On Thursday, January 10th, Cambridge co-hosted Fulton County Championships with Northview High school and finished higher than they ever have. The girls' team took home the second place trophy, only falling to Johns Creek High School, who swept the whole meet in girls' team score, boys' team score and combined team score. While the boys' team took 4th, they earned enough points to propel the Bears to take third overall with combined team score. The finish for the girls' team, boys' team and combined team score was higher than the Bears have ever placed and gave a great preview for how Cambridge will stack up at the state meet. Among many notable performances, multiple people secured their individual state qualifying times to earn their place on the state team for February.
Combined Team Score:
Johns Creek - 934
Alpharetta - 737
Cambridge - 551.5
Centennial - 516
Milton - 464
Riverwood - 388.5
Chattahoochee - 347
Northview - 197
North Springs - 158
Girls' Team Score:
Johns Creek - 434.5
Cambridge - 342.5
Centennial - 326
Alpharetta - 308
Milton - 240
Chattahoochee - 200
Riverwood - 181
Northview - 70
North Springs - 55
Boys' Team Score:
Johns Creek - 499.5
Alpharetta - 429
Milton - 224
Cambridge - 209
Riverwood - 207.5
Centennial - 190
Chattahoochee - 147
Northview - 127
North Springs - 103
Diving
Before the swimming events began, the divers competed in their championship event. Competing on the boys' team were Maddox Riddick and Brendan Hunt, and on the girls' team, it was Kate McKay, Haley Copeland, Noor El-Gazairly, and Margeaux Messier. Last year, Turner Mignerey held the Fulton County Champion title and before that it was Simon Finlayson and Maddie Chaloux. Cambridge has been a significant team in the diving event at Fulton County Championships for the last couple years and this year, while no diver secured the championship title, the points scored ensure Cambridge earned a trophy. The difference between Cambridge and the other top scoring teams was participation and performance in the diving event, so these athletes were a vital piece in the success of the team as a whole.
Maddox Riddick attempted a very challenging routine with state qualifying potential, but he fell just short but secured 5th place overall, which contributed 14 points to the Cambridge score. Brendan Hunt also showed a lot of improvement in some of his more challenging dives and was able to take 8th overall and earn 11 points for his performance. Out of the 19 girls entered in the event, Kate McKay had another incredibly solid performance that earned her 3rd place overall. McKay, currently only a sophomore, shows a lot of potential and it's only a matter of time before she will bring the Fulton County Champion title back to Cambridge. Her 3rd place finish earned 16 points for the Bears. Haley Copeland, even after having to power through two severe calf cramps in the middle of her last two dives, was able to secure 4th place overall and contribute 15 points to the team. Noor El-Gazairly took 6th overall which earned 13 points, and Margeaux Messier took 12th and earned 5 points.
Swimming
The swim finals was started off with the boys' 200-yard medley relay made up of Ben Grottle, Konata Ford, Billy Blood and Matthew Gaines. With Johns Creek's A and B relay taking first AND second place, the Bears finish less than a half second behind Riverwood to take 4th place overall. The time of 1:43.79 secured a new school record that had held since the 2015 - 2016 season. Konata Ford was a member of the previous relay team and now is part of the new school record team that will replace it. The B-relay (Jack O'Connor, Gabe Montes, Aiden Goodnight, Michael O'Connor) took 13th overall.
The girls' A relay for the 200-yard medley relay (Eva Medici, Grace Ghent, Lauren Jonsson, Claire Kerber) had an incredibly solid swim and took fifth overall. The B-relay (Libby Jones, Camille Brown, Delaney Goodell, Olivia Cash) took 12th.
In the boys' 200-yard freestyle event, junior Matthew Gaines was seeded first going into the event, but Sergile from Centennial had an outstanding day and out-touched Gaines at the end. An incredibly strong swim by Gaines with a time of 1:45.07 to earn him 2nd place and certainly Gaines will have his eyes on a top finish at state where certainly he and Sergile will meet again where Gaines will look to break the school record set by Austin Daniel in 2017. Michael O'Connor also had a solid performance and took 14th. John Empoliti dropped over seven-seconds from his time to take 26th.
In the girls' 200-yard freestyle event, Abby Grottle defended her title once again and out-touched Singletary from Centennial to take first. Grottle dropped over three-seconds from her seed time to improve her position going into the state meet. Claire Kerber had her eyes on a second individual qualifying state event, but can as close as she possibly could. With an over four-second time drop, Kerber finished in 2:07.01 and 8th place overall. Kerber will certainly cut the necessary time to secure her second event at Metro Championships later this month. Morgan Young took 16th, Anna Kerber took 19th, Sydney Chambers took 25th, and Izzy Filipek took 31st.
In the boys' 200-yard individual medley, Nick DiPonzio took 18th, and Jack O'Connor took 19th.
For the girls' team, Lauren Jonsson took care of business and placed 4th overall. Sydney Forbes dropped over eight-seconds to take 20th, Olivia Cash took 21st, Laura Watkins took 23rd, and Amelia Duffner dropped almost four-seconds to take 26th.
In the boys' 50-yard freestyle, Konata Ford shaved time to finish in 24.50 and 15th overall. Aiden Goodnight took 33rd.
In the girls' event, Brooke McLain took 9th, Emma Guy took 18th, Adyson dropped time to take 19th, Delaney Goodell took 21st, Paige Jaeger took 32nd, Priscila Rodriguez Sevilla took 48th, and Katie Fox took 49th.
In the boys' 100-yard butterfly, school record holder Ben Grottle took 9th overall with a time of 56.92. Billy Blood took 14th, Gabe Montes took 22nd, and Aiden Goodnight took 23rd.
In the girls' event, Claire Kerber dropped almost 2.5-seconds to take fourth overall with a time of 1:00.86, which sets her up nicely for the state meet. Camille Brown took 16th, Olivia Cash took 21st, and Laura Watkins took 24th.
In the boys' 100-yard freestyle, Nick DiPonzio took 14th, and Michael O'Connor took 17th.
In the girls' event, Jayla Brown had an incredibly solid swim to secure 2nd place overall with a time of 56.36. Grace Ghent shaved almost a full second to meet her goal of breaking a minute and finishing with a time of 59.30 and a 9th place finish. Emma Guy took 11th, Brooke McLain took 13th, Paige Jaeger dropped over a second to take 30th, Sidney Forbes shaved time and took 33rd, Katie Fox took 40th, and Priscila Rodriguez Sevilla took 43rd.
In the boys' 500-yard freestyle, Matthew Gaines was once again a top seed and it was down to him and Sergile once again. Sergile, continuing his good day, shaved time and took first. Gaines had another great swim and took second place, earning valuable points for the Bears. Gaines will look to break his own school record in the event at state. Jack O'Connor missed the state qualifying time by less than two-seconds, but secured 11th place. Abhi Mailk took 21st with a new best time.
In the girls' event, once again Abby Grottle defended her champion crown and took first in the 500-yard freestyle with a new season best time of 5:05.17. Her time sets her up nicely to break her own school record in the event at state and defend her 6A state champion crown. Libby Jones took 13th, Anna Kerber took 17th, Morgan Young took 22nd, and Izzy Filipek took 23rd.
In the boys' 200-yard free relay, the A-relay (Nick DiPonzio, Jack O'Connor, Aiden Goodnight, Konata Ford) took 9th. The B-relay (Gabe Montes, Harrison Cottick, John Empoliti, Abhi Malik) took 17th.
In the girls' 200-yard free relay, in an exciting race between Johns Creek, Milton and Cambridge, the Bears came out on top with an amazing first place finish! The relay was made up of Claire Kerber, Jayla Brown, Brooke McLain, and Abby Grottle. The B-relay (Emma Guy, Delaney Goodell, Grace Ghent, Eva Medici) all had great swims and shaved off time to finish in the top 10 (8th place) overall.
In the boys' 100-yard backstroke, Ben Grottle finished in 8th overall just off his best time. Billy Blood took 16th, and John Empoliti dropped time to take 23rd.
In the girls' 100-yard backstroke, Lauren Jonsson once again had a great performance and took 4th place for her second individual of the night. Eva Medici had an outstanding performance and dropped over two-seconds to take 6th overall and earn her individual state qualifying event. Medici had been swimming within a few tenth of a second of the qualifying time, but Thursday she smashed through the required time to finish in 1:04.08. Libby Jones took 15th, Sydney Chambers dropped time to finish in 23rd, and Adi Avishai took 33rd.
In the last individual event of the evening, Konata Ford dropped almost a full second from his best time this season in his 100-yard breaststroke to finish in 1:03.76 and take 4th overall. Equally exciting was Gabe Montes who had been pushing up against the state qualifying time for about a month, but wanted to break the necessary 1:07.00 to earn his way to the state meet. On Thursday, he dropped over a full second to finish in 1:05.98 and secure his first individual state qualifying time and take 10th overall.
The good swims kept coming late into the evening! In the girls' 100-yard breaststroke, Jayla Brown took fourth overall with a great swim. Grace Ghent, another swimmer who had their eyes set on the state qualifying time but had struggled to break through to drop the necessary time, had an incredibly solid swim, dropped over three-second off her time and finished in 1:12.58, well-under the necessary qualifying time. Ghent took 7th to get two Cambridge swimmers it the top 10. That was Ghent's second top 10 finish for the evening. Camille Brown dropped almost three-seconds to take 15th. Adyson LeeMaster also dropped almost a full second to take 26th, and Amelia Duffner took 33rd.
In the boys' 400-yard freestyle relay, the A-relay (Matthew Gaines, Billy Blood, Nick DiPonzio, Ben Grottle) started off with Gaines who finish the first leg of the relay in 1st place. Unfortunately, the Bears couldn't hold on to the pace Gaines had set and took 5th overall. The relay dropped almost three-seconds for a new season best time of 3:25.73.
In the girls' 400-yard freestyle relay, the A-relay (Abby Grottle, Lauren Jonsson, Brooke McLain, Jayla Brown) fought till the last touch. The Bears trailed in third at the beginning, caught up and was on the heels of Johns Creek by the end of the third leg and Jayla Brown got the job done and had an amazing 54.60 split for her leg which got her to just out-touch Johns Creek and finish in 2nd overall with a time of 3:48.37. The B-relay (Emma Guy, Libby Jones, Anna Kerber, Camille Brown) took 11th overall.
Preview
The Bears have one official meet remaining in their season. On January 25th and 26th, the Bears will compete in Metro Atlanta Championships at Westminster.
The meet is always a great opportunity to get exposure to competition they will see at state and secure any last state qualifying times. The Bears hope to finish in the top three like they did last year and begin their final preparation for the state meet. Currently, the state roster includes 23 athletes, most of those with at least one individual qualifying event as well as relay contributions.
Come and cheer on the Bears on their home stretch of their season! Diving will be on Friday, January 25th at 4:00 PM and then swimming Saturday, January 26th. Prelims will start at 9:00 AM and finals will start at approximately 6:00 PM.
