HAVERHILL, Mass. (AP) — Proof of Haverhill High School boys’ swimming team’s 1978 Massachusetts state championship is finally returning home.

For decades, the trophy commemorating one the greatest achievements in school athletic history has been missing.

It turns out that the team’s coach, Tom McCutchan, had it all along. He tells The Eagle-Tribune (http://bit.ly/1AyiOFX ) he took it with him when he left Haverhill for a job in West Virginia in 1981, concerned there was no place to display the trophy in Haverhill.

For 30 years, it was boxed away as McCutchan moved from job to job. Now living in Connecticut, he decided it was time the trophy came home.

The trophy will be placed on display Saturday at the school’s new pool when members of the swim team from that era hold a reunion.

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Information from: Eagle Tribune (North Andover, Mass.), http://www.eagletribune.com

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