Season Opener is a Sweep!
The boys and girls team started off the 2023 - 2024 season strong with a sweep in team and combined score
against Forsyth Central and North Forsyth on Saturday at Cumming Aquatic Center. The girls' competition
came down to the last event with the Bears trailing by 10 points, but the A and B relay gave everything they
had and the girls topped Forsyth Central by 0.50 points!
Combined Team Score
Cambridge - 1172.50
Forsyth Central - 1000
North Forsyth - 797.50
Boys Team Score
Cambridge - 617
Forsyth Central - 445
North Forsyth - 439
Girls Team Score
Cambridge - 555.50
Forsyth Central - 555
North Forsyth - 358.50
The boys set the tone in the first event with the 200-medley relay. The A-relay (John Murphy, Yan Berezitsky, Oscar Ryzhkov, Gavin Schoeling) took first with a state qualifying time of 1:49.27. The C-relay (Pranav Kolathaya, Elijah Edison, Maor Bigio, Shane Merille) took bronze and the B-relay (Ryan Robertson, Aneesh Ayyagari, Tate Robinson, Raj Malik) took 6th.
The girls continued the sweep with the girls notoriously dominating the medley relay. The A-relay (Caroline Gaines, Jamie Walsh, Kate Kerber, Jennifer Griner) took the gold after trailing for the middle of the race, and clocked a state qualifying time of 1:55.05. The B-relay (Ana-Clare Grann, Alana Drevet, Audrey Lampa, Alexis Walkenhorst) took 5th and the C-relay (Hayden Whalen, Gabby Edwards, Mihika Ayyagari, Christine McVicker) took 6th.
In the boys 200-freestyle, freshman Oscar Ryzhkov took second, followed immediately by teammate Ryan Robertson in third and Aneesh Ayygari in fourth.
In the girls 200-freestyle, Kate Kerber continued her golden afternoon by winning the event with a state qualifying time of 1:59.35. Right behind her was teammate Jennifer Griner, also with a state qualifying time of 2:00.22. The Bears continued to sweep with Molly Thompson touching the wall in third, and Ana-Clare Grann in fourth.
Gavin Schoeling clocked his first state qualifying time of the day in the 200-individual medley with a time of 2:08.01, which was also enough to win the event. Teammate Elijah Edison took second.
Caroline Gaines clocked her first state cut of the day as well in the 200-medley relay with a time of 2:17.96.
Jamie Walsh touched in third less than half of a second from the state qualifying time.
In the boys 50-freestyle, Jax Jackson kicked off his first event of the day and took third overall. Jackson, even with a brace on his arm, appeared to be fueled with the desire to win the day even with his brace. Bryson Mynatt took fifth with a new best time, Maor Bigio took eighth, Pranav Kolathaya took ninth with a new best time, and Raj Malik took 10th.
In the girls 50-freestyle, Alana Drevet was the first to touch the walls from the Bridge and took fifth overall. Hayden Whalen took 10th, Christine McVicker took 15th, and Gabby Edwards took 18th.
After the break, Maor Bigio came up big in the 100-fly in a time of 59.77. Teammate John Murphy took third right behind Bigio, and Yan Berezitsky took seventh.
For the girls event, Kate Kerber won her third event of the day in the 100-fly with a time of 1:00.20. Audrey Lampa came in fourth, and Mihika Ayyagari took seventh with a new best time.
Jax Jackson impressed everyone again by taking second place in the 100-freestyle with a time of 53.88. Elijah Edison took fifth, Tate Robertson took eighth with a new best time, Pranav Kolathaya took 10th with a new best time, and Shane Merille took 11th.
Alana Drevet was again first to touch the wall for the Bears in the 100-freestyle by taking fourth place. Alexis Walkenhorst touched right after Drevet in fifth, followed by Hayden Whalen in sixth. Christine McVicker took ninth and Gabby Edwards took 10th.
The boys and girls competed together for the 500-freestyle, and the Bears swept this event also. Gavin Schoeling took gold with a time of 5:22.00, which was just off the state qualifying time. Oscar Ryzhkov took second and Bryson Mynatt took third. For the girls, Jamie Walsh took gold with a state qualifying time of 5:34.09, followed by Ana-Clare Grann in second.
The boys 200-freestyle A-relay (Elijah Edison, Yan Berezitsky, John Murphy, Jax Jackson) took second but also clocked a state qualifying time with a time of 1:39.99. The B-relay (Bryson Mynatt, Pranav Kolathaya, Raj Malik, Aneesh Ayyagari) took fourth.
The girls A-relay (Alana Drevet, Audrey Lampa, Molly Thompson, Alexis Walkenhorst) also took second for their event. The B-relay (Gabby Edwards, Christine McVicker, Hayden Whalen, Mihika Ayyagari) took fifth.
In the boys 100-backstroke, John Murphy took the gold with a time of 1:01.74, just off the state qualifying time.
Ryan Robertson took fourth, and Aneesh Ayyagari took seventh with a new best time.
Molly Thompson was first to touch the wall in the girls event in fifth place. Alexis Walkenhorst took seventh, and Mihika Ayyagari took ninth.
The Bears swept the 100-breaststroke event! Yan Berezitsky took gold for the boys with a time of 1:09.98. Tate Robertson took third, and Shane Merille took sixth.
Caroline Gaines clocked her second state cut in the 100-breast with her first place finish. Jennifer Griner touched in third just off the state qualifying time, and Audrey Lampa took sixth with a new best time.
In the final event of the night for the boys, the A-relay in the 400-freestyle relay (Gavin Schoeling, Oscar Ryzhkov, Bryson Mynatt, Jax Jackson) took second with a state qualifying time of 3:46.12. Additionally,
Schoeling, who led off the relay, clocked a time of 51.90, which qualified him for the 100-freestyle at state. The B-relay (Ryan Robertson, Shane Merille, Maor Bigio, Tate Robertson) took fourth.
The girls team had to win the final event to stand a chance at winning. Additionally, the B-relay was critical in closing out the Forsyth Central B-relay from a top scoring position for the girls to pull out the team win. The A-relay (Kate Kerber, Caroline Gaines, Jamie Walsh, Jennifer Griner) took care of business with a gold finish and a state qualifying time of 3:53.30. Kate Kerber, like Schoeling, clocked her own state cut in the 100-freestyle with a lead-off split of 56.00. The B-relay (Molly Thompson, Ana-Clare Grann, Hayden Whalen, Mihika Ayyagari) came up huge in their fourth place finish and block out the Forsyth Central B-relay from a top four finish to just inch over in points and win the meet by less than one point!
Saturday was a great start for the swimmers and we look forward to seeing the divers kick off their season next
Saturday at Marist. They will begin at 9:00 AM with the girls competition and the boys will follow. Show up and support your Bears!