Mystic Valley Downs Nashua North in First Varsity Swim Meet at New Natatorium
In a thrilling meet, the Mystic Valley Regional Charter School swim team earned its 34th consecutive win, defeating Nashua North, one of New Hampshire’s strongest teams. It was a very big win for Mystic Valley christening its new pool with the biggest win the team has had in its short but successful History. Both the Boys and Girls Nashua North teams were 2nd in the State of New Hampshire last year. The win was particularly meaningful because this was the first varsity meet held at Mystic Valley’s new natatorium.
With two events remaining in the meet, the Eagles trailed Nashua North by four points, 68-72. In true Mystic Valley fashion, the team finished 1-2-3 in the 100 Breaststroke, outscoring Nashua 13-3 in the event. Wilson Tran finished first, Christian Kinnon second, and Nick Antonucci third.
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Ahead by only six points going into the final event of the meet, the 400 Freestyle Relay, the Eagles needed either a first- or a second and third-place finish to secure the win. In an extremely close race, Shane Kinnon, swimming the 100 freestyle in 50.4 seconds, was just out touched by Nashua’s top swimmer. Mystic Valley earned second and third places and the Eagles won the meet, 87-83.
The meet was a testament to the depth of the 2011-2012 Mystic Valley swim team, as the second Mystic Valley 400 Freestyle relay team of Karina Hanson, Michael Leung, Robbie Cummings, and senior captain Fallon Bushee delivered a truly clutch performance in the meet’s final event to secure the win.
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The entire meet was close between these two evenly matched teams. Driven by the emotion involved in defending their home pool for the first time, Mystic Valley’s boys’ 200 Medley Relay team (Shane Kinnon, Christian Kinnon, Robby DeSantis, and Zack Kelso) won the meet’s first event, the 200 Medley Relay, earning eight points. Nashua finished second and third, and the meet’s score was 8-6.
The Eagles split points with Nashua’s Titans in the meet’s next two events, the 200 Freestyle and the 200 IM. Junior Robby DeSantis took second place for Mystic Valley, while Fallon Bushee finished third and Ben Lieu finished fifth. Senior captain Shane Kinnon finished second in the IM, while Wilson Tran finished just behind him in third, and Christian Kinnon took fifth.
The Eagles widened the point margin between the two teams by finishing first, third, and fourth (senior captain Zack Kelso, Giuseppe Iacovone, and Robbie Cummings, respectively) in the 50 Freestyle. Then, in the 100 Butterfly, Robby DeSantis, Michael Leung, and Caroline Williams finished second, third, and fourth.
Although the Titans steadily climbed back into the meet during the 100 Freestyle and the 500 Freestyle, there were some strong Mystic Valley performances. Zack Kelso, Giuseppe Iacovone, Nick Antonucci, Fallon Bushee, and Allie Krasco all scored points for the Eagles in these two events.
Despite placing second and third in the meet’s next event, the 200 Freestyle Relay, Nashua still outscored Mystic Valley in the event, 8-6.
Following the relay, Shane Kinnon delivered a strong win in the 100 Backstroke. The Titans, however, placed second, third, and fourth, outscoring the Eagles in the event.
With the win, Mystic Valley moved to 1-0 in the 2011-2012 season. The team travel to Shawsheen on Wednesday, and will host Greater Lawrence Tech on Friday.
