Young Mystic Valley Boys’ Team Finishes Fourteenth in State

With only one senior and one junior on the team this year, the Mystic Valley Regional Charter School boys’ swim team was expected to be in rebuilding mode.  On Sunday at Harvard University’s Blodgett Pool, however, the Eagles shrugged off that label, shattering expectations and finishing fourteenth in the MIAA Division 2 State Championship meet.

The young 200 medley relay team of Christian Kinnon (ninth grade), Ryan Kinnon (eighth grade), Michael Leung (eighth grade) and Robbie Cummings (tenth grade) dropped almost two seconds from their previous best time to finish sixteenth with a time of 1:48.44 and scoring two points. Considering that all of these swimmers will be back for the next few years, the future is very bright.

The Eagles’ 200 freestyle relay, comprised of two sophomores (Nick Antonucci and Robbie Cummings), a senior (Robby DeSantis), and a freshman (Christian Kinnon) soared from being seeded last in the event to finishing in fifth place and establishing a new team record of 1:32.58. Robbie Cummings’s lead-off split of 23.3 set the tone for the race which was brought home by anchor Christian Kinnon in a blazing 22.0.

Individually, in the events they contested, Mystic Valley swimmers scored points and established personal bests in all but one race. Christian Kinnon finished fifth in the 100 breaststroke and was the only freshman in the top five. With his time of 1:02.22, Christian crept to within four tenths of a second of breaking the team record established by then-senior and cousin Colin Kinnon in 2011. Nick Antonucci,  in the same event and with a tremendous effort, dropped over three seconds from his best time this year and finished in the top ten as well (eighth place) with his time of 1:03.66.

Competing in his second individual event, Christian Kinnon swam the 50 freestyle in 22.92 seconds, fast enough for eleventh place. Only one other freshman was among the state’s top 12 finishers.

Senior Robby DeSantis also competed in an individual event, the 200 freestyle, finishing with a time of 1:58.45.

Now that rebuilding is a thing of the past, the Mystic Valley boys should continue to improve on this year’s outstanding results in the coming years.