RHS girls win two medals at MSTCA
Two members of the Revere High girls indoor track and field team brought home medals at the MSTCA Coaches Large School Invitational Sunday at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston, setting two school records in the process.
Senior captain Ashley Cabrera Rodriguez won a seventh-place medal in the triple jump with a distance of 30′-10″, breaking the old RHS indoor mark by three inches that was set in 2020.
“Ashley also holds the outdoor triple jump school record,” said RHS head coach Racquel MacDonald-Ciambelli. “It’s important to note that the triple jump is typically not contested indoors, so we don’t practice it often. Ashley was able to complete this record breaking jump with minimal practice.”
Cabrera Rodriguez also competed in the 55m dash and ran an 8.20.
Junior Gemma Stamatopoulos brought home an eighth-place medal in the 600 dash with a clocking of 1:42.08, that not only set a personal record (PR) by three seconds, but also broke the school record by more than one second that was set in 2018.
“This was a super-competitive field,” noted MacDonald-Ciambelli. “Gemma was the top seed in her heat going into the race, but we knew she was at the fitness level to go for a PR today. She knew she would have to lead the heat likely from the first lap, which she did. However, this did not scare her and she was able to take the first 200 in 33.7. She led the heat the whole three laps, which is super-challenging on its own, but especially when going for a PR. Gemma herself noted that if she were chasing someone, she likely could have run closer to a 1:40, which I absolutely agree with. No doubt in my mind that she can hit 1:40 by the time we hit the D-1 State championships in a couple of weeks.”
Senior captain Liv Yuong was the third Lady Patriot competitor at the Invitational Meet, having qualified in the 55 hurdles and the long jump.
Liv ran a 10.09 in the hurdles, good for 24th place overall, and leapt 15′-6.5″ in the long jump, which was good for 26th overall. “It was a super-impressive day for Liv, competing in multiple events while balancing illness,” noted MacDonald-Ciambelli.
On the boys’ side, a large contingent of Patriots took part in the invitational meet. The top performance was recorded by the 4 x 200 relay quartet of Oliver Escobar, Joey Angiulo, Isaiah DeCrosta, and Jeremy X, who finished in 12th place with a time of 1:35.35.
In the individual events, Escobar’s high jump of 5′-8″ placed him in 16th place and his 55 meter dash of 6.97 placed him 58th; Angiulo competed in the long jump with a leap of 19′-1.5″, good for 40th place; Jeremy X ran the 300 dash in 36.81 for 25th place and the 55 dash in 6.97 for 58th place; Edwin Alarcon ran a 1:29.12 in the 600 for 29th place; Youness Chahid turned in a time of 4:39.13 in the mile, good for 28th place; Bryan Maia’s toss of 41′-8.75″ placed him 23rd in the shot-put; and DeCrosta ran an 8.34 in the 55 hurdles which placed him 19th.
RHS girls track improves to 6-0
The Revere High girls indoor track and field moved two steps closer to completing an undefeated dual-meet season with victories over Greater Boston League (GBL) opponents Chelsea (57-37, the team’s closest match of the season)) and Lynn English (70-21) in a tri-meet last Thursday evening at the Reggie Lewis Athletic Center in Roxbury.
Leading the way for the Lady Patriots once again was the duo of senior captain Liv Yuong and junior Gemma Stamatopoulos. Liv took first-place in the 55 hurdles in a clocking of 9.98, second in the high jump (4’8″), and second in the long jump (15′-2.5″). She scored 11 points vs. Chelsea and 13 vs. English for a total of 24 points in the tri-meet.
Gemma won the 600 dash with a clocking of 2:00.74 (which was the fastest time of the night among all eight of the GBL schools that night) and the high jump with a leap of 4′-10″ (which also was the best-jump of the evening among all GBL competitors) to score 20 points in the tri-meet.
Olivia Rupp continued her dominance in the one mile with a first place finish (6:11.86) against both opponents. “It’s important to note that both Olivia and Gemma were told by me to hold back a little in their races at this meet in order to prepare for the relays that followed the next day,” said RHS head coach Racquel MacDonald-Ciambelli. “They raced smart enough to hold onto first place in both their events, but saved energy to deliver record-breaking performances the next day.”
Revere teammates who also took made major contributions to the winning efforts with first places against both Chelsea and English included: junior Rania Hamadani in the 300 with a sprint of 47.13; junior Valeria Sepulveda in the 1000 in a clocking of 3:57.51 that was the fastest time of the night among all of the GBL schools; and senior captain Danielle Santana Baez in the two-mile run in a time of 15:30.34.
Lady Patriots who scored three points for the RHS side of the scoresheet with second-place finishes vs. Chelsea were: Ashley Cabrera Rodriguez in the 55 meter dash (Ashley also scored a third-place point in the long jump); Genevieve Zierten in the mile; Jocelyn Lazo in the shot-put with a personal-record (PR) throw of 26′-3″); and Dayana Ortega in the 55 hurdles (with a PR of 11:04).Adding third-place points vs. Chelsea were: Mayaah Ndi in the high jump; Gianna Chiodi in the 600; and Danni Hope Randall in the 300.Lady Patriots who added to the RHS scoresheet on the Lynn English side of the meet included: Zacharani Kalliavas in the 300; Amina Larzhal in the 600; and Neyla Vrfanic in the long jump.”This was a meet where most of the girls had to run very strategically, given we had a turnaround time of less than 24 hours until the MSTCA D1 State Relays on Friday,” noted MacDonald-Ciambelli. “The girls are confident in their pacing and fitness levels at this point in the season and they knew how to exert just enough to get the wins. This definitely paid off considering their performances at the relays.”
MacDonald and her crew were scheduled to face their toughest challenge of the season this past Monday in their final dual-meet when the Lady Patriots take on similarly-undefeated Somerville at the Reggie. A comparison of performances for the two teams in recent meets indicates the contest shapes up to be a fierce battle.
Boys track outpaces Chelsea, Lynn English
The Revere High boys indoor track and field team handily defeated Greater Boston League (GBL) opponents Chelsea (62-37) and Lynn English (78-12) in a tri-meet last Thursday at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center in Roxbury
Isaiah DeCrosta and Jeremy X. led the way for the Patriots. Isaiah captured two events vs. both opponents, the 55 hurdles with a time of 8.22 and the high jump with a leap of 5′-“4”.
Jeremy also was a double-winner vs. both rivals, sprinting to first-place finishes in the 55 meter dash in 6.78 and the 300 dash in 38.89. Jeremy also added a point with a third-place finish in the long jump.
Other first-place finishers for the Patriots were: Edwin Alarcon in the 1000 in 2:59.66 (which was the fastest clocking among all of the GBL competitors on the night); Younness Chahid in the mile in 5:00.50; and Joey Angiulo in the long jump with a leap of 19′-4.75.”
In addition, the 4 x 400 relay quartet of Edwin Alarcon, Kenan Batic, Amari Miller-Tobey, and Youness Chahid came across in 3:52.87, which was 12 seconds faster than Chelsea and 20 seconds faster than English, as well as the fastest time of the night among all of the GBL schools.
Scoring three points vs.Chelsea with second place performances were: Youcef Amouri in the two-mile; Bryan Maia in the shot-put; Kepler Celamy in the long jump; Younes Chahid in the 600; and Brandon Carvajal in the 55 dash.
Adding single points with third-place finishes vs. Chelsea were: Adam Ourazzouk in the two-mile; Fajr Riazi in the 55 hurdles; Ziyad Dendane in the mile; Kenan Batic in the 600; Joey Angiulo in the 300 dash; and Kepler Celamy in the 55 dash.
Additional point-scorers vs. English included Anthony Pelatere with a third in the 300 dash, Mohamed Fares with.a third in the 1000; Diogo Yogi with a third in the mile; and Fajr Riazi with a third in the shot.
Coach David Fleming and his squad, who now stand at 6-0 on the season, were set to meet undefeated Somerville this past Monday evening at the Reggie in the final dual meet of the season with the outcome deciding the GBL regular-season title.
RHS girls basketball advances to 8-6
The Revere High girls basketball team has won four of its past five games to raise its record to 8-6 on the season.
The stretch began with a 29-22 win over Greater Boston League (GBL) foe Malden. “This was a great team effort,” said RHS head coach Ariana Rivera. “It was a low-scoring game on both ends. We applied great defensive pressure throughout the entire game. Having a selection of different defenses to resort to has been helpful for us.”
The next victory was a 37-33 triumph over GBL rival Medford. Freshman Allyson Olliviera led Revere with 12 points, followed by Shayna Smith with 11.
“Applying full court pressure in the second half was essential for us to keep our urgency up,” said Rivera. “Medford went on a short run in the second half and we were able to recover and gain momentum back. It was not a strong free throw shooting night for us, going 6-for-17 at the line. We would have been able to pull away if we had been consistent.”
The Lady Patriots then capped their recent run with victories over GBL opponent Chelsea (53-24) and non-league foe Salem (64-29) this past Thursday and Friday.
The winning skein snapped a stretch of three losses to Lynn English (48-29), Whittier (43-34), and Winthrop (33-31)
“The contest with English was a tough offensive game for us,” said Rivera. “Missing Belma Velic was a huge loss for us in terms of rebounding. English played a great game collectively. We struggled to slow down their guards and the three-ball.
“We had another tough loss to Whittier,” Rivera continued. “The offensive tempo was better for us the second time around and we were able to break their press more efficiently. Another game without Belma took away a lot of our offensive strengths and allowed our opponents’ defense to pressure our guards more.
“In the Winthrop game, we had a slow first half, but turned on the gears for the second half to make a big run,” said the coach. “It was a game of catch-up that made it harder to clinch the win. Having our starting five back was helpful in terms of our offensive fluidity. No urgency in the first half resulted in the loss. We had solid defense in the second second half.”
Amidst the four-of-five winning skein, the Lady Patriots suffered a 48-37 loss to Somerville. “Once again, not having our full starting five made it difficult to take over this game,” said Rivera. “Somerville has a few strong guards and rebounders, and missing Shayna Smith resulted in a weak rebounding game for us.”
Rivera and her crew, who need to win two of their final six games in order to achieve the .500 record needed to qualify for the post-season state tourney, were scheduled to travel to GBL foe Lynn Classical this past Monday and will host non-league opponent Swampscott Friday at Merullo Fieldhouse. They will travel to Somerville next Tuesday and to Swampscott next Thursday.
RHS boys hoop corrals the Mustangs
Senior tri-captain Ethan Day struck for 28 points and fellow senior tri-captain Avi Lung hit for 23 points to lead the Revere High boys basketball team to a 65-55 triumph over the Medford Mustangs last Tuesday at the Merullo Fieldhouse.
The contest was a hard-fought affair at the outset. The Patriots held a slim lead of 11-9 in the opening period behind a three-pointer from senior tri-captain Josh Mercado, two baskets in the lane from Day, and two buckets from freshmen Charles Dobre (six points, 10 rebounds on the night) on a fast-break layup and an offensive rebound put-back.
The margin remained at two, 26-24, at the half. Revere’s offense in the second period came from Lung on a trey from the wing, two triples and a fast-break layup by Day, a tough, contested hoop in the paint by junior forward Devin Berry, and a Lung layup at the buzzer before the half.
The Patriots came out on fire after the intermission to pull ahead, 46-32, at the third buzzer. Mercado sank a three, Lung hit two pull up jump shots and a three-pointer from the top of the key, Day made four more baskets in the lane, and Dobre made a strong drive.
“But our defense was the story in the third quarter,” said RHS head coach David Leary. “We held Medford to just eight points and their star player, Justin Marino, to zero points in the frame and just 18 for the game (Marino’s average is 26.5) thanks mostly to freshman Charles Dobre, who was given the task to cover him.”
The duo of Day (who had seven rebounds and three steals to go with his 28 points) and Lung (who had four assists to go with his 23 points) helped the Patriots close out the win in the final period, with Ethan hitting for eight points and Lung striking for 11 points (including two more treys) over the final eight minutes.
“I thought our purpose and focus coming out of halftime was tremendous and obviously, Charles’ defense on Marino was the key,” said Leary. “We have to do these things more consistently, but it was a nice win against a good team that beat us earlier in the season.”
However, this past Saturday afternoon, the Pats dropped a 57-52 decision to Malden, a team that Revere had defeated earlier in the year.
Both teams lit up the hoop in the opening period, battling to a 16-16 draw. Dobre hit for seven points, including a corner three-pointer, Day drained a triple and three free throws, and senior forward Erick Mayorga finished the quarter with a layup plus the foul to tie things up.
The Patriots forged a 35-28 lead after two periods behind a corner triple and two free throws from Mercado, two strong drives to the basket by senior forward Gio Alexandre, two of his patented floaters in the lane by Day (including an “and-one” on the foul) plus another three-pointer, and a nice put-back by Berry.
However, the Golden Tornadoes narrowed the deficit to 45-43 after three periods. Lung made two drives and layups, Mayorga had a put-back, and Day sank another corner three-pointer plus a free throw to provide the Revere offense.
The Patriot offense mustered only seven points in the final eight minutes. Other than a Lung free throw, an Alexandre drive, and two more baskets from Day (who finished with 22 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and three steals) in the lane, Revere could not buy a bucket.
“Our offense went ice cold and Malden took advantage of it,” said Leary. “We just could not make shots in the final quarter and it was unfortunate because I thought we moved the ball and were taking good shots. We need to be better defensively when shots aren’t falling to still hold on and win. But give Malden credit. They came to play. We have to just keep grinding and keep improving –there’s plenty of season left.”
The Patriots, who now stand at 5-7 on the season, hosted Chelsea last night (Tuesday) in the Battle for Broadway. They will entertain a very good non-league Tewksbury team from the Merrimack Valley Conference tomorrow (Thursday) evening, GBL foe Somerville on Monday, and non-league opponent Chelmsford next Thursday. All three of those contests will tip-off at 7:00 at Merullo Fieldhouse.
