The Cambridge swim and dive team descended on Georgia Tech for diving on Thursday, Feb. 6th and swimming preliminary rounds on Friday, Feb. 7th. For the swimmers, the meet was off to a great start with NINE new school records being set just at prelims.
Diving
The girls were the first on the boards and Cambridge was coming out strong by being one of only two schools in 6A who brought four girls to compete. The first round had every girl on the team posting great scores and the meet appeared to be off to a great start. Unfortunately, Kate McKay slipped on the board and injured her leg and was unable to continue. McKay took 5th place in 6A last year. The other girls -- Margeaux Messier, Noor El-Gazairly, and Emilija Ragaine -- tried to make up for the missing teammate but fell short. None of the girls were able to meet the 190 point threshold to score points for the Bears. But, even though points weren't earned, the girls had some amazing performances. Messier and El-Gazairly were in their last state meet of their high school career, with McKay and Ragaine will be back next year along with a full squad of girls hoping to fill the other two spots. Cambridge girls diving will be back stronger than ever next year!
The boys took to the board next. For the first time, Cambridge brought THREE boys to rep the C in the boys event. Maddox Riddick, Cambridge's top male diver, brought along with him Brendan Hunt and Jack Oblen, both first-time state competitors. Cambridge was the only school in 6A with three boys representing their school, which shows how much the program has grown. While Riddick started off strong, he had a couple of missed opportunities and ended with a 127.60, which did not meet the point-earning threshold. Hunt and Oblen had similar outcomes, but had a great experience competing on the big stage and both will be back next year.
Swimming Prelims
For the swimmers, prelims on Friday started off incredibly strong and continued through the evening.
The boys started off in the 200-medley relay with Michael O'Connor in for backstroke, Gabe Montes in for breaststroke, Aiden Goodnight in for butterfly and John Empoliti in for freestyle. All four boys swam their fastest 50-splits of the season, but unfortunately it was not enough to earn them a spot in the top 30. Their time of 1:43.52 was just outside in 36th place.
The girls team came out with an amazing swim in the 200-medley relay. All season, this relay team has been the team to beat all across the state and they showed that to be true on Friday evening. Sophie Brison in for backstroke, Jayla Brown for breaststroke, Claire Kerber in for butterfly and Abby Grottle in for freestyle could not be matched. Their time of 1:45.90 earned them the top seed by 2-seconds for 6A and 7A. They will be the team to beat tomorrow, but doubtful they will be caught. They are fired up and ready to go even faster. Their time set a new school record and they are 2-seconds off the meet record. We'll see what they do tomorrow.
In the 200-freestyle event, Matthew Gaines came out and shot ahead of the pack in his heat immediately, easily winning his heat. He finished 7-seconds faster than his seed time with a time touch at 1:41.63. The time earned him the 7th place seed overall but 4th place for 6A. We'll see what Gaines can do tomorrow by being in a heat with the fastest seeds. Gaines looks to podium in the event again. Gaines was the 6A state champion in the event last year.
For the girls, Abby Grottle also came out strong and easily won her heat and also earned the top seed for both 6A and 7A. Grottle got on the podium last year in the event and hopes to grab the ring in the event. Grottle's time of 1:49.92 set a new school record and was almost a 5-second drop from her seed time.
In the 200-individual medley, Jack O'Connor dropped almost 4-seconds to finish in 2:04.32. Billy Blood also dropped almost 4-seconds to finish in 2:00.73 and Gabe Montes dropped almost 2-seconds to finish in 2:01.80. Blood just missed the top 30 cut to make it back to finals.
For the girls, Sophie Brison took on the 200-individual medley and out-touched her opponent to win her heat. She will go into finals as the second place seed for 6A and 7A, but the first place seed for 6A. Her time of 2:02.83 was almost a 5-second drop in time and set a new school record.
In the 50-freestyle, all three Cambridge girls dropped time. Brooke McLain finished in 26.28, Samantha Hamilton finished in 26.09 and Emma Guy finished in 26.01. Guy finished just outside the top 30.
For the boys 100-butterfly, Jack O'Connor dropped almost 2-seconds to finish in 55.91. Billy Blood dropped almost a full second to finish in 55.50. Aiden Goodnight finished with a season best of 57.22. Matthew Gaines finished in 51.86 which was a new school record and almost a 3-second time drop. His time earned him 12th place seed overall going into finals and third place seed in 6A.
For the girls 100-butterfly, Libby Jones swam a new best time of 1:03.44, which was a 1.5-second drop. Camille Brown also had a new best time of 1:02.01, which was almost a 3-second drop. Eva Medici also swam a personal best of 1:02.98, almost a full second drop. Claire Kerber came out strong with a 58.10, which sets a new school record and 13th seed going into finals, but 3rd place in 6A.
For the girls 100-freestyle, Brooke McLain finished in 57.67, Emma Guy drops big time to finish in 55.62, and Jayla Brown improved her time to 54.03, which earned her the 21st place seed, but that also puts her as the 5th place seed in 6A. Brown podiumed in this event last year and hopes to do it again.
In the boys 500-freestyle, Michael O'Connor swam a new personal best by dropping over 8-seconds to finish in 5:01.37.
For the girls 500-freestyle, Camille Brown dropped almost 3-seconds to finish in 5:28.44. Abby Grottle came out strong and easily cruised into first in her heat. Her time of 4:54.29 earned her the second place seed for finals but also 1st place seed for 6A. Grottle was state champion for 6A in the event two years ago.
In the boys 200-freestyle relay, Matthew Gaines, Billy Blood, Jack O'Connor and Michael O'Connor came out strong and fought for their spot. Their time of 1:32.26 earned them the 27th place seed, but that's also the 8th place seed for 6A.
For the girls 200-freestyle relay, Claire Kerber, Brooke McLain, Eva Medici, and Emma Guy went after it and finished in 1:43.07. Their time earned them 16th overall, which gets them back to finals. That spot puts them in 7th in 6A.
In the 100-backstroke, John Empoliti swam a new best time of 58.64. Michael O'Connor also swam a personal best of 56.93 which was 2-seconds off his seed time.
For the girls, Eva Medici shaved off 1.5-seconds to finish in 1:01.84 and Sophie Brison does what she always does and finished in 55.90. Her time set a new school record and earned her the second place seed overall going into finals and the top seed for 6A.
In the 100-breaststroke, Gabe Montes was out for his fastest time and stepped up on the block with total focus and determination. Montes finished in 1:01.35, which set a new school record and crushed his time by over 1.5-seconds. Unfortunately, his time put him just outside the top 30 to return to finals.
In the girls 100-breaststroke, Grace Ghent finished in 1:14.47. Jayla Brown finished in 1:07.80, which was almost 2-seconds faster than her seed. Her time jumped her into the top 30 in 20th place, but that is also the 5th place seed in 6A.
The last event of the evening is always an exciting one. For the boys 400-freestyle relay, Matthew Gaines, Billy Blood, Jack O'Connor and Gabe Montes represented Cambridge. They swam their best times of the season and Gaines led off with a split of 46.94, which is just off the school record set by alum and Georgia Tech swimmer Austin Daniel in 2016. Their time of 3:20.56 puts them in 20th place overall for finals and 6th place in 6A.
For the girls, Abby Grottle, Claire Kerber, Jayla Brown and Sophie Brison came together to finish the day. Grottle started off the team strong with a school record-setting leg in the 100-free time of 52.75. The girls followed up with great times and Sophie Brison brought it home with an unofficial time of 50.85. Their time of 3:32.82 crushed the school record and put them in the second place seed spot for finals overall and first place seed for 6A.
With many athletes returning to finals, there is no telling what will happen! The Bears are going to put up their best and see where the numbers fall!
Finals begin at Georgia Tech on Saturday at 6PM. Come watch the Bears finish strong. As the team motto has been all season: We didn't come this far just to come this far…