Eagles girls’ swim team excels in State Championships

  The girls’ swim team of Mystic Valley Regional Charter School concluded a historic postseason last weekend at the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association Division 2 State Championships at Boston University. The girls competed against some of the top teams in the Commonwealth and emerged with a 19^th-place finish, highlighted by multiple season and lifetime best swims.

  In the first event of the day, the girls 200 medley relay team of freshman Lana Albuquerque, eighth-grader Britney Nayiga, senior Deanna Guo and eighth-grader Isabella Cirame finished with a time of 1:56.82, which was good for a 12^th-place overall finish. The girls cut almost three full seconds off their previous best time. The relay was highlighted by Guo’s 27.57 butterfly split and Nayiga’s 32.94 breaststroke split.

  Guo concluded her epic career in the Maroon & Gold by continuing to lead the Eagles in state championship meets. First up in the 100 butterfly, she shaved three seconds from her previous seed time to finish in 10th place. In her other individual race of the day, the 100 backstroke, Guo continued to drop time, finishing in 1:01.61 for a ninth-place finish. Guo will be forever remembered in Eagles swimming lore as the highest point scorer – having scored in both sectionals and state meets since seventh grade.

  Next up, in the 200 freestyle relay, Guo once again led a great group of young Eagles to a top 10 finish. The girls’ time of 1:44.63 is an in-season best and good for a ninth-place finish overall. Joining her on the relay was Albuquerque as well as eighth-graders Britney Nayiga and Isabella Cirame. Guo’s split of 25.05 was one of the fastest anchor splits in the field.

  Nayiga completed her eighth-grade campaign in the 100 breaststroke. As in her sectional swim, she was out fast in the first 50 and used a strong kick to bring the race home in a lifetime best of 1:13.27; while finishing just off the scoring in 19th place, she was the fastest freshman or eighth-grader in the event.

  Finally, in the 400 freestyle relay, a glimpse of a bright future was shown in spectacular fashion as Albuquerque, freshman Crystal Tang, Cirame and Nayiga finished with an in-season best time of 3:59.07 with each girl swimming better than their seed to drop almost three seconds off their entry time.

  “This group of girls continues to impress me with their hard work and dedication all season. This was never more apparent [than] in the way they attacked every single race at BU today,” coach Andrew DiGiacomo said. “I would like to further point out the significant impact Deanna Guo has had on our program and how much we will truly miss her next year. To swim the way she did this season and come out with such fast times at states is so impressive. She has laid the groundwork for what it means to be successful in this sport for all the younger girls on the team. We are incredibly lucky to be part of a school that wants to see these young men and women succeed and will go above and beyond for them. It was a phenomenal season and only sets us up to keep rolling into next year. I know I have said it many times, but the results from today only further show that the future is very bright here at Mystic Valley.”