Cambridge Girls Take 3rd in Meet of Champions at Marist Over Winter Break
On December 15th and 16th, the Bears traveled to Marist to compete in the annual Madeleine Jude Brown Meet of Champions. At the end of the day, the Bears walked away with the girls team taking 3rd, the boys taking 5th, and the combined team score in 4th out of 18 teams.
On Friday, the dive team competed in their portion of the meet. Brooklyn Petit stacked another win onto her resume from the season. Petit topped 47 other divers to top some of the best divers in the state. Lilah Versluis scored points for the Bears by taking 17th. In the boys competition, Brandon Norfleet took 14th place out of 25 other divers. Great start for the Bears!
On Saturday, the swimmers started off strong with the boys taking sixth with a state qualifying time of 1:50.37 (John Murphy, Zach Andersen, Oscar Ryzhkov, Yan Berezitsky). The B-relay (Ryan Robertson, Elijah Edison, Raj Malik, Tate Robertson) took 13th.
The girls team also started off strong with a fourth place finish for the A-relay (Caroline Gaines, Alana Drevet, Kate Kerber, Jennifer Griner) with a state qualifying time of 1:58.27. The B-relay (Ana-Clare Grann, Jamie Walsh, Audrey Lampa, Molly Thompson) took 11th.
In the boys 200-freestyle, Yan Berezitsky took seventh with a new best time of 1:56.14. Elijah Edison took 15th.
For the girls, Caroline Gaines took sixth with a state qualifying time of 2:06.00. Alexis Walkenhorst took 17th with a new best time.
In the boys 200-individual medley, John Murphy took eighth and Maor Bigio took 12th with a new best time.
Kate Kerber won the girls 200-individual medley with a state qualifying time of 2:14.16. Audrey Lampa went a new best time and took 16th overall.
In the boys 50-freestyle, Zach Andersen went a new best time and took 12th place, Oscar Ryzhkov took 17th, Tate Robertson took 39th with a new best time, Raj Malik took 51st with a new best time. There were 83 competitors in the event.
For the girls, Abby Harber took eighth place in the 50-freestyle. Molly Thompson swam a new best time, Ana-Clare Grann took 21st, Hayden Whalen took 31st with a new best time, Christine McVicker went 86th with a new best time, and Gabby Edwards took 104th. There were 117 competitors in the event.
In the boys 100-butterfly, Maor Bigio took ninth, and Raj Malik took 19th with a new best time.
In the girls event, Kate Kerber took third with a state qualifying time of 1:00.79. Audrey Lampa took 12th with a new best time, followed by Jamie Walsh in 13th, and Hayden Whalen in 22nd.
In the boys 100-freestyle, Ryan Robertson took 29th out of 80 swimmers and performed a new best time.
For the girls, Abby Harber took 13th, Gabby Edwards took 78th and Christine McVicker took 79th with a new best time. There were 102 athletes in this event.
In the boys 500-freestyle, Yan Berezitsky continued to have a great day with his fifth place state qualifying time performance of 5:16.24. This was Berezitsky's first individual state qualifying performance of the season. Oscar Ryzhkov took sixth with a new best time and missed the state qualifying time by less than a half-second. Elijah Edison swam a new best time and took 11th.
The girls continued the boys' momentum in the 500-free with Jamie Walsh taking second overall with a state qualifying time of 5:34.19. Alana Drevet dropped significant time to take sixth overall.
In the boys 200-freestyle relay, the A-relay (Yan Berezitsky, Zach Andersen, Oscar Ryzhkov, John Murphy) took fourth overall with a state qualifying time of 1:37.15.
The girls A-relay (Caroline Gaines, Abby Harber, Kate Kerber, Jennifer Griner) took third overall with a state qualifying time of 1:45.50. The B-relay (Ana-Clare Grann, Hayden Whalen, Alexis Walkenhorst, Molly Thompson) took 11th.
In the 100-backstroke, John Murphy took ninth, less than a second off of the state qualifying time. Ryan Robertson swam a new best time and took 15th.
For the girls team, Molly Thompson dropped significant time to take 11th overall, Ana-Clare Grann took 18th, and Alexis Walkenhorst took 22nd with a new best time.
In the 100-breaststroke, Zach Andersen swam a new best time which was a half-second from the state qualifying time and took eighth overall. Tate Robertson took 19th with a new best time.
For the girls, Caroline Gaines took fifth with a state qualifying time of 1:11.75. Alana Drevet took ninth.
In the final event of the meet, the boys 400-freestyle relay team (Elijah Edison, Tate Robertson, Ryan Robertson, Raj Malik) took 13th overall.
For the girls, the A-relay (Abby Harber, Alana Drevet, Jamie Walsh, Audrey Lampa) took ninth and the B-relay (Alexis Walkenhorst, Gabby Edwards, Christine McVicker, Hayden Whalen) took 19th.
Even with the flu having a significant impact on the roster for the Meet of Champions, the team took advantage of the competitive environment to have some incredibly great performances. The divers and swimmers alike finished 2023 in strong form and are now looking forward to the championship season in January.