Mystic Valley Boys Swim Team Places Sixth in State Meet

Despite competing against much larger schools, the undefeated, four-time Commonwealth Athletic Conference championship-winning Mystic Valley Regional Charter School swim team placed sixth in the boys’ MIAA Division II State Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Harvard’s Blodgett Pool.

The team had the best finish of any area school in at least twenty years, if not ever. Their finish is all the more amazing when you consider is the smallest high school in Massachusetts to field a swim team.

Led by junior Fallon Bushee and senior Joan Kinnon, the girls also swam very well, finishing in the top 25 on Sunday’s meet.

By placing fourth, the Eagles scored 22 points in the meet’s opening event, the 200 Medley Relay.  The team of Shane Kinnon, Colin Kinnon, Patrick Kinnon, and Zack Kelso established a new team record in the event, swimming a 1:41.05.

The Eagles also swam in the 200 and 400 Freestyle Relays, earning a pair of eighth place finishes.  Colin Kinnon, Patrick Kinnon, and Kelso joined junior Wilson Tran to swim a 1:33.73 in the 200 Free Relay.  Kelso, Tran, Robbie DeSantis, and Shane Kinnon pooled their efforts in the 400, dropping almost five seconds and finishing in 3:26.67.

Senior captain Colin Kinnon led the Eagles in individual scoring, earning his team 18 points by finishing fourth in the 100 Breaststroke (1:01.83) and seventh in the 200 Individual Medley (2:02.49).

Shane Kinnon was not far behind.  By finishing eighth in the 100 Backstroke (56.17) and twelfth in the 100 Freestyle (50.12), Shane added a crucial six points to his team’s total.

Senior captain Patrick Kinnon chipped in two points by finishing eleventh in the 100 Breaststroke (1:02.86), just outpacing his teammate Taylor Cossette, who finished in thirteenth place with a time of 1:04.25).  Cossette shed more than two seconds from his seed time, and was seven hundredths of a second away from scoring points in the event.

Sophomore Robby DeSantis swam in two individual events during the meet, the 200 Freestyle (1:55.34) and the 100 Butterfly (59.32), establishing personal best times in both of them.

Junior Fallon Bushee turned in two seasonal best performances in the 50 Freestyle (25.93) and the 100 Freestyle (57.08).  She scored points for her team in both events, finishing eleventh in the 50 and ninth in the 100.  Senior Joan Kinnon also competed in two individual events in her last high school meet, the 50 Freestyle and the 100 Breaststroke.

Bushee and Kinnon joined senior Rebecca Wright and seventh grader Karina Hanson to compete in two relay events, the 200 Medley and the 200 Freestyle.  The Eagles performed well in both events, finishing the Medley in 2:02.59 and the Freestyle in 1:49.96.