Cambridge's girls swim and dive team has had a phenomenal season, even in the face of challenges related to quarantines and other COVID restrictions. On Wednesday, December 23rd, Cambridge faced off against Denmark and North Springs at the Cumming Aquatic Center and came out on top as they head into the last month of competition before the state meet. The team continues to take every precaution to cause as few interruptions as possible and to stay as healthy as they can going into what could be a challenging month before state. The team took advantage of the chance to compete at the Cumming Aquatic Center to post some amazing new state times and expand the roster for the state meet. At the end of the day, the Bears were able to bring home a girls team and combined team score win.
Girls Scores
Cambridge - 478
Denmark - 290
North Springs - 96
Boys Scores
Denmark - 376
Cambridge - 271
North Springs - 134
Combined Team Scores
Cambridge - 749
Denmark - 666
North Springs - 230
Diving Recap
For the boys, the Bears had Brendan Hunt and Jack Oblen competing. Hunt took first in the event, with Oblen taking second. In the girls event, the Bears had eight competitors. Emilija Ragaine had a great performance and took first, followed by Addy Woods in second, Gracie Counsell in third, Hana El-Gazairly in fourth, Maddy Mild in fifth, Ella Thurman in sixth, Malaika Murlidhar in seventh, and Claire Danner in eighth. The girls dive program has been dominating the competition this season. Already with five girls qualified for the state meet, they have been shown to have a lot of depth and talent. This girls team has many years of strong competition ahead.
Here is the recording of the dive competition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpS7fHmIe9o
Swimming Recap
In the boys 200-medley relay, the A-relay (Michael O'Connor, Oleg Kolesnikov, Billy Blood, Ben Grottle) took second with a new best state time of 1:41.50. The B-relay (Zach Andersen, Nick Feliciani, Abhi Malik, Matthew Harper) took sixth.
For the girls, the A-relay (Sophie Brison, Jayla Brown, Claire Kerber, Kate Kerber) easily won the event with a time of 1:53.37. The B-relay (Eva Medici, Grace Ghent, Kathryn Suplee, Jessica Hernandez) took second, the C-relay (Olivia Skinner, Jamie Walsh, Camille Brown, Sydney Forbes) took fourth.
In the boys 200-freestyle, Ben Grottle blew away the competition and won the event with a new best state time of 1:47.50. Alex O'Connor finished in second just off the state qualifying time.
For the girls, Claire Kerber also won the event with a new best state time of 1:59.65. Jessica Hernandez took third with a new best state time of 2:03.36. Samantha Hamilton clocked her first individual state cut in the event with a time of 2:06.73. Olivia Skinner took fifth just off the state qualifying time, followed by Jamie Walsh in sixth.
In the girls 200-individual medley, Amelia Duffner took fifth and Laura Watkins took sixth.
In the boys 50-freestyle, Aiden Goodnight took eighth, Zach Andersen took 12th, Abhi Malik took 13th, Harrison Cottick took 14th, Matthew Harper took 16th, and Nick Feliciani took 18th.
For the girls event, Sophie Brison won the event with a state qualifying time of 24.80. Emma Guy took third with a new best state time of 25.75, followed by Kathryn Suplee in fourth with a state time of 26.03, and Abby Harber in fifth, Samantha Hamilton in sixth, Jayci Brown in seventh, Sydney Forbes in eighth, Phoenix Koontz in ninth, and Abigail Marzullo in 17th.
In the boys 100-butterfly, Billy Blood won the event with a new best state time of 54.02. Jack O'Connor took fourth with a new best state time of 55.79, followed by Aiden Goodnight in fifth just off the state qualifying time.
For the girls event, Claire Kerber won the event with a time of 58.58, followed by sister Kate Kerber in second, also with a state time. Eva Medici took fourth just off the state time, followed by Kathryn Suplee in fifth also just missing the state cut. Laura Watkins took eighth.
In the boys 100-freestyle, Oleg Kolesnikov took fifth, Harrison Cottick took eighth, Matthew Harper took 10th, and Nick Feliciani took 12th.
The girls swept the competition in the 100-freestyle. Emma Guy won the event with a new best state time of 57.38, followed by Jayla Brown in second also with a state time. Sydney Forbes took third, Abby Harber took fourth, Grace Ghent took fifth, Jayci Brown took sixth, Phoenix Koontz took seventh, Emma Solomon took ninth, and Abigail Marzullo took 15th.
In the boys 500-freestyle, Ben Grottle unleashed and annihilated the competition. Touching with a new best state time of 4:41.81, Grottle finished almost 20-seconds before the next finisher. Jack O'Connor took fourth with a state qualifying time.
In the girls 500-freestyle, Jessica Hernandez took second with a new best state qualifying time of 5:28.09. Camille Brown finished in third.
In the boys 200-freestyle relay, the A-relay (Aiden Goodnight, Oleg Kolesnikov, Jack O'Connor, Alex O'Connor) took second. The B-relay (Zach Andersen, Nick Feliciani, Matthew Harper, Abhi Malik) took fifth.
For the girls, the A-relay (Samantha Hamilton, Abby Herber, Emma Guy, Eva Medici) won the event. Hamilton led off the relay with an individual 50-freestyle state qualifying time of 26.40. The B-relay (Grace Ghent, Jayci Brown, Sydney Forbes, Phoenix Koontz) took third, and the C-relay (Abigail Marzullo, Emma Solomon, Laura Watkins, Amelia Duffner) took fifth.
In the boys 100-backstroke, Billy Blood tacked his second with for the day with a new best state qualifying time of 54.39. Michael O'Connor also improved his state qualifying time in the event to take third in 55.74. Alex O'Connor took fourth, Zach Andersen took eighth, and Abhi Malik took ninth.
For the girls, Kate Kerber also won the event with a state qualifying time of 1:00.74. Eva Medici took third with a new best state qualifying time of 1:04.68. Olivia Skinner finished in fourth just off the state qualifying time, followed by Amelia Duffner in fifth, and Emma Solomon in eighth.
In the boys 100-breaststroke, Oleg Kolesnikov took fourth.
For the girls, Jayla Brown won the event with a state time of 1:12.27, followed by Sophie Brison with a state qualifying time of 1:12.31. Grace Ghent took fourth, Jamie Walsh took fifth, and Camille Brown took sixth.
In the last event of the day, the boys A-relay in the 400-freestyle (Ben Grottle, Billy Blood, Jack O'Connor, Michael O'Connor) won the event with a new best state qualifying time of 3:21.22. Grottle led off the relay in a new best individual state qualifying time for the 100-free of 49.02.
The girls A-relay (Jayla Brown, Claire Kerber, Kate Kerber, Sophie Brison) won the event with a state time of 3:43.89. The B-relay (Samantha Hamilton, Jessica Hernandez, Emma Guy, Kathryn Suplee) took second with Hamilton leading the relay with an individual state qualifying time in the 100-free of 57.68. The C-relay (Jamie Walsh, Camille Brown, Abby Harber, Olivia Skinner) took fourth.
Going into next month, the Bears only have a few meets remaining. They face off against Centennial on January 9th at Dynamo and then the last chance meet on the 23rd where the Bears will lock in their state roster. Stay tuned as the Bears march toward the state meet and seek bring home the title for the second year.
Here is the recording of the swim competition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGjPqXE8kkc