freshman Ashleigh Hays also had a standout performance by coming in 7th with a new state qualifying time and Lauren Jonsson immediately following in eighth also with a state qualifying time. Chloe Paskins and Morgan Young finished in 11th and 12th and both have time improvements.

In the 200-yard individual medley event, Ben Balmes took sixteenth overall with consistent time improvement in the event throughout the season and a new best time here. Jason Yang followed in 18th place. For the girls' team, Abby Grottle, in back-to-back events, took fourth overall with a state qualifying time followed by Maggie Duffner in 13th.

In the 50-yard freestyle event, Jason Hink narrowly missed the state qualifying time with his seventh place finish out of 50 swimmers, followed by Cameron Chong in 23rd and Connor Fleming in 24th. For the girls, Brooke McLain took 13th out of 59 swimmers, followed by Paula Morales in 16th, Isabella Empoliti in 23rd, and Katie Durden and Libby Jones in 24th.

In the 100-yard butterfly event, Connor Christiansen took 16th, followed by Cole Pieroni in 20th. For the girls, Carolyn McLain took 18th with a new best time followed by Rachel Avant in 26th.

In the 100-yard freestyle event, Jason Hink once again narrowly misses the state qualifying time but takes seventh place in an incredibly competitive event. Freshman Zak Parker took 11th, Cameron Chong took 23rd, Nicholas DiPonzio took 25th and Connor Fleming took 26th out of 40 swimmers. For the girls, Ashleigh Hays swam her second state cut of the day to take ninth, followed by Paula Morales in 13th, and Brooke McLain in 16th. There were 46 swimmers in the event.

In the 500-yard freestyle event, Matthew Gaines took seventh with a state qualifying time, followed by Sean McGinty in 11th with a new personal best time. For the girls, Lauren Jonsson took fourth with a state qualifying time, followed by Chloe Paskins in eighth and Darby Goodyear in 11th.

In the 200-yard freestyle relay, the boys' A relay (Austin Daniel, Zak Parker, Matthew Gaines, Jason Hink) took fourth overall with a state time of 1:33.43. The B relay (Ben Balmes, Nicholas DiPonzio, Konata Ford, Cameron Chong) were not far behind in 10th. For the girls, the A relay (Paula Morales, Brooke McLain, Ashleigh Hays, Abby Grottle) took second overall, winning at the touch, followed by the B relay (Katie Durden, Katie Fishman, Morgan Young, Lauren Jonsson) in eighth.

In the 100-yard backstroke event, Austin Daniel took fourth with a state qualifying time, followed by Sean McGinty in 16th. In the girls event, Libby Jones took 17th, followed by Maggie Duffner in 22nd.

In the 100-yard breaststroke event, Jason Yang took 11th place, followed by Konata Ford in 12th, and Ben Balmes in 18th. For the girls, Katie Fishman took 11th, followed by Natalie Henderson in 20th.

In the last event of the day, the boys' 400-yard freestyle A-relay (Austin Daniel, Zak Parker, Jason Hink, Matthew Gaines) took fifth overall out of 17 relays, followed by the B-relay (Cameron Chong, Jason Yang, Clayton Johnson, Sean McGinty) in 10th. For the girls' team, the A-relay (Ashleigh Hays, Lauren Jonsson, Paula Morales, Abby Grottle) came in fourth with a new best state qualifying time, followed by the B-relay (Katie Durden, Maggie Duffner, Morgan Young, Brooke McLain) in ninth.