Hawks’ Miranda had a season to remember

Matt Metcalf, Sports Editor
Posted 2/24/15

Bishop Hendricken has had some outstanding swimmers over the years. The proof is in the record book, which shows that the Hawks have now won 28 state championships.

But over the years, head coach …

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Hawks’ Miranda had a season to remember

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Bishop Hendricken has had some outstanding swimmers over the years. The proof is in the record book, which shows that the Hawks have now won 28 state championships.

But over the years, head coach Dave Hanson has never had an All-American swimmer – that is, until Saturday.

Sophomore Max Miranda qualified for All-America honors with his state-record time of 1:39.16 in the 200 free at the state championships at Brown University.

“I had gotten the consideration time a couple of times earlier this year, but getting the automatic time is good,” Miranda said.

“It’s something that no one from Hendricken has ever done, so I’m really excited about that.”

The standout sophomore had a year for the Rhode Island swimming record books – qualifying for the Olympic trials in 2016, breaking three Rhode Island state records and winning a state championship on Saturday.

Of all the accomplishments, though, winning a state championship was special with his teammates, as last year the Hawks were edged by just seven points by Smithfield for the state title.

“Last year, we were really disappointed that we didn’t win,” Miranda said. “But this year we were definitely going to come back with a vengeance. It’s so much sweeter. It almost became commonplace with Hendricken winning year after year, so to lose that one then to get it back makes it that much better.”

Something that also makes it special for Miranda is that he had a critical hand in helping Hendricken regain the crown.

Miranda put the rest of the field in a hole right away – swimming on the 200 medley relay team that started the meet with a win. He then shattered the record book with his 200 free performance, giving the Hawks two first-place finishes right out of the gates.

But with all that Miranda did for the Hawks on Saturday, he took the time to praise him teammates, who also put forth an impressive title-clinching performance.

“We’ve had so many freshmen and seniors who have improved so much throughout the year,” Miranda said. “Everyone really stepped up at this meet – it was awesome.”

Miranda has developed into a leader for the Hawks in just his second year, which is a combination of having few seniors and having immense individual talent.

“We have some good leadership on the team with our seniors stepping up this year,” Miranda said. “But it is a young team, so as a sophomore, I’ve taken a leadership position. But we just have a great team and have some great leaders all-around.”

Miranda will look to build off of a great year with what should be an even more impressive junior year next winter.

He will swim for the Hawks, before swimming at the Olympic trials in June of next year, following his junior season.

Before he has to worry about all of that, though, Miranda will enjoy the year he had – a year in which he swam his way into the record books.

Miranda officially had his coming out party during his sophomore year – and what a party it was.

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