The Bears are headed to Georgia Tech this week to compete in the state championship meet. Here's a preview of the athletes that will be representing the Bridge.
On Thursday, February 3rd, the Dive Bears will compete in the afternoon. With six divers qualified to compete, the team could only take four. Those competing will be Emilija Ragaine, Brooklyn Petit, Adeline Woods and Julia Versluis. The alternates are Hana El-Gazairly and Lilah Versluis. In total, there are 56 girls qualified to compete in the 6A-7A competition, which is more than twice the number qualified under the 1A-5A competition. The meet will require all girls to perform all six of their dives once through. After all divers have competed, the top 10 will be identified and those 10 will complete their six dives again. The scores from the two rounds will combine to declare the top three. The 6A and 7A divers will medal separately.
The Bears have never had a diver finish in the top three before and this year, the Bears have four potentials! All four divers are capable of finishing with top scores and we are excited to see what they will do! Captain Emilija Ragaine goes into the meet with the highest score average followed closely by freshman Brooklyn Petit. Last year, Ragaine finished in fourth, just off of the podium. Diving has been a huge advantage for the Bears this season and there is hope that the divers will start the meet off by giving the swimmers a big point advantage even before the swim portion begins.
On Friday, February 4th, the swimmers will take to the pool. The meet will have all qualified athletes compete and then the top 30 will be invited back. The top 30 will be a combination of 6A and 7A athletes. In finals, the two conferences will score and medal separately, but for prelims, they are competing against each other for a spot in that top 30.
For the boys 200 medley relay, the boys are currently ranked in the top 30 overall and 10th in 6A, so if they can maintain their performance they should be able to return to compete on Saturday's finals. The girls medley relay is currently ranked 16th overall, but third in 6A so they should easily earn their way back to finals. The question will be whether they can overcome the Sequoia and Lassiter relay teams come finals to take home their third consecutive championship ring in the event.
For the boys 200 freestyle relay, they are currently outside the top 30 overall but they are ninth in 6A. The key will be for them to sneak into the top 30 so they can score on Saturday. The girls relay is currently ranked 18th overall, but third in 6A. They should be able to make it back and fight to get on the podium on Saturday.
The boys 400 freestyle relay is currently outside of the top 30, but they are 12th in 6A so the key, once again, will be for them to sneak into the top 30 so they can qualify to score on Saturday. The girls relay is currently ranked 12th, but they are fourth in 6A. They took second place last year and hope to jump the ranks and fight for the top of the podium where they stood two years ago.
For individual events, the Bears have the following athletes competing:
Sophie Brison - 200 IM, 100 Back
Camille Brown - 500 Free, 100 Breast
Sydney Forbes - 100 Free
Caroline Gaines - 100 Back, 100 Breast
Jennifer Griner - 200 Free, 500 Free
Samantha Hamilton - 50 free, 100 Free
Abby Harber - 50 free, 100 free
Paige Jaeger - 100 free
Claire Kerber - 200 Free, 100 Fly
Kate Kerber - 200 IM, 500 Free
Olivia Skinner - 100 Back
Jamie Walsh - 200 IM, 100 Breast
Gavin Grann - 100 Free
Ben Grottle - 200 IM, 100 Back
Oleg Kolesnikov - 100 Breast
Michael O'Connor - 100 Free, 100 Back
Relay Athletes and Alternates - Aaron Grann, Zach Andersen, Alex O'Connor, Jack O'Connor
Among these individual performances, there are quite a few podium opportunities for the Bears. Sophie Brison looks to reclaim her championship status in both of her events which she took second place in last year. Freshman Caroline Gaines has seen huge time drops recently and hope to fight for a spot in the top three in her breaststroke in particular. Claire Kerber is coming into the meet hoping to claim a spot in the top three for her butterfly in particular. Kerber has taken fourth two years in a row. Kate Kerber has had an amazing end of season push in her events and feels a huge time drop is in order for her events. The podium is not outside the realm of possibility for her, especially in the 500-freestyle.
Ben Grottle is looking to claim All-American status and get on the podium in both of his events. Grottle is ranked near the top for both of his individuals, but specifically his backstroke is giving him a strong possibility of a spectacular finish to cap off his high school swimming career. Oleg Kolesnikov wowed everyone at Metros with his breakout breaststroke performance. He has now positioned himself to make a case for getting on the podium at his last high school meet. All athletes that have qualified this year have the potential to do amazing things this week and all have a chance to score valuable points for the team.
All that's left to do is some tuning up and to get excited for what they have the potential to do. No matter what, this year's squad is truly special in the things they have done this season. They will leave their mark on this program for many years to come. We are proud of them no matter what the outcome will be because you aren't defined by what you do in one day. You are defined by what you've been doing all along, and these kids have been great all season as proven time and time again.
