On Thursday, January 6th 2022, Cambridge competed in the annual Fulton County Championship meet. Last year, due to COVID, the meet was unable to happen. In 2020, the Cambridge girls secured the County Championship Title and this year, they were able to bring it home once again, beating out Johns Creek by over 150 points. The boys team took fourth overall, getting edged out for third by Alpharetta by only 30 points.
Combined Team Scores
Johns Creek - 816
Cambridge - 679
Alpharetta - 500
Centennial - 492
Northview - 378
Riverwood - 306.5
Chattahoochee - 294
Milton - 284.5
North Springs - 238
Roswell - 180
Girls Team Scores
Cambridge - 469
Johns Creek - 310
Alpharetta - 259
Riverwood - 219
Centennial - 215
Northview - 198
North Springs - 136
Milton - 113
Roswell - 112
Chattahoochee - 85
Boys Team Scores
Johns Creek - 506
Centennial - 277
Alpharetta - 241
Cambridge - 210
Chattahoochee - 209
Northview - 180
Milton - 171.5
North Springs - 102
Riverwood - 87.5
Roswell - 68
Diving
The first portion of the meet was the diving competition. Representing the Bears was team captain Emilija Ragaine, fellow senior Addy Woods, junior Julia Versluis and freshman Brooklyn Petit. In the last few years, Cambridge girls' diving has become incredibly competitive and the program has been able to snag a number of Fulton County Championship diving titles, and this year was no exception. Coming out on top with a great performance was freshman Brooklyn Petit who will seek to defend her title throughout the next three years of her Cambridge diving career. Petit scored 253.05 points claiming the title of Fulton County Diving Champion. Claiming third was Emilija Ragaine with 243.20 points. Julia Versluis took fifth with 223.75 points and Addy Woods secured sixth place with 212.95 points.
Swimming
For the boys 200-medley relay, the A-relay (Michael O'Connor, Oleg Kolesnikov, Ben Grottle, Gavin Grann) took fifth place overall with a time of 1:44.38. The B-relay (Aaron Grann, Yan Berezitsky, Gavin Schoeling, Matthew Harper) took 13th place overall.
The girls medley relay defended their title and took first overall (Sophie Brison, Caroline Gaines, Claire Kerber, Kate Kerber) with a season best time of 1:52.21. The B-relay (Olivia Skinner, Jamie Walsh, Emma Solomon, Abby Harber) won their heat and took eighth place overall.
In the boys 200-free, Zach Andersen took ninth place and Dylan Brousseau took 11th.
In the girls 200-free, Claire Kerber fought till the end and secured the runner-up spot with a time of 2:00.29. Freshman Jennifer Griner took fourth, Samantha Hamilton secured her first state-qualifying time of the season with her fifth place finish, and Paige Jaeger took eighth.
In the boys 200-individual medley, Ben Grottle had an amazing race with an over 2-second time drop to swim a new best time and take the runner-up spot with a time of 1:58.44. Alex O'Connor took 14th and Jack O'Connor took 15th.
In the girls 200-individual medley, Sophie Brison took the gold with a new season best time of 2:05.08. Kate Kerber swam a new season best time of 2:13.57 to take third place. Amelia Duffner took 16th place.
In the boys 50-freestyle, Gavin Grann went a season best time of 24.26 to take 15th place. Matthew Harper took 32nd, Elijah Edison went a season best time and took 43rd.
For the girls, Samantha Hamilton swam her second state qualifying time of the night with a time of 26.45 and took ninth place. Abby Harber took 13th, Sydney Forbes took 14th, Phoenix Koontz took 30th, and Ana-Clare Grann took 35th.
In the boys 100-butterfly, Jack O'Connor took 12th, Gavin Schoeling took 16th, Dylan Brousseau took 18th, Oleg Kolesnikov took 24th, and Matthew Harper went a season best time and took 27th.
For the girls, Claire Kerber took the gold and swam a season best time of 58.51. Kate Kerber secured her second third-place finish of the night. Emma Solomon took 16th and Amelia Duffner took 22nd.
In the boys 100-freestyle, Michael O'Connor took 12th, Gavin Grann went a season best time and took 13th, and Zach Andersen took 18th.
For the girls, Sydney Forbes took eighth, Paige Jaeger took ninth, Abby Harber took 10th and Ana-Clare Grann took 24th.
In the 500-freestyle, Yan Berezitsky went a season best time and took third place, followed by Gavin Schoeling in fifth place also with a season best time.
In the girls event, Jennifer Griner made an incredible move on the last 50-yards to pass up multiple opponents and secure the bronze in the event. Jamie Walsh followed close behind in fifth place, Olivia Skinner right after in sixth with a season best time, and Phoenix Koontz in 11th.
For the boys 200-freestyle relay, the A-relay (Oleg Kolesnikov, Jack O'Connor, Zach Andersen, Alex O'Connor) took 12th, followed immediately by the B-relay (Aaron Grann, Matthew Harper, Dylan Brousseau, Gavin Schoeling) in 13th.
For the girls, the fight went down to the last 25-yards of the race. Alpharetta's A-relay and the Cambridge relay were fighting for the top finish and the Bears fell a couple tenth of a second behind to secure the silver. The A-relay (Caroline Gaines, Jennifer Griner, Abby Harber, Sydney Forbes) went a new season best time for the event. The B-relay (Samantha Hamilton, Phoenix Koontz, Olivia Skinner, Paige Jaeger) won their heat and took seventh place overall, beating out four schools' A-relay teams.
In the 100-back, Ben Grottle had an incredible race and secured the gold title as Fulton County Champion with a new season best time and new school record of 52.83. Grottle looks to podium in the event at state and break the 50-second threshold. Michael O'Connor took sixth, Alex O'Connor took 11th, and Aaron Grann took 13th.
The Bears swept the 100-backstroke event for the boys and girls with Sophie Brison sailing into first place by over three-seconds with a new season best time of 57.94. The race was made to be even more incredible because the next person at the wall was freshman Caroline Gaines who also swam her best 100-back race of the season. Olivia Skinner took sixth, and Emma Solomon took 24th.
In the boys 100-breast, Oleg Kolesnikov took 10th, Aaron Grann took 25th and Yan Berezitsky took 28th.
For the girls, Caroline Gaines followed up her backstroke performance with an amazing season-best breaststroke event. Gaines secured a second-place finish with a time of 1:11.51. Jamie Walsh took 11th, and Taylor Minnich took 17th with a new season-best time.
In the final event of the night, the boys 400-freestyle relay swam a season best time of 3:31.80 (Ben Grottle, Jack O'Connor, Michael O'Connor, Gavin Grann). The finish earned them fourth place. The B-relay (Zach Andersen, Dylan Brousseau, Alex O'Connor, Yan Berezitsky) took eighth.
The girls team was made of gold on Thursday. The A-relay (Kate Kerber, Jennifer Griner, Claire Kerber, Sophie Brison) sailed into first with a seven-second lead over the Johns Creek A-relay. Kate Kerber kept the race tight with her leg, Jennifer Griner pulled the team up to second place, Claire Kerber took the team to first, and Sophie Brison sealed the deal with an incredible anchor leg at a time of 52.80. The B-relay (Samantha Hamilton, Paige Jaeger, Jamie Walsh, Sydney Forbes) took fifth place overall, beating out three schools' A-relay teams and was the top finishing B-relay team overall. Hamilton swam her THIRD state qualifying time of the night with her official lead-off leg of 58.24.
The Bears will travel to Cobb Central Aquatic Center on Saturday, Jan. 8th to compete in the Campbell-Marietta Invite and then will travel to Wesleyan next week to compete against Lovett and the host team. The team will wrap up their regular season competition at Westminster
