Over the November 6-7 weekend, Cambridge swim and dive kicked off their season with multiple competitions and the Bears ended the weekend in state-qualifying fashion across the board.
Diving
The dive team was on the boards twice this weekend. On Friday evening, November 6th, the Bears traveled to Cumming Aquatic Center to compete in the North Forsyth Dive Invitational. Kate McKay, Emilija Ragaine, Hana El-Gazairly, Addy Woods, Malaika Murlidhar, and Jack Oblen competing for the Bears.
At the end of the night, Jack Oblen took 4th place for the boys' competition.
On the girls' side, Kate McKay took 3rd overall (with a qualifying score, but not all required dive categories for state), Emilija Ragaine took 6th, Malaika Murlidhar took 8th, Hana El-Gazairly took 9th and Addy Woods took 14th.
On Saturday, the Bears traveled to Marist for the Early Bird Dive Invitational. On Saturday, the Bears had Kate McKay, Emilija Ragaine, Addy Woods, Hana El-Gazairly, Gracie Counsell, Brendan Hunt, and new divers Claire Danner and Madelyn Mild. At the end of the competition, Emilija Ragaine had secured her official state qualifying score card and will be the first on the official roster to represent the C. She will likely have a full squad to join her as the Cambridge dive program is up to 15 divers deep, all with a lot of talent. The race to finish in the top 4 is on amongst this very strong girls' team!
Swimming
On Saturday, November 7th, the swim team kicked off their season against powerhouse Johns Creek as their season opener. Always showing up big, this would be an early test for the Bears and a good look at their state competition down the road. With new COVID protocols in place to ensure safety, the Bears really stepped it up to make sure they did what they could to minimize contact, exposure and abide by all possible precautions.
Kicking everything off, the boys A-medley relay (Andersen, Kolesnikov, Goodnight, Malik) took second overall. B-relay (Cottick, Harper, Feliciani, Robertson) took 3rd.
The medley relay has been a strong suit for this girls' squad, taking the state championship title this past winter. The A-relay followed suit (Medici, Jayla Brown, Kerber, Guy) and touched first with a state qualifying time of 1:59.21. The B-relay (Harber, Ghent, Suplee, Hamilton) took fourth place. The C-relay (Camille Brown, Jayci Brown, Watkins, Skinner) took fifth and the D-relay (Jaeger, Solomon, Duffner, Forbes) took seventh.
In the boys 200-freestyle, Jack O'Connor took fourth with a 1:57.70. Aiden Goodnight took sixth, and Abhi Malik took seventh.
In the girls 200-freestyle, Claire Kerber took first with a state qualifying time of 2:03.18. Freshman Jamie Walsh took third, Phoenix Koontz took seventh and Grace Ghent took eighth.
In the boys 200-individual medley, Zach Andersen took fifth with a 2:26.97. Ryan Robertson took sixth.
In the girls 200-individual medley, freshman Kate Kerber took first with a state qualifying time to 2:20.48. Kathryn Suplee took fourth, Laura Watkins took sixth and Abby Harber took seventh.
In the boys 50-free, Harrison Cottick took fifth, Matthew Harper took sixth and Nick Feliciani took seventh.
In the girls 50-free, Jayla Brown took first with a state qualifying time of 26.20. Emma Guy took fourth, Abby Harber took fifth, Samantha Hamilton took sixth, Paige Jaeger took seventh, Sydney Forbes took eighth, Jayci Brown took ninth, and Abigail Marzullo took 14th.
In the boys 100-fly, Ben Grottle took third with a state qualifying time of 56.68. Jack O'Connor took fifth, and Aiden Goodnight took sixth.
In the girls 100-fly, Kate Kerber took first with a state qualifying time of 1:03.95. Camille Brown took second, Eva Medici took fifth, Kathryn Suplee took seventh, Laura Watkins took eighth, and Amelia Duffner took 10th.
In the boys 100-free, Oleg Kolesnikov took fourth with a time of 57.23, Matthew Harper took sixth and Nick Feliciani took seventh.
In the girls 100-free, Emma Guy took second with a time of 58.73, Samantha Hamilton took fifth, Jayci Brown took sixth, Phoenix Koontz took seventh, Sydney Forbes took eighth, Anna Kate Black took 11th, Emma Solomon took 12th and Abigail Marzullo took 13th.
In the boys 500-free, Michael O'Connor took second with a state qualifying time of 5:10.39. Alex O'Connor took fourth, and Zach Andersen took seventh.
In the girls 500-free, Camille Brown took second with a state qualifying time of 5:39.10. Jamie Walsh took fourth, and Olivia Skinner took fifth.
In the boys 200-yard freestyle relay, the A-relay (Grottle, J O'Connor, M O'Connor, A O'Connor) took second with a state qualifying time of 1:47.85. The B-relay (Cottick, Feliciani, Harper, Robertson) took fourth.
In the girls 200-yard freestyle relay, the A-relay (Hamilton, Guy, Medici, C Kerber) took first with a state qualifying time of 1:47.85. The B-relay (Suplee, Walsh, Ghent, Harber) took fourth and the C-relay (Solomon, Koontz, Black, Duffner) took fifth.
In the boys 100-back, Ben Grottle took third with a state qualifying time of 57.56. Alex O'Connor took fifth, and Harrison Cottick took seventh.
In the girls 100-back, Eva Medici took third with a time of 1:08.24, Olivia Skinner took fourth, Paige Jaeger took sixth, Anna Kate Black took eighth, and Emma Solomon took ninth.
In the boys 100-breast, Oleg Kolesnikov took third with a 1:08.38, Abhi Malik took fifth, and Ryan Robertson took sixth.
In the girls 100-breast, Jayla Brown smashed the competition and took first with a state qualifying time of 1:10.23. Claire Kerber finished in third, Grace Ghent finished in sixth, and Amelia Duffner finished in ninth.
In the final event of the night, the boys 400-free A-relay (Grottle, J O'Connor, M O'Connor, A O'Connor) took second with a state qualifying time of 3:33.08. The B-relay (Goodnight, Kolesnikov, Malik, Andersen) took third.
The girls finished the night in gold with a substantial 6-second lead over the second place Johns Creek team. The A-relay (K Kerber, Jayla Brown, Walsh, C Kerber) took first with a state qualifying time of 3:53.28. The B-relay (C Brown, Jayci Brown, Forbes, Skinner) took third, and the C-relay (Watkins, Jaeger, Koontz, Black) took fourth.
Final Scores
Girls Team Scores
- Cambridge - 149
- Johns Creek - 137
Boys Team Scores
- Johns Creek - 197
- Cambridge - 86
Combined Score
- Johns Creek - 334
- Cambridge - 235
The Bears will travel to Wesleyan on Friday, November 13th for a dual meet. The Bears will host two meets to wrap up November competition at the Cumming Aquatic Center on November 20th and 23rd. Lots more action to come soon as the Bears inch their way to state in February.
Go Bears!