Peter Kinchley, Swampscott - 2008 Salem News Student-Athlete Awards
By Matt Jenkins Staff Writer
When Swampscott High School teachers, coaches and administrators think of Peter Kinchley, the words "determination" and "discipline" instantly rise to the surface. Athletic Director Frank Kowalski has not known him very long, but he quickly learned about Kinchley's approach to schoolwork during a chance meeting in the school's weight room earlier this year.
In between sets, Kowalski noticed Kinchley reading from a book and scribbling notes on a pad of paper.
"My first impression was that Peter was reading a book on lifting strategies or performance techniques to help him in his workout efforts," Kowalski recalled. "On the contrary, later that day I learned that what he was doing was his vocabulary homework. It truly amazed me how not even during a workout could he let his studying slack."
It is that type of dedication that has allowed Kinchley to not only excel in the classroom — where his 3.9 GPA and 19th ranking in a class of 218 speak for themselves — but also on the athletic fields, where he quarterbacked the Big Blue to their first Super Bowl title in 35 years last fall. Kinchley, who has been a Peer Leader for three years and a Peer Mentor for two years, is also a standout pitcher on a very talented Big Blue baseball team, and has served as captain for both sports.
