On Saturday, February 8th, the state swim and dive state championship meet culminated with finals. With a lot on the line and four top girls' teams gunning for the same title, every race and every point mattered. At the end of the day, the girls team was able to take the victory with 276 points, followed by Alpharetta trailing by only 31 points, and last year's state champion, Centennial, who took third. Out of the 11 swim events on Saturday, the Cambridge girls claimed gold in six - two relays and four individual state championship titles are now held by the Cambridge Bears.
The evening started with the girls' team in the medley relay. Sophie Brison was in for backstroke, Jayla Brown was in for breaststroke, Claire Kerber was in for butterfly and Abby Grottle was in for freestyle. The girls were seeded first going into the event, so with a target on their backs they went into the top finals heat determined to start the evening in gold. Not only did the girls take first for 6A, they took first overall and beat out all the 7A schools as well. Their time of 1:44.65 was an All American Consideration time and set a new school record. The girls were out of the gates and determined to continue the trend.
Next up was Matthew Gaines in the 200-freestyle. Gaines claimed the state championship title in the event last year. Gaines finished with a time of 1:40.41, which is a new school record and that earned him the bronze medal for 6A. Gaines had been out for surgery in December and had only been back in the pool for a little over two weeks prior to state, so his recovery and return performance was amazing and even topped his time last year.
Abby Grottle was up next in the 200-freestyle. Seeded first in 6A, Grottle was there to defend that spot. Finishing with a time of 1:49.86, she set a new school record in All American Consideration time fashion, and secured her second gold medal of the evening. Grottle, a senior and four-time state meet participant, was out to make her last state showing her best yet and she was on track to do that.
Next up was Sophie Brison in the 200-IM. Brison, after prelims, was seeded first in 6A, but the second place seed from Johns Creek was out to beat her and take it all. Brison was focused and ready to join Grottle in the double gold medal club. Brison took off in butterfly and hung with the rest, her backstroke leg, being her strongest got her a slight lead from the pack, and then, unexpectedly, Brison broke out and gained huge ground in her breaststroke and was able to hold on through her freestyle. Brison annihilated the competition and not only took the gold for 6A, but took first across the board, even against all 7A competitors. Brison's time set a new school record of 2:00.68 and earned her an automatic All American time.
Matthew Gaines was up again on the blocks for his 100-butterfly. Gaines switched his state agenda just last week and decided to do this event and set a school record in his qualifying swim, broke his own record in prelims, and then broke his record AGAIN at finals! Finishing in 51.60 earned him 4th place overall. Even though he didn't get on the podium, his swim was incredible! How many swimmers can break a school record THREE TIMES in one week?
Claire Kerber was up next in her 100-butterfly. Kerber was determined to put up her best time and score valuable points for the team, which was desperately needed at this point in the meet. Kerber bested her preliminary time to finish in 58.04 and set a new school record. Kerber finished in fourth overall, just off the podium, but scored valuable points for the Bears as they worked toward the back half of the meet.
Jayla Brown was up next in the 100-freestyle. Brown's points were going to be vital for the Bears and she delivered. Brown dropped time from prelims to finish in 53.70. Her time earned her 5th place overall, scoring 18 points for the Bears.
Abby Grottle was up on the blocks for her third race of the evening. A tough agenda for any swimmer, but Grottle was determined to take the gold. She claimed gold for 6A two years ago and wanted it back. With a top athlete from Centennial gunning for her spot, Grottle went into the race laser focused. Grottle was neck in neck for the first half of the race and then she pulled the trigger and took off. Grottle increased her lead with each passing lap and finished in gold. Grottle's time of 4:51.89 set a new school record and is an All American time. Grottle secured her THIRD gold medal of the night.
The boys 200-free relay came next. Matthew Gaines, Billy Blood, Jack O'Connor and Michael O'Connor represented the Bears. Gaines started the team off with a time (21.69) just off the school record and his teammates delivered a great performance. Shaving a little time off, the team finished in 10th place with a time of 1:32.10.
The girls 200-free relay was up next. The girls needed to score in this event to put the girls in position to pull away. The team was made up of Claire Kerber, Emma Guy, Eva Medici and Brooke McLain. Shaving some time off their preliminary swim, they finished in 1:43.05 which earned them 7th place overall and scoring an incredibly important 32 points to the team.
Sophie Brison had a very important job to do. The Bears were only leading by 10 points going into the last three events and needed to secure a wider lead. Brison followed similar fashion as her 200-IM and not only pulled away from the 6A crowd, but also the 7A crowd. This freshman put on an incredible show and finished with a time of 54.47, which was a new school record, an All American time and a gold medal finish. Brison was the second member of the team to get a third appearance on the gold medal podium.
Jayla Brown was up next in the 100-breaststroke. She needed to score for the team to be on track and she needed to drop time. Brown once again rose to the occasion of the moment and dropped over 1.5-seconds to finish in 1:06.28, which placed her in 8th overall and scoring 15 points. The event was incredibly stacked and even had an Alpharetta athlete breaking the state record in the event.
Going into the last event of the night, the boys 400-freestyle relay (Matthew Gaines, Billy Blood, Jack O'Connor and Gabe Montes) were going to give all they had. With Gaines and Montes going into their last high school swim of their careers, they wanted to leave nothing behind. Gaines started off the team with a 46.94 split, just off the school record. All the boys took care of business and the team finished with a time of 3:21.43, taking 10th place overall.
The girls had a lead of about 24 points going into the last event, and needed to win the event to seal the deal. Abby Grottle was the leadoff leg and finished with a time of 52.32, a new school record. Alpharetta was among the other top teams looking to take the event away from the Bears. Kerber was up next and maintained Cambridge's position. Jayla Brown dove in and swam a great split of 53.92, but the Bears were behind and looked like they might not take it. It was up to Sophie Brison in the anchor position to take it home. Brison, with an INCREDIBLE 50.21 split, dove in and made up lost ground and surpassed the competition to out-touch the rest of the 6A field and take gold for the Bears. This relay team, the same as the medley, secured a second relay gold medal and notched another 48 points.
With gold medals in six events, two of which were relays, the Bears were able to take the overall gold. It was an incredible couple nights of competition. The victory was a combination of swimmers and divers all doing their part. The boys team finished strong and with their best performances they've had all season and leave the deck with nothing but pride in what they've done. While the girls are the ones taking the gold home, it was a whole program victory and a culminating victory for this group as they came together to do something totally uncommon and completely extraordinary. The girls were third last year and believed they had it in themselves to take it all the way, and they proved Saturday night that anything is possible.
