Mystic Valley Boys Swim Team finishes 3rd at State Championship

  Mystic Valley Regional Charter School’s boys’ swim team finished in third place at the MIAA Boys’ Swimming and Diving State Championship meet held on February 17 at MIT. The team score of 176 points was the largest point total ever achieved by an Eagles’ swim team, outscored only by Wayland and Weston, the former the eventual meet champion.

  Seniors Armando Indresano, Jeremy Cheng and Aiden Acuna-Rosa all made podium appearances in multiple events. The three captains have registered more top three finishes at States than any group in Mystic Valley history.

  In the opening event, the 200 Medley Relay, Acuna-Rosa, freshman Thomas Sodeyama-Cardoso, Cheng and Indresano set the stage for the day. The team swam to a second-place finish with a time of 1:39.83, matching the best finish for this event in Mystic Valley history and coming within a second of the school record.

  Getting out of the water and swimming in the very next event, the 200 Freestyle, Acuna-Rosa led most of the way but was touched out at the end by five-tenths of a second, finishing in third place. In his school record-breaking effort, he dropped three seconds from his fastest time ever, finishing at a 1:43.89. Freshman Jaden Anthony, one of two freshmen in the state to score in the event, finished sixteenth at 1:53.82, also a personal best.

  In the 200 Individual Medley (IM), one of the most grueling events, where each swimmer swims eight lengths of the pool (two of each stroke: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle), junior Jason Yan finished 10th at 2:04.71. Sodeyama-Cardoso placed 15th at 2:09.10.

  The 50 Freestyle was the next event up and Armando Indresano, one of the most accomplished sprinters in Mystic Valley team history, scored six points. Indresano completed the race in 11th place with a time of 22.74.

  At the halfway point of the meet, Mystic Valley was in second place, behind Weston and just ahead of Wayland. After the break, Cheng scored 15 points and placed fourth in the 100 Butterfly with a time of 51.79. Sodeyama-Cardoso finished 26th at 58.03 seconds. Indresano followed in the next event, the 100 Freestyle, finishing in eighth place at 49.85.

  In the last individual event of his high school career, the 500 Freestyle, Acuna-Rosa swam neck and neck with Longmeadow’s Evan Lyons for 20 laps of the pool, ultimately being touched out by eight-tenths of a second and taking home a silver medal. Acuna-Rosa dropped an amazing five seconds from previous lifetime best and set the school record once again. Anthony finished a respectable 20th with a time of 5:17.43.

  The 200 Freestyle Relay followed, and the young team of Yan, Dylan Phan (freshman), Anthony and Christian Antonucci (freshman) placed 11th, scoring a valuable 12 points. Mystic Valley’s young qualifiers outperformed expectations the entire day, which bodes well for the future.

  Cheng, one of Mystic’s most accomplished swimmers ever, finished his individual career – bringing home the bronze medal in the 100 Backstroke with a time of 54.76. Yan also scored in the event, finishing in 12th place in a time of 57.42.

  In the final event of the day, Mystic Valley’s senior team of Acuna-Rosa, Cheng and Indresano, along with Yan, did not disappoint. They finished in second place with a new Mystic Valley record time of 3:18.0, averaging 49.5 seconds per 100-yard yard leg of the event. Few teams in this area have ever accomplished such a feat. Acuna-Rosa, finishing a spectacular day, led off the relay and set a new Mystic Valley record in the 100 Freestyle at 48.06, breaking teammate Armando Indresano’s record of 48.67, which was set at States last year.

  Head Coach Andrew DiGiacomo – recently named Boys’ North Coach of the Year by the Eastern Massachusetts Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association – heaped praise on his accomplished team: “It is hard to believe the season is over and this crop of outstanding seniors, who set a new standard for Mystic Valley by finishing third at States two years in a row, will be graduating. Aiden Acuna-Rosa had one of the best days ever by a Mystic Valley Swimmer, setting three new individual Mystic Valley records and finishing second three times and third once, including leading off on the record setting 400 Freestyle Relay. This group will be an inspiration for all future Mystic Valley teams.”