On Monday, November 25th, the Bears hosted Roswell, Riverwood and the Rivers Academy at Cumming Aquatic Center. At the end of the day, the Bears tacked up another team victory, with the girls team proving to be a dominating force in the region. By the end of the meet, the school had 12 new individual state cuts and two school records broken.
Combined Team Score
Cambridge - 1260
Riverwood - 1163
Roswell - 721
Rivers Academy - 486
Girls Team Score
Cambridge - 698
Riverwood - 544
Roswell - 375
River Academy - 258
Boys Team Score
Riverwood - 619
Cambridge - 562
Roswell - 346
Rivers Academy - 228
The meet started with diving and the Cambridge squad came out strong. Kate McKay finished in first place in today's meet (following a first place finish last Friday evening) and today McKay also had the degree of difficulty she needed to qualify for the state meet with only a 6-dive routine, which is very difficult to do. Freshman Emilija Ragaine took third, Adeline Woods took fifth, Margeaux Messier took sixth, and Camile Montes took seventh. For the boys, Maddox Riddick took second place but had a quality performance that also qualified him for the state meet with only a 6-dive routine. Brendan Hunt took fourth with his best routine thus far and Jack Oblen took fifth in only his third competition of his diving career. The Cambridge divers have so much talent. The race to state is on!
The swim portion of the meet started with the boys' medley relay (John Empoliti, Gabe Montes, Aiden Goodnight, Dylan Brousseau) taking fourth overall with a time of 1:52.66. The girls team (Eva Medici, Grace Ghent, Libby Jones, Brooke McLain) took third overall with a time of 2:01.26. The B-relay (Sydney Chambers, Sydney Forbes, Camille Brown, Emma Guy) finished right after in fourth place, and the C-relay (Emma Solomon, Samantha Hamilton, Laura Watkins, Jayci Brown) took fifth.
In the boys 200-yard freestyle, Matthew Gaines again met with no competition as he touched easily in first place with a state cut time of 1:48.52. Jack O'Connor also made his state cut in the event with a 1:53.61, taking third place. John Empoliti took fifth. In the girls event, Jayla Brown fought a hard race but came up just short to take second and bettering her state cut to a 2:03.46.
In the boys' 200-yard individual medley, Ben Grottle had another outstanding performance and not only won his race with a state qualifying time of 1:59.65, but his time also broke the school record. Gabe Montes took fourth with a state cut of 2:08.39. The amazing swims continued with Sophie Brison for the girls team. Brison finished in 2:08.46, just being out-touched at the end but her time was not only a state qualifying time, but she also broke the school record for the event. Grace Ghent took fourth, Samantha Hamilton took fifth.
In the boys 50-yard freestyle, Dyland Brousseau swim a personal best of 25.91 to take third overall. Abhi Malik took fourth with a new best time of 26.53. For the girls, Brooke McLain took second for a time just off the state cut of 26.58, Emma Guy took fourth just off the state cut, Sydney Forbes took fifth, Paige Jaeger took sixth, Jayci Brown took seventh, and Sydney Chambers took ninth.
In the boys 100-yard butterfly, Michael O'Connor took fourth with a time of 59.84, followed by Aiden Goodnight in fifth and Dylan Brousseau in seventh. For the girls, Sophie Brison finished first with a state qualifying time of 1:00.64, followed immediately by teammate Abby Grottle in second with a state qualifying time of 1:00.93. Anna Kerber took sixth and Emma Solomon took seventh.
In the boys 100-yard freestyle, Ben Grottle was out-touched at the end to take second, but swam an incredibly impressive time of 49.13, well under the state qualifying time. Jack O'Connor just missed the state cut taking third with a time of 52.44. For the girls, Claire Kerber put another notch in her state agenda with her second place finish and state cut time of 56.77. Brooke McLain touched in third, Eva Medici took fifth, Emma Guy took sixth, Libby Jones took seventh.
In the boys 500-yard freestyle, Matthew Gaines was once again met with no competition as he sailed easily through his event and comfortable finished in first with a state time of 4:53.37. He didn't even look tired after! For the girls, Camille Brown raced neck-in-neck the entire 20 laps and never let the Rivers Academy swimmer get more than a stroke ahead. In the final stretch they were both racing for the finish and in the end, Brown was out-touched, but swam a personal best and notched her second individual state qualifying swim with a time of 5:36.44. Olivia Skinner took fourth and Izzy Filipek took seventh.
In the boys 200-yard freestyle relay, the A-relay (Matthew Gaines, Jack O'Connor, Michael O'Connor, Ben Grottle) took the lead immediately with Gaines swimming a state qualifying leadoff leg of 22.46. Leaving everyone far behind, the Bears finished with an almost 10-second lead off the next relay team finish with a new season best time and state cut of 1:32.20. The girls followed suit with the A-relay (Abby Grottle, Claire Kerber, Jayla Brown, Sophie Brison) taking off with Grottle's state cut leadoff leg of 25.14 and finishing also almost 10-seconds ahead of the next relay finisher. Their time of 1:40.70 bested even their time from Friday. The B-relay (Libby Jones, Sydney Chambers, Samantha Hamilton, Jayci Brown) took third, and the C-relay (Paige Jaeger, Olivia Skinner, Priscila Rodriguez, Anna Kerber) took sixth.
In the boys 100-yard backstroke, Michael O'Connor clocked another state cut with his second place finish in 58.94. John Empoliti finished in third just off the state cut at 1:00.29. For the girls, Abby Grottle took second with a state qualifying time of 1:01.95. Eva Medici bested her state qualifying time from Friday to 1:04.83 in fourth place. Libby Jones finished just off the state time in sixth, Sydney Chambers took seventh, Emma Solomon took eighth, Paige Jaeger took ninth, Olivia Skinner took tenth.
In the boys 100-yard breaststroke, Gabe Montes shaved off more time to swim a new bested state qualifying time of 1:03.49 which earned him second place. For the girls, Jayla Brown also bested her state qualifying time to take second with a time of 1:09.61. Claire Kerber clocked another new state qualifying time in the event to take fourth in 1:14.23. Grace Ghent took fifth, Camille Brown took eighth, Sydney Forbes took ninth with a new best time.
In the last event of the day, the boys 400-yard freestyle relay swam an incredibly race and once again left everyone else far behind. Another finish with almost 10-seconds to spare before the next finisher, the relay (Matthew Gaines, Michael O'Connor, Jack O'Connor, Ben Grottle) easily finished in first with a new bested time of 3:21.37. Gaines swam another state qualifying leadoff leg of 48.37. The B-relay (John Empoliti, Aiden Goodnight, Gabe Montes, Harrison Cottick) took fourth. For the girls, the A-relay (Abby Grottle, Claire Kerber, Jayla Brown, Sophie Brison) lapped the competition and finished a whole 13-seconds ahead of the next relay finisher. With Grottle starting the relay with a state cut leadoff leg of 53.23, the girls couldn't be caught. Their finishing time of 3:39.90 even bested their time from Friday evening. The B-relay (Emma Guy, Grace Ghent, Eva Medici, Brooke McLain) took fourth, the C-relay (Jayci Brown, Anna Kerber, Paige Jaeger, Sydney Forbes) took sixth.
At the end of the day, the girls were once again unstoppable and the amount that they dominated more than made up for the small boys team and their second place finish to make a combined team victory. The boys team is small but mighty, while the girls team is large and in charge. These two squads together makes up for a great show of talent.
The Bears will travel to Chamblee Charter High School after Thanksgiving Break for the Chamblee Invite. The dive portion is on Friday, December 6th with the swimming on Saturday, December 7th.
Come support your Bears swim and dive team!
