After three days of competition, the girls swimming and diving team brought home the state runner-up trophy and the boys claimed the 11th spot in the state. Both teams had impressive rounds and came up with six new school records, our first diving medalist, a state champion, three individual silver medalists, and two silver medal relays.
Thursday - Diving Recap
On Thursday, February 3rd, the divers kicked off the meet in historic fashion. Seniors Emilija Ragaine and Addie Woods led their teammates, Julia Versluis and Brooklyn Petit, to bring home 49 points for the Bears. Julia Versluis narrowly missed being in scoring position by scoring 185.50 points, just 4.5 points shy of scoring. Even with that, Versluis had a great season-ending performance and we are looking forward to seeing her contributions next season as she steps up with some of her fellow teammates to fill the gap left by Ragaine and Woods as they graduate. Woods finished in ninth place, scoring 14 points for the Bears, with a score of 209.55. Ragaine also had an incredibly solid performance and took eighth overall, scoring 15 points for the Bears, and ending with a score of 218.20. The big highlight of the night was freshman Brooklyn Petit who qualified to proceed to the final round with the top 10 divers. After having the chance to warm up her dives in the preliminary round, she absolutely nailed her dives in the finals round and scored a cumulative 530.85 points between the two rounds, which earned her third place overall in 6A, scoring 20 points for the Bears. Petit's third place medal was the first in Cambridge diving history to make it on the podium at state! We can't wait to see what Petit will do in the next three years with the Bears! Congratulations, Brooklyn!
Friday - Swimming Preliminaries
On Friday, February 4th, the swimmers picked up where the divers went off as they fought to make it into the top 30 to move on to finals. For those that are unfamiliar with how it works, the 6A and 7A schools compete together to qualify to make it into the top 30 (three total heats) to compete in finals. On Saturday, those in 6A and 7A swim together, but score separately to make up the finals scores and decide medals. Up to 20 people can score from each division. That doesn't mean there will be 20 people that score in each event for 6A and 7A. In a group of 30, there might be 20 7A swimmers and 10 6A swimmers. That means that only 10 swimmers in 6A will earn points in that event as long as they meet the qualifying time for the event. Some events, there may only be five 6A swimmers in the event, and that is all that will earn points for the event. Bottom line is that Friday's preliminary round is incredibly important to sneak into the top 30. Once you are there, you can score from any heat.
Let's recap the boys' performances first!
In the medley relay, senior Michael O'Connor led the way with the backstroke leg, followed by senior Oleg Kolesnikov in breaststroke, senior Ben Grottle in butterfly, and junior Gavin Grann brought it home with freestyle. With an entry time of 1:43.25, the boys finished with a time of 1:40.08, which set a new school record! Their time earned them 18th place overall which punched their ticket for finals.
Ben Grottle was up next with his first individual event, the 200-individual medley. Grottle's entry time was a 1:58.44 and his preliminary time was 1:54.49, which set a new school record! His time earned him eighth place overall and a coveted spot in the top heat of finals!
Michael O'Connor swam a 52.61 in his 100-freestyle, which earned him 64th overall, and Gavin Grann swam his exact seed time of 51.30 to take 50th place overall in the event.
In the 200-freestyle relay, sophomore Alex O'Connor joined Oleg Kolesnikov, junior Aaron Grann, and Gavin Grann. Their entry time was a 1:35.88 and they dropped over 1.5-seconds to finish with a time of 1:34.30. Their time earned them 31st place, which was the first alternate position going into finals.
Michael O'Connor was back in the pool for the 100-backstroke. He finished with a time of 56.81, taking 40th overall. Ben Grottle battled to return in the top 10 to again be able to compete in the top heat and he did it in school-record fashion! Clocking a time of 51.08, he shaved off almost two-seconds from his own standing school record set earlier this season. His time earned him seventh place in the state finals on Saturday.
Oleg Kolesnikov was in the water for his 100-breaststroke event next. With an entry time and school record of 59.91, Kolesnikov came up with a 1:01.00 in his preliminary swim. His time was good enough to earn a spot in finals in 24th place overall.
In the final event of the night, the boys took on the 400-freestyle relay using the same personnel from the medley relay. Ben Grottle led off the relay with a speedy official leadoff split of 49.06. Oleg Kolesnikov took over next, Michael O'Connor carried it in the third leg, and Gavin Grann brought it home to finish with a time of 3:26.18, which was over 5.5-seconds faster than their entry time of 3:31.80! Their time earned them 28th place overall and a spot in finals.
Let's recap the girls' performances!
The girls medley relay kicked things off in an exciting fashion! Junior Sophie Brison led the way with backstroke, followed by freshman Caroline Gaines with breaststroke, senior Claire Kerber was up next, and sophomore Kate Kerber brought it home with freestyle. The girls had an entry time of 1:51.42 and they dropped over 5.5-seconds to clock a time of 1:45.88, which earned them the to seed going into finals! Their time also earned them an All-American Consideration time!
Up next was freshman Jennifer Griner in the 200-freestyle event. After dropping almost five-seconds from her seed time, Griner finished with a time of 1:56.91 and earned 17th place and a chance to swim it again in finals! Claire Kerber was up next! After dropping over 3.5-seconds from her seed time, Kerber clocked a time of 1:56.60 and earned 14th place overall and a chance to come back for finals!
In the 200-individual medley, sophomore Jamie Walsh started things off by dropping almost six-seconds from her seed time to finish in 2:15.41 and take 35th place overall, just missing the finals cut-off. Kate Kerber was up next! She managed to drop almost four-seconds from her seed time to finish in 2:09.65 and earn 11th place overall and come back for finals! Sophie Brison, last year's state runner-up champion in the event, shaved off almost five-seconds from her seed time to finish in 2:00.26, which set a new school record (breaking her own school record) and also earned All-American automatic status and a spot on the NFHS Honor Roll! Her time seeded her second going into finals.
In the 50-freestyle, junior Samantha Hamilton led off with a new best time of 25.75, which was almost a full second off of her seed time! Her time earned her 50th place overall. Sophomore Abby Harber also swam a new best time with a finish of 25.91 and earning 60th place. Both girls had a spot in the 200-freestyle relay later where they would be asked to repeat these performances.
In the 100-butterfly, Claire Kerber had earned fourth place the last two years at the state meet and she was determined to make it on the podium her senior year. After shaving off almost two-seconds from her seed time to finish in 56.66, Kerber not only clocked a new school record (breaking her own from last year), but she also earned a coveted spot in the final heat with a fourth place seed going into finals!
In the 100-freestyle event, Samantha Hamilton was back with her second individual. Shaving off time, Hamilton finished in 58.03 and earned 76th place. Senior Sydney Forbes had an incredible last race of her high school career by shaving off over 1.5-seconds off of her best time to finish with a time of 56.63! Her time earned her 49th place overall. Abby Harber was up on the blocks again and followed suit with the other girls and also went a new best time. Breaking the 58-second barrier, Harber finished in 57.86 and 71st overall. Senior Paige Jaeger was up last. In her last high school event, Jaeger finished in 58.59, earning 83rd place.
In the 500-yard freestyle event, the Bears had three swimmers to compete. Senior Camille Brown was up first and managed to drop almost 14-seconds from her seed time to finish in 5:20.00, a new best time! Brown snuck in to finals by grabbing the 30th seed! Kate Kerber was up next and she dropped almost six-seconds from her seed time to finish in 5:10.50 and earn the 18th spot in finals! Jennifer Griner had another impressive performance by dropping 14-seconds flat from her seed time and finish in 5:09.35 and earn the 12th place in finals! All three Bears were returning to finals!
In the 200-freestyle event, Caroline Gaines led the way with an official split of 25.69, followed by Abby Harber, Samantha Hamilton and anchored by Jennifer Griner. They dropped almost 2.5-seconds to finish in 1:41.77 which snuck them into the top heat with a 10th place seed!
In the 100-backstroke, junior Olivia Skinner took 74th place after having to be out of the pool for the last week with illness and a time of 1:07.55. Caroline Gaines jumped from the 200-freestyle relay right into backstroke! Dropping time in her event and breaking the one-minute threshold, Gaines clocked a time of 59.68 and earned 21st place going into finals! Sophie Brison took to the pool in her second individual and easily won her event with a time of 55.04, almost a full second faster than her seed. Her time earned her the second place seed going into finals.
In the final individual event of the night, Jamie Walsh finished with a time of 1:14.68 and earned 67th place. Camille Brown managed to shave almost two-seconds off of her seed time to finish in 1:13.17 and 55th place overall. Caroline Gaines was on her third event in a row and managed to pull off a time of 1:09.21, which earned her 29th place overall, exactly what she needed to do to earn a spot back at finals!
In the final event of the evening, the 400-freestyle relay team was kicked off with Kate Kerber and an official leadoff split of 53.72. Jennifer Griner picked up from there, followed by Claire Kerber and brought home by Sophie Brison. Brison had an unofficial last leg split of 50.75! Their time was almost 10-seconds faster than their seed time to finish in 3:32.11!!! Their time earned them the third place seed going into finals!
Amidst the excitement of the preliminary day, the Bears had to overcome many obstacles to have the success that they had that evening! On the way to the meet, the bus broke down along 400-South and the team had to change buses and race down to the meet to get warmed up and ready for the day! While this might set other teams off to a bad start, it seemed to energize the Bears and get their adrenaline going for the long night ahead! As if that wasn't enough, during the 100-butterfly preliminary event, the building's fire alarm went off! There was a fire in the cafe upstairs in the athletic center and everyone had to be evacuated including a sold-out spectator section! With swimmers standing outside in freezing temperatures in wet bathing suits, they were finally allowed to re-enter the building and get warmed up again. The evacuation had potentially set out timeline back 1.5-hours. After speeding up the pace of the meet after the evacuation, the meet was able to make up time but the athletes were still not able to get home until after midnight. Even after all of these circumstances, the Bears persevered and showed tremendous mental toughness to pull out the performances that they did. We are so proud of them and the day they had!
Saturday - Swimming Finals
One thing to know about swimming is that is it incredibly unpredictable and that it is incredibly difficult to pull out best time performances two days in a row. The state meet is incredibly taxing on the athletes, but is a true test of mental toughness! The athletes came in with high hopes for their prospects for the day and there was excitement and anxious energy in the air as the meet began!
To kick off the meet, the boys medley relay, again made up of Michael O'Connor, Oleg Kolesnikov, Ben Grottle, and Gavin Grann went in as the 18th place seed overall, and finished in 7th place for 6A! While they didn't improve their time from Friday, they did manage to claim the school record from the day before. They were awesome!
The girls team went into the medley relay finals as the top seed, which comes with an incredible amount of pressure as you go in with a target on your back by every other team who wants to take you down. The girls, representing all four grade classes, were professionals and handled the pressure. Sophie Brison, Caroline Gaines, Claire Kerber and Kate Kerber fought until the very last stretch and couldn't hold on against the Lassiter relay. Down to the touch, the Bears came up just short with a time of 1:46.72, but were able to claim the state runner-up spot which is an incredible accomplishment! After getting a head start with the 49 points from the divers, the girls were able to add the silver medal relay points to the mix and hold on to first place in the meet.
In the girls 200-freestyle, Jennifer Griner and Claire Kerber gave it all they had. Griner shaved off some time and took eighth place in 6A with a time of 1:56.58, and Claire Kerber led the way with a sixth place 6A finish with a time of 1:56.89! So proud of those girls and their performances, especially Kerber who had to jump right from the podium after the medley relay straight into her individual event!
In the boys 200-individual medley, Ben Grottle hoped to secure a podium finish. Grottle managed to shave off time from his preliminary swim to finish with ANOTHER new school record of 1:54.28! His time earned him fourth place, just off of the podium finish. Even without a medal, Grottle had an amazing performance and had the highest finish a male has had in the event in school history!
In the girls 200-individual medley, Kate Kerber snagged seventh place in 6A with a time of 2:11.01! Sophie Brison was up next in the top heat. Brison was state runner up last year and state champion her freshman year in the event and she hoped to reclaim her title. Dueling against top Lassiter seed, Brison came up just short with a time of 2:00.87, but was able to once again claim the state runner up silver medalist title! We are so proud of her! Her time from yesterday awarded her a series of accolades on top of this title.
In the girls 100-butterfly event, Claire Kerber was out for a medal and no one was going to stop her. She had wanted it since she joined the team as a freshman and this was her last chance. From start to finish, Kerber fought against the top Johns Creek and Lassiter seeds for a spot on the podium and she succeeded! Kerber was able to claim a silver medal with a time of 56.98! We are so proud and excited that her individual event career could end with a silver medal!
In the 500-freestyle event, all three Bears scored critical points for the team! Camille Brown finished her high school career with a 15th place finish with a time of 5:23.66! Kate Kerber fought till the end to take 13th overall with a time of 5:19.32! Jennifer Griner also had a great race to finish with a time of 5:11.63 and earning eighth place! All three Bears did exactly what we needed them to do in the toughest race of the night! We are so proud of these girls!
The boys 200-freestyle relay was ready to swim if given the chance, but no teams scratched so the boys did not get to race again. We are so proud of them and how hard they swam on Friday!
In the girls 200-freestyle relay, Caroline Gaines led off with an official split of 25.68, followed by Abby Harber, Samantha Hamilton and Jennifer Griner. Griner had to jump straight from the 500-freestyle to a sprint event, which is incredibly difficult! The girls shaved off time to finish in 1:41.16, but it wasn't enough to get on the podium. Their time earned them fifth place overall which is an incredible accomplishment!
Ben Grottle was back in the water for his second individual. He was determined to make the podium before he graduated and this would be his last individual opportunity. Finishing with a time of 51.19, Grottle not only made it to the podium, but got to claim the state runner-up title! Grottle's silver medal was the first boys backstroke medal to be earned in school history. He will stand as the school record-setter in the event and holding the highest finish for a male in the event in school history!
In the girls 100-backstroke event, Caroline Gaines was up again with her second straight event! She would have to rally herself and get up for the very next event as well! In the 100-backstroke, Gaines finished with a time of 59.81, which earned her eighth place in 6A! Sophie Brison was up next. Just like with the 200-individual medley, Brison had been state champion in this event her freshman year and state runner-up last year. Brison was determined to reclaim her title. Finishing with a time of 54.27, Brison earned a series of honors! She was state champion once again, she was an automatic All-American, she earned NFHS Honor Roll, AND she set a new school record!
In the boys 100-breaststroke, Oleg Kolesnikov was in his last individual event of his high school career. Improving his time from prelims, Kolesnikov finished with a time of 1:00.84, which was eighth place in 6A! That is the highest finish a male breaststroker has earned in school history at the state meet! He will also claim the new school record in the event, set two weeks prior.
In the girls last individual event, Caroline Gaines was the sole qualifier for the Bears in the event. With a time of 1:08.90, she shaved a half-second off of her preliminary time, which earned her another eighth place finish in 6A! This was Gaines' THIRD event in a row at the state meet!
In the final event of the night, the boys 400-freestyle relay was looking to go out with a bang! With three seniors on the relay team, they were going to put everything on the line as their last high school event of their careers! Ben Grottle set off with an incredible 48.88 split going into the event and had the Bears in second place going into the second leg. Michael O'Connor improved his split from Friday to carry the team through the second leg. Oleg Kolesnikov pulled out a solid split for his third leg, and Gavin Grann took care of business in the anchor position! At the end, the boys shaved off over a second from prelims to finish in 3:25.10! We are so proud of this relay team and especially these seniors!
The girls team went into the event with the third place seed and they wanted to give it everything they had to give it their best shot to end the meet on the podium. Kate Kerber led off, followed by Jennifer Griner, then Claire Kerber and finally Sophie Brison. Brison managed to finish with an unofficial split of 50.04!!! Coach Hall clocked a split of 49.96, which is simply incredible! Their time of 3:32.76 earned them the state runner-up silver medal! We are so proud of their performance!
Looking Ahead
Even though the girls fell to Lassiter once again this year, the team had an INCREDIBLE season and an incredible meet. The team has been shown to have a ton of depth and lots of talent being developed, so we see many years ahead with equally exciting performances! As the team moves to the 5A conference next year, we will see how the competition will change as Lassiter will no longer be in the conference. The girls are already talking about what they plan to do next season! Their spirit, determination, resilience and overall love for one another has earned them all of the success they have had this season! We will miss our seniors so much, as they set the tone and lifted up the underclassmen to do the things they did for the team this year!
For the boys team, the team is going to feel a huge absence with this group of incredibly talented seniors! Most of our state team was made up of really dominant and talented seniors, but that means that underclassmen, led by athletes like Gavin and Aaron Grann, will move into those places and do what needs to be done to get themselves back to state finals again next year. There's a lot of young talent developing on the boys side and we are excited to see what they will do next year in 5A and the year ahead!
For the diving team, while the absence of Ragaine and Woods will deeply be felt, there is a lot of talent still there to carry the team forward with equal success! Petit will return to the boards and hopefully lead more Bears to finals next year! Julia Versluis and her younger sister Lilah will return, as well as Hana El-Gazairly, all of which qualified for the state meet this year as well! With other members of the team with tremendous potential, there is a lot left to see of this diving program in the years ahead! This is what has set the Cambridge program apart the last few years and certainly made the difference for the titles that have been won over the last three years.
Thank you to the parents and supporters of our program! We wouldn't have the success we have had without you encouraging our athletes to be the best they can be in and out of the pool!
