By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI
LYNNFIELD — The Lynnfield High boys’ tennis team had its awards banquet on June 12 at LHS. That evening, Pioneers head coach Joe Dunn gave out three awards.
The MVP Award went to senior Dan Levin. Levin, a co-captain, played first singles. He was 18-1 overall and was named the Cape Ann League Player of the Year for the second year in a row. Levin made the CAL All-Stars all four years and will attend Clark University this fall.
Shea McCarthy received the Coach Award. The junior co-captain made the CAL All-Star team for the third year in a row as he went 18-2 at second singles.
Russell Kasdon was the Lynnfield Athletic Association Scholar Athlete Award winner as the senior and valedictorian is heading to RPI this September. Kasdon made the CAL All-Star team for the fourth-straight year as well. This spring, the co-captain made it for his play at third singles as he went 7-1. The first three seasons, Kasdon made it in doubles. He also played in some doubles matches this year.
It was another outstanding year for the Pioneers as they made the MIAA Division 4 State Finals for the third year in a row. After falling to Weston the past two years, Lynnfield was upset, 3-2, by fellow CAL team Manchester-Essex on June 15 at MIT in Cambridge.
Overall, Lynnfield went 19-2 with their only other loss coming to the Division 1 state champions, St. John’s Prep, who went undefeated this year.
In the CAL, the Pioneers were 11-0 as they won the CAL Kinney Division title for the sixth-straight season.
“I was very proud of the kids,” stated Dunn, who just finished his eighth year at the helm. “We accomplished quite a lot.”
The team also christened their new courts this year at the school as they used to play at the middle school, which they still used at times for practice.
“Having five courts, instead of four, was a huge difference,” said Dunn. “We were able to play all five matches at the same time and it was a lot more convenient for the kids.”
Along with Levin and Kasdon, the Pioneers will lose four other seniors to graduation: Brendan Sokop, Kurt Rothermund, Slate LoPilato and Luke McQueen.
Sokop is going to Bentley while Rothermund is heading to UMass-Amherst. LoPilato is enrolling at Tulane while McQueen is taking a gap year.
“The seniors have been with me all four years,” pointed out Dunn. “They all have worked hard over the years to become the players they are now. All of them would be starters on any other team in the league. They were a good group to coach.”
The senior class went 70-7 overall. Three of the losses were to St. John’s Prep while three others were to Weston, who won the Division 3 title this season.
Next year, the Pioneers are slated to return 14 veterans including four starters as the team shoots for their seventh-consecutive CAL Kinney crown.
“I am looking forward to next year,” said Dunn.
At the banquet, the captains for next year were also voted on by the team. Along with McCarthy, the two other captains will be Shlok Kudrimoti and Raffi Arkun.