The last day the three Hinshaw brothers could swim together on the same Saratoga High School team ended in a surprise shocker with the Falcons roaring past Valley Christian and snagging second place overall in the CCS Championship. Not only did the boys place first among public schools, but they also placed second in CCS for the first time since 1969.
“We were definitely proud with the way things finished up in CCS,” said junior Matt Murray. “It’s definitely a bummer that we couldn’t place so
well in leagues.”
Meanwhile, the lady Falcons placed seventh, improving on last year’s ninth place finish.
With boys placing second and girls seventh, Saratoga made a statement in this year, emerging as an elite competitor for future championships.
Participants in CCS for the boys were seniors Takehiro Kurosawa and Ryan Hinshaw, juniors Ben Hinshaw, Matt Murray, and Brad Murray, and freshman Justin Chung and Adam Hinshaw..
In the first event, the 200-yard medley relay, B. Hinshaw, Kurosawa, M. Murray, and A. Hinshaw snagged a close third place. Following the relay, A. Hinshaw and R. Hinshaw knocked in 29 points, taking fourth and fifth place respectively in the 200-yard freestyle. B. Hinshaw captured first in the 200-yard individual medley while B. Murray finished eighth.
The Hinshaw family domination climaxed in the 500-yard freestyle, with B. Hinshaw, R. Hinshaw, and A. Hinshaw taking first, third, and fourth, respectively. B. Murray also contributed 13 more points, taking sixth place.
M. Murray then broke the 100-yard backstroke CCS record with a time of 49.50 seconds. Chung finished 13th behind Murray with his time of 54 seconds flat.
In the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, the Hinshaw trio swam their last race together for Saratoga High School. With M. Murray as the fourth member of the team, the boys finished in 3:07.27, averaging less than 47 seconds per 100-yard leg
Individual efforts led to a total of 232 points and the boys admirable’ second place finish in CCS.
Girls CCS
While the boys pursued swimming history, the girls swam for improvement. The qualifying girls’ varsity swimmers were sophomores Elizabeth Murray, Megan Nolet, Lauren Opatrny, Nora Patzman, and senior Hayes Hyde. Sophomore Lauren Gardanier competed as a diver.
The lady Falcons got off to a rough start with a disqualification in the 200 yard medley relay. After the disappointing relay, senior Hayes Hyde stepped up, knocking a full second of her 200-yard freestyle time for second place. E. Murray took 13th.
Following the 200-yard freestyle, Opatrny got on the scoreboard, placing eighth in the 200-yard individual medley. Nolet then snagged 13th in the 50-yard freestyle, and Hyde swam her last individual high school race scoring seventh in the 100-yard butterfly.
After the butterfly, E. Murray pulled in a second place in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:04, and Opatrny took fifth in the 100-yard breastroke. In their final 400-yard relay, the girls finished sixth place with an average time of 53 seconds.
In the end, girls’ varsity totaled 114 points, capping of seventh place overall on their swimming season. ◆