On January 5th, the Bears traveled to Cobb Central Aquatic Center in Marietta to compete in the Lassiter Invite. While the Bears did not come out on top with team scores in the field of 6A and 7A teams, many performed with new best times and new state qualifiers were added to the roster.
Boys Team Scores
Lassiter - 704
Allatoona - 588
Campbell - 520
Cambridge - 504
Sprayberry - 349
Girls Team Scores
Lassiter - 732
Campbell - 582
Cambridge - 572
Allatoona - 442
Sprayberry - 272
In the medley relay, the boys A-relay (John Murphy, Elijah Edison, Maor Bigio, Oscar Ryzhkov) took sixth and the B-relay (Ryan Robertson, Raj Malik, Aneesh Ayyagari, Bryson Mynatt) took 10th.
For the girls event, the A-relay (Caroline Gaines, Jamie Walsh, Kate Kerber, Jennifer Griner) took second with a state qualifying time of 2:00.28. The B-relay (Alexis Walkenhorst, Alana Drevet, Hayden Whalen, Ana-Clare Grann) took sixth.
In the 200-freestyle, Yan Berezitsky finished with a new best time of 1:54.51, which qualified him for state championships in the event. Jax Jackson finished right behind Berezitsky in fourth, Ryan Robertson took eighth, Pranav Kolathaya took 13th with a new best time, and Raj Malik took 14th.
In the girls event, Kate Kerber took fourth with a state qualifying time of 2:04.23, and Audrey Lampa took eighth with a new best time by almost five-seconds!
In the boys 200-individual medley, Oscar Ryzhkov took fourth, and Maor Bigio took 10th.
For the girls, Alana Drevet took third.
In the 50-freestyle event, Raj Malik took 22nd with a new best time.
For the girls, Abby Harber took fourth, Ana-Clare Grann took eighth, Hayden Whalen took 10th with a new best time, Mihika Ayyagari took 24th, and Christine McVicker took 31st.
In the dive event, Brandon Norfleet took second place overall and in the girls event, Brooklyn Petit continued her undefeated status by winning with a score of 310.75.
In the 100-butterfly event, Gavin Schoeling took second place, John Murphy swam a new best time and took fourth, Maor Bigio took seventh, Elijah Edison dropped a ton of time and took ninth, Bryon Mynatt took 13th, and Shane Merille took 16th with a new best time.
In the girls event, Kate Kerber won the event with a state qualifying time of 1:02.96, and Jamie Walsh took third.
In the boys 100-freestyle, Yan Berezitsky came up huge and took second with his second state qualifying time of the night with a time of 51.19. Tate Robertson took fifth with a new best time by almost a full second, Pranav Kolathaya took 17th, and Aneesh Ayyagari took 18th.
For the girls event, Abby Harber took third, Alexis Walkenhorst took seventh with a new best time.
In the boys 500-freestyle event, Jax Jackson took third with a state qualifying and new best time of 5:10.20.
In the girls event, Jennifer Griner won the event and shaved over seven-seconds off her best time to finish with a state qualifying time of 5:12.51.
In the boys 200-freestyle relay, the A-relay (Jax Jackson, Yan Berezitsky, John Murphy, Gavin Schoeling) took third with a new season-best time of 1:37.99. The B-relay (Bryson Mynatt, Ryan Robertson, Tate Robertson, Elijah Edison) took fifth.
In the girls event, the A-relay (Caroline Gaines, Audrey Lampa, Jennifer Griner, Kate Kerber) took second with a new season best time of 1:45.87. Gaines also secured her final state event qualification by leading off the relay and touching the wall with a time of 26.21. With that final state cut, Gaines joined Kerber as the second Iron Bear of the season by qualifying for all individual events for state. The B-relay (Abby Harber, Ana-Clare Grann, Alexis Walkenhorst, Alana Drevet) took sixth.
The boys came up big in the 100-backstroke event. John Murphy and Oscar Ryzkhov touched the wall in third and fourth place and also both with new state qualifying times. Both of their times mark their personal best performances. Ryan Robertson took eighth, Bryson Mynatt took 11th, and Tate Robertson took 15th.
In the girls 100-backstroke, Caroline Gaines took second with a new best time of 1:01.13, which is a state qualifying time. Ana-Clare Grann dropped three-seconds to swim a new best time and take eighth overall. Hayden Whalen also swam a new best time and took 11th. Alexis Walkenhorst took 15th and Christine McVicker took 24th with a new best time.
In the last individual event of the night, Gavin Schoeling took seventh, Elijah Edison took 11th, and Aneesh Ayyagari took 18th.
For the girls, Caroline Gaines took second with a new best state qualifying time of 1:10.19, followed by Jennifer Griner in third place with a state qualifying time of 1:12.91. With this last state qualifying time, Griner became the third Iron Bear of the season, joining Kerber and Gaines who achieved the title earlier in the evening. Kerber, Gaines and Griner qualified as Iron Bears last season and so this will be their second year in a row they will claim the title. Alana Drevet took fifth with a new best state qualifying time, followed by Jamie Walsh in sixth place. Audrey Lampa took ninth with a new best time by over four-seconds. Mihika Ayyagari took 15th.
In the final event of the evening, the boys A-relay in the 400-freestyle (Gavin Schoeling, Oscar Ryzhkov, Yan Berezitsky, Jax Jackson) swam a time of 3:39.68, but was disqualified for an early take-off. The B-relay (Tate Robertson, Maor Bigio, Shane Merille, Pranav Kolathaya) took seventh.
In the girls event, the A-relay (Abby Harber, Audrey Lampa, Alana Drevet, Jamie Walsh) took fourth. The B-relay (Alexis Walkenhorst, Gabby Edwards, Mihika Ayyagari, Christine McVicker) took 11th.
This was the last meet of the regular season before heading into championship meets. Next Thursday, the Bears will compete in Fulton County Championships and the following week, they will compete at Region Championships. Those will be the final meets of the season prior to heading into the final stretch before State Championships on February 6th and 7th.
