RHS Sports Roundup

Arias paces RHS boys track to GBL championship
The Revere High boys indoor track-and-field team put the finishing touches on an undefeated dual-meet season with a victory in Sunday’s Greater Boston League Meet held at the Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury.
Coach Sam Ros’s crew scored 153 points, with Malden, which earlier in the week had tied Revere in a dual-meet showdown (leaving the teams as the GBL’s regular-season co-champs), a distant second with 129 points. Somerville was third with 57 points, Everett was fourth with 38 points, and Medford was fifth with 23 points.
Leading the way for the Patriots was senior Antony Arias, who accounted for 28 points in the individual events with victories in the high jump with a leap of 5’10” and the long jump (19’-5.5”) and a second place in the 55 meter hurdles in a time of 8.24 seconds.
“The performer of the meet for us has to be Antony Arias,” said RHS head coach Sam Ros. “Antony finished second in the hurdles, but ran a time fast enough to qualify him for D-1 States in a couple of weeks. He won his next two events, the high jump and the long jump. He again cleared 5’-10” in the high jump. That height also qualified him for D-1 States in that event. After the high jump, he went on to win the long jump. Even though his jump was not close to his PR, he got some much-needed points for us.”
Fabio Tran also claimed a GBL title with a victory in the two mile run with a clocking of 10:51.43, a time that was 20 seconds faster than Fabio’s nearest competitor.
The Patriot 4 x 200 relay quartet of Marco Cerbone, Ricardo Goncalves, Rayan Riazi, and Mark Marchese added another 10 points to the Patriot side of the scoresheet with a first-place finish in 1:37.20. 
However, what set Revere apart from their opponents were the large number of second-place performances, each of which netted the Patriots eight points.
Camron Ventura finished second in two events, the long jump with a leap of 19’-1” and the high jump in which he crossed the bar at a height of 5’-6” that earned him a tie with another competitor, for which Cam was awarded seven points.
Michael Adolphus scored eight points for his second place finish in the 600 dash in 1:32.98 and also added four points with a fourth place effort in the hurdles in 8.69.
Alaa Atoui took second in the shot-put with a toss of 44’-.75” and Victor Pelatere grabbed second in the 1,000 dash in 2:48.99. 
The other two Revere relay teams, the 4 x 400 quartet of Augusto Goncalves, Ricardo Goncalves, Sami El Asri, and Michael Adolphus (3:43.30) and the 4 x 800 foursome of Vic Pelatere, Christian Madrid, Carlos Quintanilla, and Fabio Tran (9:00.39), also accounted for eight valuable points apiece with second place finishes in their races.
Earning six points for third-place performances were: freshman Sami El Asri in the  600 dash in 1:33.11; Christian Madrid in the mile in 4:56.56; James Carpinelli in the two-mile run in 11:20.55; Ricardo Goncalves in the hurdles in 8:32; and Rayan Riazi in the shot-put with a throw of 42’-9”.
Fourth-place finishes for Revere came from Mark Marchese in the 55 meter dash in 7.01; Marco Cerbone in the 300 dash in 38.21; and Jaryd Benson with a shot-put throw of 41’-2”.
Riazi added two more points with his fifth-place performance in the 55 dash in 7.06 and Carlos Quintanilla scored two points with a fifth in the mile in 5:05.97.
“Going into the GBL Championship meet, we had one goal in mind: To prove to ourselves that we are indeed better than Malden,” said Ros. “Throughout the meet, it was back and forth between us and Malden. At one point we were down 18 points. As the meet progressed, we chipped away until we took the lead with a few events left. Once again, just like the regular season meet, our depth came out and shined. We had two or three boys medal in most of the events that we entered. When the final scores and standings were announced, we got the affirmation we were looking for, ‘GBL Champions’!”

Boys track battles Malden to 43-43 tie in final dual-meet
The Revere and Malden High boys indoor track & field teams both were unbeaten entering their final dual-meet of the season last week.
And when the proverbial smoke had cleared and the dust had settled, they remained unbeaten, thanks to a 43-43 tie that left them as the 2020 GBL co-champs with identical 3-0-1 records.
“Going into the meet we knew the importance of winning this meet,” said RHS head coach Sam Ros. “It meant the GBL regular-season championship was on the line. Walking into the Malden track I could see right away that the Malden team was aware of the importance as well. It was daunting to see that both the Malden Athletic Director and the Malden mayor were giving their full support. They were at the meet from start to finish, cheering on their kids.”
Before the meet started, the Patriots were dealt the biggest of blows when they learned that they had lost star performers Lucas Barbosa because of a recurring hamstring injury and Joe Llanos to a freak knee injury.
“Morale on our team was rather low after this. It obviously got brought down even lower knowing that Malden had their full community support. Winning the meet meant an all out effort from our boys,” Ros noted.
Starting off the meet, Ros moved Rayan Riazi from the hurdles over to the 50 yard dash to help fill the roles of Barbosa and Llanos in that event. The move helped because Rayan took second place when Revere may have only gotten third.
Antony Arias and Ricardo Goncalves came up big in the hurdles with their first and third place finishes. 
“The Malden hurdler was set up to be the best hurdler in the league, but the loss obviously angered him, because he used it as adrenaline to throw a three-foot personal record (PR) in the shot-put to beat our boys in that event,” noted Ros.
“In the 300 meters, Marco Cerbone ran the race of his life,” Ros continued. “The 300 meter indoors has one main strategy that if executed well will result in the win most of the time. The runners start out in lines and cut into lane 1 at the break line just before the first lap ends. The first runner to get to the break usually wins the race because passing in the event is very difficult. The Malden runner had a two-second PR over Marco. We went over the strategy with Marco to make sure he got to the break line first. Marco was half a step behind at the break, but pushed the pace hard to get that lead before the first lap ended. Once in the lead, he held it all the way to the finish line. That was a big win that we didn’t think we would get.”
The other first-place finishes for Revere came from Christian Madrid in the mile and Arias in the high jump.
“Christian ran a very smart race,” Ros said. “He took the lead from the start and held it all the way to the finish.”
The high jump was the last event before the relay. Going into the high jump, Revere was ahead, 37-35. 
“I knew that beating Malden on their home turf in the relay was a tough task,” said Ros. “We had to at least get a first and third to ensure a tie, which was going to be difficult because on paper the best high jumper in the league was Ezra Kruckenberg from Malden. He has a six-feet PR, while our best jumper, Antony only has a PR of 5’-8”. 
“As the event progressed, Marco Cerbone PRed at 5’ 6”,” Ros continued. “Ezra came into the competition at 5’-6” and cleared it easily. At 5’-8” there were five jumpers left, Antony, Cam Ventura, Marco Cerbone, Ezra from Malden and Mackenley from Malden. Marco didn’t clear it. Antony cleared it on the first try. Mackenley cleared it on the first try. Cam cleared it on the second try. Marco did not clear it. Then the biggest surprise of the meet, Ezra did not clear it. This was the break we needed. At 5’ 10”, Antony cleared. Both Cam and Mackenley did not clear, but Mackenley got second based on misses. We got six points from this, giving us at 43-38 lead going into the relay.”
The outcome of the high jump assured Revere of at least a tie in the meet, which then became reality when Malden won the 4 x 400 relay to take the final five points to earn the tie.
“Not to be overlooked were the rest of our boys,” Ros added. “Malden won most of the events. If it weren’t for our depth securing those seconds and thirds, we could have easily lost this meet. Our boys competed hard in the relay, but came up just short to Malden. Nonetheless, both teams were crowned GBL champions.”

Girls track falls short to Malden
The Revere High girls indoor track & field team dropped its first meet of the season, coming up short against Malden by a score of 61-25 last Wednesday evening. The Lady Patriots finished their dual-meet campaign with a fine 3-1 record, good for second place in the Greater Boston League behind Malden.
Carolina Bettero was the lone Lady Patriot to win her individual event, claiming first-place in the high hurdles with a time of 7.9 seconds.
Carolina later joined with teammates Nubya Filho, Allanah Burke, and Astrid Umanzor to win the meet’s final event, the 4 x 400 relay, in a clocking of 5:07. She also grabbed a point for Revere with a third-place performance in the high jump with a leap of 4’-6” to finish with 7.25 points for the meet.
Second-place finishers for Revere who scored three points for the Lady Patriots were:
Allanah Burke (Mile) 6:17
Luana Barbosa (High Hurdles) 8.1
Adding single points with their third-place efforts were:
Crystal Valente (Shot-Put) 25’2”
Kathy Umanzor (300M) 49.3
Kyara Rodriguez (1,000M) 3:57
Jerelys Canales (50Y Dash) 6.9
“Kyara Rodriguez had a huge PR (personal record) in the 1000,” said RHS head coach Antonio LaBeruna. “She is only a freshman and is still learning how to race, but she has a chance to be a major contributor to this team in the years to come.
“We weren’t at our best on Wednesday,” LaBruna added, “but I have to give credit to Malden. They are loaded with both talent and depth and had some great performances.”
Bettero wins GBL title in 55 hurdles
Carolina Bettero was crowned the Greater Boston League champion in the 55 meter hurdles event when she sped to victory in a clocking of 9.33 seconds this past Sunday at the Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury.
Carolina’s closest competitor was teammate Luana Barbosa, who grabbed second place with her time of 9.95.
Barbosa and Bettero also earned medals for their performances in the long jump. Luana finished in third place with a leap of 15’-4.5” and Carolina took fourth with a jump of 14’-11.75”.
“Carolina really stepped up and had her two best races of the season,” said RHS head coach Antonio LaBruna. “She blew away the field in the prelims and ran a 9.33 in the finals, which should be fast enough to qualify her for the D-1 State Meet.
“Senior captain Luana Barbosa scored in all three of her events,” added LaBruna. “We were hoping for better results in the long jump and high jump, but she did show that she is one of the most versatile athletes in the conference.”
Revere girls who earned medals in the GBL Meet were:
Finishing 1st for Revere…
Carolina Bettero – 55M Hurdles (9.33)
2nd for Revere
Luana Barbosa – 55M Hurdles (9.95)
3rd for Revere
Luana Barbosa – Long Jump (15’4”)
4th place for Revere
Carolina Bettero – Long Jump (14’11”)
5th place for Revere
Jerelys Canales – 55M Dash (7.96)
Jerelys Canales – Long Jump (14’10”)
Astrid Umanzor – 600M (1:55)
Luana Barbosa – High Jump (4’8”)
6th place for Revere
Kyra Delaney – 300M (46.80)
Kyara Rodriguez – 1000M (3:49.5)
Lorina Tran – High Jump (4’8”)
“We had some really good performances and a ton of personal records (PRs),” LaBruna said. “Freshman Kyra Delaney probably had the most surprising performance of the meet. She’s only run the 300M a couple of times and we discussed breaking 49 seconds. She ended up running a 46.8 and scoring by finishing in sixth place.”
Next up for LaBruna and some of his crew is the so-called Last Chance Meet at the Lewis Center this Sunday in which athletes will have one final opportunity to achieve a qualifying time for the State Meet the following week.
“It is appropriately titled the Last Chance to Qualify Meet and we are hoping to get a handful of girls into states,” said LaBruna.

Fine performances from RHS swimmers
The Revere High swim team turned in some impressive performances at this past week’s swim meet with the other teams from the Greater Boston League.
“This was a non-scoring meet, so it was mostly about times and we had a number of good ones,” said RHS head coach Chris Hill.
The girls 200 medley relay team of Isabella Veraldi, Sonia Salazar, Grace Rondon, and Olivia Winsor qualified for the state sectionals, the first girls sectional qualifier for Revere this season, making it by a razor-thin margin of .05 seconds.
Also qualifying was the RHS boys relay team of David Del Rio, Reked Caushaj, Ashton Hoang. and Ahmed Khalid in the 200 free relay. The Patriot quartet topped their previous best time by almost two seconds.
Del Rio also added the 100 free sectional to his post-season competition. David already qualified for the 200 IM and 100 back, an event in which he also has qualified for the State Final.
Caushaj earned his first individual sectional time in the 100 free with a 59.46.
Isabella Restrepo and Lucas Mejia had their best times in the 50 and 100 free.  Ashton Hoang had great swims in both the 100 fly and breast.  Gavin Rua had his best time in the 500 free all season.  Xavier Alvarez earned a personal best in the 100 fly.  
“All in all, it was a great meet,” said Hill.
RHS hockey team duels Everett to 0-0 tie
The Revere High hockey team has little room for error in their quest to qualify for the post-season state tourney. The Patriots enter the final quarter of the season with a 4-8-3 record and five games to play. In order for Revere to punch their ticket for a Journey to the Tourney, coach Joe Ciccarello’s crew must win nine of the possible 10 points in order to achieve the necessary .500 record for tourney qualification.
However, if the Pats hope to do so, it will be a necessity for Revere to find the back of the enemy net.
Revere scored only one goal in their two contests the past week. The Patriots deadlocked with Everett on Saturday, 0-0, and dropped a 3-1 decision to Medford last Wednesday. Corey Rufo lit the lamp for the Revere goal in the Medford contest.
“We haven’t been scoring goals,” said RHS head coach Joe Cicarello. “Admittedly, we ran into a very hot goalie in the Everett game who made 35 saves. Our defense has been playing well, as has our goalie, Cam Wickens (who made 53 saves vs. Medford), but you cannot win games unless you score some goals.”
Ciccarello and his crew will host Somerville this evening (Wednesday) at Cronin Rink at 7:30 and will entertain Medford this Saturday at 5:00. Hamilton-Wenham comes to Cronin next Wednesday for a 6:30 p.m. face-off.