On Thursday, December 17th, the Bears traveled to Marist for the Meet of Champions. Traditionally hosted as a large invitational at Georgia Tech or Emory, the meet was broken up into five smaller sessions to ensure the safety of athletes and to minimize contact. Even after all results were merged, the girls' team came out on top with a big win and the combined team score took third.
Girls Scores
Cambridge - 609
Lambert - 505
Marist - 488
North Atlanta - 345
Riverwood - 278
Lovett - 266
Tift County - 227
Denmark - 167
Mount Pisgah - 103
Pace - 88
Northgate - 78
Boys Scores
Lambert - 516
Denmark - 464
Marist - 371
Riverwood - 338
Lovett - 299
North Atlanta - 295
Pace - 248
Cambridge - 230
Tift County - 163
Northgate - 101
Mount Pisgah - 53
Combined Team Scores
Lambert - 1021
Marist - 859
Cambridge - 839
North Atlanta - 640
Denmark - 631
Riverwood - 616
Lovett - 565
Tift County - 390
Pace - 336
Northgate - 179
Mount Pisgah - 156
Diving Recap
In the dive competition, Brendan Hunt finished with a score of 199.55, which earned him 7th place overall and punched his ticket to the state competition in February. Jack Oblen finished in 9th just short of the state qualifying score. On the girls side, Emilija Ragaine finished in third place with a score of 235.60. Captain Kate McKay took sixth place, Addy Woods took eighth place, and Hana El-Gazairly took 10th place. El-Gazairly earned 197.90 points which met the standard for the state qualifying score. El-Gazairly is the fifth diver on the girls team to qualify for state.
Swimming Recap
In the swim competition, the boys 200-medley relay (Michael O'Connor, Oleg Kolesnikov, Jack O'Connor, Alex O'Connor) took seventh with a state qualifying time of 1:48.42. The B-relay (Aiden Goodnight, Abhi Malik, Nick Feliciani, Matthew Harper) took 21st place.
For the girls, the A-relay (Sophie Brison, Jamie Walsh, Claire Kerber, Kate Kerber) took second to Lambert with a state time of 1:55.83. The B-relay (Eva Medici, Grace Ghent, Kathryn Suplee, Samantha Hamitlon) took seventh. The D-relay (Emma Solomon, Izzy Filipek, Amelia Duffner, Phoenix Koontz) took 17th.
Jack O'Connor took eighth in the 200-freestyle with a time of 1:58.80. Nick Feliciani took 29th place.
Claire Kerber took 3rd overall in the 200-freestyle with a time of 2:00.62. Jessica Hernandez took sixth with an improved state time of 2:05.50. Laura Watkins took 22nd.
Michael O'Connor took sixth in the 200-individual medley with a time of 2:08.84. Alex O'Connor took 10th.
Sophie Brison won the 200-individual medley for the girls with a time of 2:06.64. Kate Kerber took fifth. Camille Brown took seventh, followed by Jamie Walsh in eighth. The girls had a very strong showing in this event.
In the 50-freestyle, Oleg Kolesnikov took 21st, Aiden Goodnight took 31st, Abhi Malik took 41st, Matthew Harper took 45th, Lukyan Hnidets took 47th.
For the girls, Emma Guy took 10th with a state qualifying time of 26.42. Abby Harber took 14th, Samantha Hamilton took 14th, Eva Medici took 17th, Sydney Forbes took 18th, Jayci Brown took 19th, Phoenix Koontz took 24th, and Grace Ghent took 32nd.
In the boys 100-butterfly, Michael O'Connor took 11th with a time of 1:00.94 and Aiden Goodnight took 14th.
For the girls, Claire Kerber took third with a time of 59.38. Kathryn Suplee took 11th, Eva Medici took 13th, and Laura Watkins took 17th.
In the 100-freestyle, Alex O'Connor took 11th with a time of 54.10, followed by brother Jack O'Connor in 12th, Lukyan Hnidets took 42nd, Matthew Harper took 43rd, and Nick Feliciani took 55th.
For the girls, Jayla Brown took 3rd in the 100-freestyle with a time of 57.37. Emma Guy took sixth with a state qualifying time of 57.72. Samantha Hamilton took 12th, Paige Jaeger took 13th, Sydney Forbes took 15th, Abby Harber took 21st, and Phoenix Koontz took 24th.
In the 500-freestyle, Kate Kerber took second overall with a state qualifying time of 5:32.17. Jessica Hernandez took fourth, Anna Filipek took seventh, and Olivia Skinner took 8th. Another very strong event for the girls team.
In the boys 200-freestyle relay, the A- relay (Aiden Goodnight, Abhi Malik, Lukyan Hnidets, Matthew Harper) took 15th.
The girls 200-freestyle A-relay (Emma Guy, Kathryn Suplee, Jessica Hernandez, Paige Jaeger) took fourth. The B-relay (Samantha Hamilton, Jayci Brown, Jamie Walsh, Camille Brown) took 8th, the C-relay (Eva Medici, Laura Watkins, Anna Filipek, Olivia Skinner) took 14th, and the D-relay (Grace Ghent, Amelia Duffner, Izzy Filipek, Emma Solomon) took 16th.
In the boys 100-backstroke, Abhi Malik took 22nd.
For the girls, Sophie Brison took her second win of the night with a time of 58.01. Olivia Skinner took sixth, Paige Jaeger took 17th, and Emma Solomon took 18th.
In the boys 100-breaststroke, Oleg Kolesnikov took fifth with a state qualifying time of 1:06.39
For the girls, Jayla Brown won the event with a time of 1:11.44. Jamie Walsh took eighth, Camille Brown took ninth, and Grace Ghent took 14th.
In the last event of the day, the boys 400-freestyle relay (Alex O'Connor, Jack O'Connor, Michael O'Connor, Oleg Kolesnikov) took sixth.
The girls 400-freestyle A-relay (Sophie Brison, Jayla Brown, Claire Kerber, Kate Kerber) won the event with a time of 3:50.53. The B-relay (Emma Guy, Kathryn Suplee, Jessica Hernandez, Paige Jaeger) took third, the C-relay (Abby Harber, Jayci Brown, Camille Brown, Anna Filipek) took eighth, and the D-relay (Sydney Forbes, Izzy Filipek, Emma Solomon, Phoenix Koontz) took 12th.