By Melissa Moore-Randall
Revere High Track raced to GBL Championships which led to Coach of the Year honors for Head Coaches Racquel MacDonald-Ciambelli and David Fleming.
MacDonald-Ciambelli, who is a Talent Acquisition Manager at the Boston Consulting Group specializing in US campus hiring for their Asian, European, and South American global offices, track career began at Revere High School in 2008 under coaches Peter Digiulio and Sam Ros. While in high school she specialized in hurdles, high jump, and sprints and currently holds two school records in the 100m High Hurdles and 400m Hurdles. After high school she walked onto the Boston College’s Track and Field Team where she competed at 6 ACC championships in the 60m High Hurdles, 100m High Hurdles, and 400m hurdles.
A decade later, her coaching career began at RHS as an assistant for the outdoor RHS girls track team working directly with the hurdlers. Her first season as head coach was in 2021.
The season far exceeded her expectations. “When this season began I knew we were returning a super strong group of athletes who would help inspire our new freshman and lead us to a winning record. My goal for the girls was for each of them to set a new PR (personal record) in at least one of their events so their own confidence could continue to grow! Track is a team sport but it does have many individual aspects so it is important as a coach to push them toward individual goals just as much as team goals. I had a feeling after our first meet when we beat a strong Somerville team that we could have a chance at the league title but we just kept working and preparing for each meet individually. With that mindset the girls were able to go for school records and personal bests without the pressure of the GBL title!”
“I genuinely feel like by mid season every single girl had the “team first” mentality. They were willing to try new events, hop into new training groups, and do what was best for the team. They all had great attitudes this whole season and showed great sportsmanship at every competition. The undefeated season and school records they achieved just meant more because of how well they handled the success”
“I know that they are excited about what they were a part of this year and will want to continue this success into the future. I am confident that in the next couple of seasons these girls will continue to rewrite the school record books and make their presence known not only at the GBL level but also at state meets and invitationals!”
Coach Fleming has a similar high school and college experience as MacDonald-Ciambelli. Fleming ran high school cross-country and track at Boston Latin School and at UCLA. At Boston Latin, he ran cross-country for Mike Meagher, who’s currently one of the MIAA’s top officials. And, at UCLA, he ran for Bob Larsen, who was a four-time NCAA Coach of the Year and won two outdoor national championships.
Fleming, a teacher at Revere High School where he teaches Economics, Accounting, Intro to Business, Intro to Marketing, and Business Law, was also proud of the season.
Despite struggling with injuries, the team still secured a GBL Championship. “At the beginning of the season, two of our top athletes, Medy Bellemsieh and Isaiah DeCrosta, were recovering from football-related injuries. Injuries were one of the main reasons we lost two dual meets early in the season. So our initial goal was simply to get healthy. We had to be patient and ease athletes back into the lineup. Another goal was to integrate several new athletes onto an already strong team.”
“My proudest moment was winning the GBL league meet championship. We had lost to Somerville during the regular season, but we’re confident we could beat them in the league meet. We expected a close one, so it was really gratifying to have our full team come together and beat Somerville by 14 points, 125-111.”
Both coaches look to repeat championship seasons when Spring Track begins in a couple of weeks.
