RHS Sports Roundup

Cunha Wins 600 at Winter Festival

Revere star track performer JV Cunha kicked off the 2023 indoor track and field season in a big way, winning the  600 meter event at the Winter Festival of the Mass. State Track Coaches Assoc. (MSTCA) this past Sunday at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center.

JV’s winning time of 1:26:69 also qualified him for the state indoor championships and was just 0.6 seconds from the national indoor qualifying time. 

Cunha took an early lead and then settled comfortably into second place. With about 150 meters to go, JV turned on the jets with his patented final kick and never looked back, beating Jack Tsai of Newton North by .60 of a second.

However, JV was not alone in getting the season off to a great start under new boys’ head coach David Fleming, as a number of his Patriot teammates also began the 2023 indoor season in impressive fashion.

Senior Sami El Asri ran a strong 37.83 in the 300 meter dash. Sami’s time was just .03 seconds away from the state indoor qualifying time of 37.80. Running on the outside in lane six, El Asri used a blazing final 100 meters to turn in his exceptional early-season time, which placed him in seventh spot among the large field of 70 competitors.

Strong performances were also turned in by high jumpers Javan Close and Richard Vilme, who took third and fourth place, respectively. Javan jumped 5-’8” and Richard was right behind him with a mark of 5’-7”. Vilme, who was competing in his first-ever track and field meet, initially cleared the 5’-8” height on his final attempt, but inadvertently knocked off the bar with his trail hand.

Davi Barreto made it to the 55 meter dash final where he turned in a time of 7.04. Allen Hou just missed the finals with a clocking of 7.11.

In the 55M hurdles, Isaiah DeCrosta placed sixth in 8.64. Isaiah was the highest-finishing sophomore in the event. Close finished 13th in 9:07. Both are strong early season times and not far off from the state-qualifying mark of 8.45.

In the shot put, junior Kevin Purcifull had a strong throw of 33-02.50.

The 4 x 200 meter relay team of Hou, Close, Randi Rodriquez, and El Asri recorded a solid season-opening time of 1:39.95, winning their heat and finishing sixth overall.

Fleming and his crew will open their dual-meet season, in which they will face all of their Greater Boston League rivals over the next seven Wednesdays, this evening (Wednesday) when the Patriots host Everett. They will trek to Somerville next Wednesday.

RHS Boys Basketball Tips Off 2023 This Week

The 2022-2023 edition of the Revere High boys basketball team was set to open its season last night (Tuesday) against traditional Greater Boston League powerhouse (and defending GBL champ) Everett.

“We’re looking forward to our upcoming season after a spirited campaign last year,” said  RHS head coach David Leary, referring to the 2022 season in which the Patriots won their first state tournament game in 21 years. 

“The program graduated six seniors who were all impact players, but there are eight returning players who gained experience playing varsity minutes as underclassmen last season,” said Leary.

The Patriots return five seniors from last year’s squad and all five were recently voted captains by their peers. All five will bring their unique skill sets to the hardwood.

Senior captain and GBL All-Star Domenic Boudreau (17 pts and 6.5 rebounds per game last season) will be a jack-of-all-trades with his ability to score, shoot, defend, and rebound.

Senior captain and point guard Alejandro Hincapie will aim to be a thorn in the side of Revere’s opponents with his on-ball defense and his ability to get to the basket with his speed and tenacity. 

Senior captain and shooting guard Sal DeAngelis will give the Patriots a spark with his experience, long-range shooting, and scoring.

Senior captain and forward Vincent Nichols will help in all phases of the game with his athleticism and ability to defend and get to the basket.

Senior captain and guard Vinny Vu will also give the team long-range shooting and play-making ability with his passing and court vision. 

Other key members of the RHS squad include junior forward Andrew Leone, who will be relied upon to defend, rebound, and score from the inside and outside; junior forward Luke Ellis, who will supply toughness and scoring with his ability to shoot from the perimeter; and sophomore guard Ethan Day, whose ability both to get to the basket and knock down open shots will give the Patriots an offensive boost.

The new additions to the varsity team this season are senior guards Mike Popp and Maykin Funez-Gonzalez.

“Mike and Maykin are both very good athletes who will help the team with their toughness off the bench,” noted Leary.

Junior forward Ryan El Babor will help off of the bench with his defense, rebounding, and scoring around the basket. Sophomore forward Erick Mayorga will also be a key contributor on the boards and around the basket. Sophomore point guard Joshua Mercado will be a pest on defense with his on-ball pressure. Joshua also can knock down shots from the perimeter.

The Patriots played three preseason scrimmages, including a meeting with GBL rival Chelsea at the Ron Bennett Memorial Jamboree last Friday night at Lynn English. They also engaged in home scrimmages last Sunday against Winthrop and last Wednesday against Melrose last Wednesday night. 

“All of the matchups were competitive and the coaches are encouraged by the early improvements so far,” said Leary, who will be joined on the sidelines for their seventh season by junior varsity head coach John Leone, freshmen head coach Bob Sullivan, and assistant coach Alex Green

“We have a mix of experienced and inexperienced players on the team,” said Leary, “but we’re cautiously optimistic that the team will come together and commit to the hard work.

“We’ll have some growing pains early on, but that will not be because of a lack of talent,” Leary continued. “We just have a lot of guys who have never experienced the speed and strength it takes to play at the varsity level in the GBL.

“These guys have worked hard together all off-season, playing in a summer league, a fall league, and workouts. I like the growth we have already shown and we look forward to seeing what we can accomplish together,” said the coach.

Revere will host Somerville on Friday night and Lynn Classical next Tuesday. The freshmen play at 4 p.m., the JV at 5:30, and the varsity at 7:00.

RHS Girls Basketball Opens Season This Week

The Revere High girls basketball team will take on the role of road warriors in the first week of the season, as coach Chris Porrazzo and his crew will travel to the home gyms of three of their Greater Boston League opponents.

The Lady Patriots made the short trek to Everett last night (Tuesday) to kick off their 2023 campaign and will journey further west to Somerville tomorrow (Thursday). They then will reverse direction and head east to Lynn Classical next Tuesday.

“We will quickly find out what we are made of,” said Porrazzo. “We are all excited for the season to kick off. I think we are going to play solid, hard-nosed basketball this year and we hope to make Revere proud.”

After their opening salvo vs. the trio of GBL foes, the Lady Patriots will host a holiday tournament at Revere High on December 29-30 with Milton, Saugus, and New Mission.

Yuong Shines at Winter Festival Meet

Coach Racquel MacDonald’s Revere High girls indoor track and field team turned in some impressive early-season performances at Sunday’s MSTCA Winter Festival at the Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury.

Sophomore Liv Yuong opened up her season with a state-qualifying high jump of 4′-10″ to take third place overall in the competition. Liv also grabbed a third-place medal in the 55m hurdles with a time of 10.24 seconds. Her prelim time of 10.06 seconds was a personal record (PR). 

Senior Captain Kyra Delaney also started the season off with a PR in the 55m dash with a time of 7.99, a clocking that placed Kyra in 11th place overall

Freshman Olivia Rupp, who is coming off a stellar cross-country season, ran a 6:29.68 in the one mile in her first meet on an indoor track. Olivia placed 14th overall and shaved over seven seconds off her fastest cross country one mile.

Junior Yasmin Riazi opened up her season in the 600m with a time of 2:14.62.

“We’re looking forward to our GBL dual-meet home opener versus Everett,” said MacDonald. “I see a strong season ahead for this talented group of girls.”

MacDonald and her crew will face all seven of their Greater Boston League rivals starting this evening (Wednesday) and for the following six Wednesdays, culminating with the GBL championship meet on February 3.

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