On Friday, November 30th, Cambridge hosted Lassiter and Westlake at the Cumming Aquatic Center and won with their combined team score. Lassiter, always an incredibly talented squad, provided great competition for the Bears at the peak of their season.
Combined Team Score
Cambridge 919
Lassiter 860
Westlake 137
Girls' Team Score
Cambridge 559
Lassiter 431
Westlake 90
Boys' Team Score
Lassiter 429
Cambridge 360
Westlake 47
Diving
Starting off the evening was the Cambridge dive squad. The Lassiter diver injured herself, so the dive portion was a showcase of Cambridge. All Cambridge divers were able to participate and get some practice before some of the later meets this season where they will really be tested. Later this month, the divers will participate in the Meet of Champions (and then the Metro Atlanta Championships in January) that will cut the list of divers after the first 6 dives and then after the 8th dive. If our divers want to be able to perform all 11 of their dives, they have to make it through those cuts. These meets are a great opportunity for our divers to prepare for that as well as the state meet where they will only be allowed to perform their 6 most challenging dives to earn the necessary points to finish in the top point-scoring spots.
For the boys' team, Maddox Riddick took a lot of chances to perform some of his most challenging dives and he ended with a score of 136.65 and improvement in many of his routine. Freshman Brendan Hunt also got to show off his improvement and scored 119.70. Hunt will certainly be a huge contributor in the coming weeks and in the future seasons as he is showing a lot of promise as an athlete.
For the girls' team, Kate McKay loaded up her routine and took some chances. Her performance was incredibly solid and even though she has already qualified for state with 11-dives, her 6-dive routine on Friday would have also qualified her for state by having a degree of difficulty over 10.4 and total points over 200. WIth a score of 204.05, she took first. Noor El-Gazairly took second with a score of 173.50, Margeaux Messier took third with 162.15, Haley Copeland took fourth with 161.60, Michaela Prevallet took fifth with 158.20, Camila Montes took sixth with 134.30, and Paige Jaeger took seventh with 119.40. Prevallet, Montes and Jaeger are improving significantly and will help continue to build the Cambridge dive program. With nine divers, the Cambridge program is one of the biggest in all of Fulton County public schools.
Swimming
The swim portion began incredibly strong for the boys' and girls' teams. The first four events, Cambridge snagged first place.
Cambridge boys' A-medley relay (Aiden Goodnight, Konata Ford, Gabe Montes, John Empoliti) easily sailed into first with a lead of over six-seconds with a time of 1:55.60.
The girls' A-medley relay (Libby Jones, Grace Ghent, Claire Kerber, Delaney Goodell) took first by out-touching the Lassiter team at the end with a final time of 2:04.35. The B-team (Sydney Chambers, Caitlin-Rose Burke, Olivia Cash, Sydney Forbes) took fourth, the C-team (Rachel Henderson, Amelia Duffner, Adyson LeeMaster, Katie Fox) took sixth, and the D-team (Emma Solomon, Paige Jaeger, Laura Watkins, Izzy Filipek) took seventh.
Jack O'Connor took first easily by over 12-seconds in the 200-yard free with a time of 1:59.23. John Empoliti took fourth.
Claire Kerber out-touched the top Lassiter swimmer in the 200-yard free to finish in first with a time of 2:11.04. Camille Brown took third, Morgan Young took fourth, Sydney Chambers took fifth, and Delaney Goodell took sixth.
In an exciting race, Nick DiPonzio trailed the top Lassiter swimmer in the 200-yard individual medley to take second but dropping significant time got him to touch with a time of 2:11.74 which qualifies him for state in the event, which is the first time he's qualified for that event. Teammate Michael O'Connor finished just behind him with at time of 2:15.20 which is just off the state-qualifying time.
Rachel Henderson showed a lot of improvement and took third in the 200-yard individual medley, followed by Anna Kerber in fourth, Sydney Forbes in fifth, Caitline-Rose Burke in seventh and Izzy Filipek in eighth.
Konata Ford took second overall in the 50-yard freestyle with a new best time of 24.66. Aiden Goodnight also topped his best time to finish in fourth with a time of 25.36. Abhi Malik took sixth.
Brooke McLain took second in the 50-yard freestyle, with a time just 1/10th off the state qualifying time. Emma Guy took third, Adyson LeeMaster took fifth, Katie Fox in sixth, Priscilla Rodriguez Sevilla in eighth, and Amelia Duffner in 11th.
In the 100-yard butterfly, Gabe Montes swam an exciting race even though his goggles fell off on his entry. He touched with a new best time of 1:03.02. Harrison Cottick took third.
Claire Kerber continued the Cambridge sweep in the event by taking first with a substantial lead, followed by teammate Olivia Cash in second, Delaney Goodell in third, Laura Watkins in sixth, Adyson LeeMaster in ninth, and Adi Avishai in 10th.
In the boys' 100-yard freestyle, Nick DiPonzio took second a time of 53.78. Aiden Goodnight finished in third and dropped over a second to finish in 57.56.
In the girls' 100-free, Brooke McLain took first with a time of 57.82. Emma Guy finished right behind her in second, Grace Ghent took third, Libby Jones took fifth, Anna Kerber took sixth, Emma Solomon took eighth.
In the 500-yard freestyle event, Michael O'Connor and brother Jack O'Connor raced each other to win the event and in the end Michael edged out and touched not only in first but also with his first individual state qualifying time of the season in 5:18.78. Jack took second just two-seconds later and just outside of state qualifying.
For the girls' team, Camille Brown touched in second, followed by Morgan Young in third, Olivia Cash in fifth, Izzy Filipek in sixth and Laura Watkins in seventh.
In the 200-yard free relay, the boys' A-relay (Michael O'Connor, Jack O'Connor, Konata Ford, Nick DiPonzio) got edged out to settle for second place. The B-relay (Harrison Cottick, AIden Goodnight, Abhi Malik, John Empoliti) took fourth.
The girls' A-relay (Brooke McLaink, Claire Kerber, Camille Brown, Emma Guy) took first with a substantial six-second lead and a time of 1:51.21. The B-relay (Delaney Goodell, Sydney Chambers, Morgan Young, Rachel Henderson) took third, the C-relay (Amelia Duffner, Anna Kerber, Priscilla Rodriguez Sevilla, Katie Fox) took fifth,
Harrison Cottick took fifth in the 100-yard backstroke followed by Abhi Malik in sixth.
In the girls' 100-yard backstroke, Eva Medici swam in her first race of the season after coming back from injury. She certainly brushed the dust off quickly and swam an amazing race that not only secured her for a first place finish, but also finished just 3/10ths of a second off the state qualifying time. Touching in 1:06.36 was incredibly impressive. Libby Jones took third, Rachel Henderson took fourth, Sydney Chambers took fifth, Paige Jaeger took sixth, and Emma Solomon took seventh.
In the last individual event of the evening, Konata Ford took first in the 100-yard breaststroke and finished with a state qualifying time of 1:05.40. Gabe Montes finished in third with a 1:07.10, which is 1/10th of a second off the state qualifying time and a new personal best time. John Empoliti took seventh.
In the girls' 100-yard breaststroke, Grace Ghent battled the top swimmer from Lassiter and finished by out-touching her and securing a first place finish with a time of 1:18.60. Sydney Forbes took sixth, Caitlin-Rose Burke took seventh, Amelia Duffner took eighth, Adi Avishai took ninth, and Priscilla Rodriguez Sevilla took 10th.
In the 400-yard freestyle relay, the boys' relay (Michael O'Connor, Jack O'Connor, Gabe Montes, Nick DiPonzio) took second by being out-touched at the very end of the race.
In the girls' 400-yard free relay, the A-relay (Emma Guy, Camille Brown, Grace Ghent, Brooke McLain) traded of the lead position with the Lassiter team a couple times and eventually fell just short to also settle for second. The B-relay (Olivia Cash, Morgan Young, Libby Jones, Anna Kerber) took third, the C-relay (Emma Solomon, Adyson LeeMaster, Caitlin-Rose Burke, Sydney Forbes) took fourth, the D-relay (Laura Watkins, Adi Avishai, Priscilla Rodriguez Sevilla, Izzy Filipek) took fifth.
Preview of Next Week
Next week is a big week for the Bears! They will travel to Riverside Military Academy on Wednesday, December 5th to compete in their invitational and then to the Wesleyan School on Friday to face off against Wesleyan and Lovett.
On December 15th, the Bears will participate in the Meet of Champions at Georgia Tech and then host Milton and South Forsyth on December 21st.
December is a big month for the program and we are looking forward to a big push of state qualifying performances and preparation.
Go Bears!
