RHS Sports Roundup

RHS Swimmers Complete 7-3 Season; Cesic, Terrell, Hoang are GBL Champions

Despite obstacles posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Revere High swim team completed a successful season with a 7-3 record.

After starting the New Year with wins over Lynn English, 68-51, and Somerville, 83-76,  the Patriots got hit with COVID and had a stretch where half the team was out.

In a  virtual meet with Medford for which Revere had only 14 out of 28 swimmers available, the Patriots came up short, 81-69.

However, Revere bounced back the next week when the team came back from their illnesses to post an 86-78 triumph over Lynn Classical. That was followed by a tough loss to Malden, 94-71.

Last week at the GBL championship meet, the Patriots were almost back to full strength and turned in a number of great performances.

In the 200 medley relay (male), the quartet of Mohamed Benzerdjeb, Ashton Hoang, Matt Terrell, and Alem Cesic took second place.

In the 200 medley relay (mixed genders), the foursome of Miguel Leonarte, Julian Goglia, Gavin Rua, and Luana Carvalhais took second; the team of Jennifer Rivera-Ayala, Daniel Cardona, Harrison Rua, and Samantha Farias finished third, and the quartet of Dayanara Builes, Jose Aparicio, Kathy Trinh, and Denis Quijada finished fifth.

In the 200 free, Terrell finished third and Nate Hill took seventh for the boys. On the girls side, Jannet Sheli finished sixth and Michelle Carvajal touched the wall in eighth.

In the 200 individual medley, Alem Cesic took first place overall with Harrison Rua in fourth.

The Patriots team showed their depth in the 50 free with multiple swimmers finishing in the top 16 in both the boys and girls divisions: Benzerdjeb (4th), Leonarte (8th), Goglia (11th) and Gavin Rua (15th) for the boys and Carvalhais (4th), Builes (8th), Farias (12th), Carvajal (15th), and Karen Gomez (16th) for the girls.

The 100 butterfly was a great event for Revere, with Matt Terrell and Gavin Rua going 1-2 respectively.

In the 100 free, the team got another first-place finish when Ashton Hoang won it and Daniel Cardona took 10th in a great race by two of our senior captains.

In the girls’ 100 free, Rivera-Ayala took third, Farias sixth, Gomez eighth, and Quijada 10th.

In the 500 free, Alem Cesic was second for the boys, with Jannet Sheli sixth and Kathy Trihn eighth for the girls.

In the 200 free relay, Revere only had mixed gender teams, with the quartet of Goglia, Carvalhais, Gavin Rua, and Leonarte finishing in second as Revere’s top team.

In the 100 back, Benzerdjeb and Leonarte went 2-3 for the boys.  Rivera-Ayala and Trinh were fifth and 10th for the girls.

In the 100 breast, Revere had five boys place in the top 16: Hoang fifth, Goglia 10th, Harrison Rua 12th, Cardona 15th, and Hill 16th.  For the girls, Luana Carvalhais took fourth.

In the final event, the 400 free relay, the Revere foursome of Cesic, Terrell, Hoang, and Benzerdjeb finished in first place for the boys.

In mixed gender, Farias, Sheli, Hill, and Harrison Rua took second.

Melanie Rodriguez, Carvajal, Trinh, and Rivera-Ayala took fourth in the girls race.

RHS Girls Basketball Tops Medford; Awaits State Tourney Opponent

The Revere High girls basketball team concluded their regular season this past week, which included a 45-40 victory over Greater Boston League (GBL) opponent Medford. Together with gaining a forfeit two days later with Chelsea, the Lady Patriots ended up with a sterling 11-3 record in the GBL, good for third place behind 13-1 Lynn English and 12-2 Lynn Classical.

Coach Chris Porazzo’s squad battled both English and Classical fiercely this season, defeating Classical, 45-36, in one of their encounters and narrowly falling to English, 38-37, in one of their meetings.

Leading the way for Revere in the win over Medford were the duo of Carolina Bettero with 19 points and Haley Belloise with 17 points.

“It was close all the way but our defense really helped bring the win home,” said Porrazzo.

Earlier in the week, the Lady Patriots came up short in a 44-27 decision at non-league foe Winthrop. Elaysia Lung reached double figures with 11 points against the Lady Vikings, who were celebrating their Senior Night.

Porrazzo and his crew, who finished the regular season with an overall record of 12-8, automatically have qualified for the Division 2 post-season state tourney.

“We will find out who we draw in the Division 2 state tournament this Friday,” said Porrazzo. “In the meantime, we have multiple scrimmages planned and a full week of practice.”

Goncalves is Third, Cunha Fifth at D-1 State Track Meet

The Revere High boys indoor track and field team sent a contingent of athletes to the Division 1 State Track Meet last weekend at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston. The meet was a success for the Patriots, who brought home some medals with two boys, Ricardo Goncalves and JV Cunha, qualifying for the upcoming state meet.

Goncalves took third place in the 55 meter hurdles and Cunha finished fifth in the 600 meter dash. In addition, the Revere 4 x 400 relay quartet of Keny Guerrero, Goncalves, Tommy Desir, and Cunha earned an eighth place medal.

“Ricardo came into the meet seeded third overall with a time of 8.00 that he ran over a month ago,” said RHS head coach Sam Ros. “There was a little uncertainty on how his hamstring would hold up. He competed and won the GBL title, but his hamstring was not 100% when he did that. He also had missed out on two weeks’ worth of real workouts leading up to the GBL meet.

“The week of the state meet we worked on testing his hamstring out fully,” continued Ros. “He was looking great during practices which gave us hope that he would be able to give 100%. Going for the win at the D-1 State Meet was going to be just out of reach as the top seed, Jordany Volquez of Lawrence, is a step above everyone else in this division.

“Even though beating Jordany was going to be a tough task, we knew from the past races between Ricardo and Jordany that Ricardo is step-for-step with Jordany up until the second hurdle. Our goal was for Ricardo to break eight seconds and finish top-three to auto-qualify for the All State Championships next week. If Ricardo could go toe-to-toe with Jordany as long as possible, those goals would be reached.

“For the prelims, they separate the faster hurdlers into different heats,” said Ros. “In order for Ricardo to face off against Jordany, he would have to run fast enough to make the finals — the top eight fastest prelim times make the finals. After the prelims, Ricardo was seeded fourth. In the finals, Ricardo took off out of the blocks. He was toe-to-toe with Jordany all the way through the third hurdle. With two hurdles left, Jordany was able to pull away. Ricardo pushed hard for the finish line and narrowly missed out on second place.

“The difference between Ricardo and second place came down to the thousandths. Both times were shown as 7.88, but second place was 7.873 and Ricardo’s time was 7.877.

“Despite not getting second, he accomplished the goal of running under eight seconds and securing an auto-qualifier for the All States,” said Ros. “He is actually seeded seventh for that meet. We’re hoping for another PR with an outside shot at finishing top-five.

“JV Cunha came into this meet seeded seventh overall,” said the coach. “His chance of finishing top three and nabbing the All State auto-qualifier was going to be difficult. We knew that if he didn’t place top-three, then his time would have to be fast enough to provisionally qualify. To do that, his time would have to be fast enough to be one of the next nine fastest times of all the divisions that are not a part of the top three of the respective divisions.

“Because JV was only seeded seventh, he missed out on the fastest heat,” said Ros. “He and the rest of his heat had to run fast enough to be sure their times would beat out some of the runners in the fast heat. As the race started, JV went out fast enough to put himself in a position to run fast. He was right on the shoulder of the leaders after the first lap. He held his position by the end of the second lap. He made a move for the lead in the final lap, but it wasn’t enough to take the heat.

“We were not disappointed as his time was a PR and he broke 1:25 for the first time,” Ros added. “When the dust settled from the final fast heat, JV’s time was fast enough for him to finish with a fifth-place medal. We knew this meet was the fourth of five divisional meets. With only one divisional meet left on Sunday, we knew that JV’s time was more than likely fast enough to qualify him for All States, which was confirmed after the last divisional meet was run. JV is seeded 11th for All States. Our goal is to try to win his heat putting him in position to medal in the top eight.

“As for our 4 x 400 relay team of Keny Guerrero, Goncalves, Tommy Desir, and Cunha, they didn’t have a PR race, but performed well enough to finish eighth, good enough to grab a medal. The boys finished third in their heat with only the fast heat containing six teams left. We kept our fingers crossed hoping that at least two of those teams had an off day for us to sneak into eighth. As it goes, luck was on our side, as indeed one team faltered in the last few yards and ended up running about one second slower, helping us to secure that eighth place medal.”

In addition to the medal-winners, another strong performance for Revere at the meet came from Mark Marchese in the 55 meter dash.

“Mark’s time was not fast enough to make the finals nor medal, but his time of 6.88 tied his second-best time in the event ever,” noted Ros. “Mark was also a part of the 4 x 200 meter relay. Mark led off the race with Allen Hou second, Javan Close third, and Keny Guerrero as the anchor. Getting a medal in this event was tough, but we didn’t help our cause due to some sloppy handoffs. Nevertheless, to make it all the way to the State Championships is an accomplishment itself.

“We are looking forward to the All-State Championships and hoping to get the Revere name on the podium,” Ros concluded.

Yuong Wins Third Place at D-1 Meet

Freshman standout Liv Yuong took home a third place medal in the high jump at Saturday’s Division 1 State Meet with a personal record (PR) jump of 5′-0″. That jump leaves Yuong just one inch shy of the RHS school record. Her third-place finish qualifies her for the all-state meet next Saturday.

“The fact that she just started jumping in December and has already cleared five feet is incredible,” said RHJS head coach Racquel Macdonald. “She was the top-placing freshman in this event at the meet, which is definitely not common for such a technical event like the high jump.”

Yuong also took home a sixth place medal at last Tuesday’s first annual Rising Championships in the 55 meter hurdles with a time of 10.56 seconds.

“With her talent in both the high jump and the hurdles, the sky truly is the limit for Liv,” said MacDonald.

Junior Captain Alannah Burke also finished the Division 1 state meet with a PR in the 1000 meter of 3:23.00.

“Each week Alannah continues to improve and get stronger,” said MacDonald. “She is truly coming into her own as a mid-distance runner. All the work she’s been putting in this season for the 1000 meter will definitely carry over into outdoor training for the 800, where she is less than a second away from the school record.”

Senior Captain Jerelys Canales was Revere’s top finisher at the Rising Meet with a third-place finish in the long jump with a leap of 14′- 2.75″.

“Jerry is such a talented long jumper, but we don’t have the means to practice it during the indoor season,” said MacDonald. “So the fact that she can still perform so well during competition is amazing. I can’t wait to see what the outdoor season holds for her in that event. Jerelys also finished 11th in the 55 meter dash with a time of 8.12, a great final indoor meet for such a dedicated team leader.”

Junior Kyra Delaney had a huge PR at the Rising in the 300 meter dash with a time of 47.29.

“Kyra has truly been improving each meet and I’m so proud to see her consistently running in the low-47 range,” noted MacDonald.

Another huge PR was achieved by sophomore Rocio Gonzalez, who knocked an amazing 18 seconds off her mile time with a PR of 6:22.7.

“What a race this was for Rocio!” exclaimed MacDonald. “She went out so smoothly and had such a strong kick at the end. It was such a strong way for her to end the season and I know she will keep bringing that mile time down come the outdoor season.”

Sophomore Yasmin Riazi finished with another PR at the Rising in the 600 meter dash.

“Yasmin took almost a whole second off her previous best and came in at 2:01.44,” said Macdonald. “She has been so consistent in this event all season and is right on the verge of that two-minute mark. It was so exciting to see her end the season with a PR.”

Finally, junior Natalia Lopez finished off her shot-put season at Risings with a huge toss of 24′-2.00″

“Nat’s really been working on getting her form down and you can tell with each throw,” said MacDonald.

“Overall, these two meets were truly a great way to close out the season for most of our team,” said MacDonald. “The girls performed so well and I feel so lucky to be able to coach such talented and hard working ladies. We are all looking forward to watching Liv next week at All States.”

RHS Boys Basketball Still Seeks Elusive Tourney Cincher

The Revere High boys basketball team entered the final quarter of their season with a 9-6 record, needing just one more win among their remaining five contests to clinch a .500 record and secure a berth in the post-season state tournament.

However, the Patriots came up short in three games this past week, leaving them at the .500 mark with a 9-9 record. Revere now has to win one of its two remaining contests. The first came last night (Tuesday) at the General George Patton Tournament when the Pats squared off against the host Hamilton-Wenham Generals in the tourney’s consolation contest.

Revere defeated Hamilton-Wenham, 45-40, two weeks ago at the Boston Garden in the Andrew Lawson Tournament, but the Generals were set to have the home advantage in the rematch last night.

The Patriots then will conclude their 2022 regular season tomorrow (Thursday) evening against Lynn English.

All three of the Patriots’ losses this past week were hard-fought encounters.

In a 65-58 defeat to East Boston last Tuesday before a packed Merullo Fieldhouse (thanks to a legion of Eastie fans), Eastie led by just a point, 50-49, entering the final period before pulling away.

Senior captain Jack D’Ambrosio led Revere with a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds. Senior Hamza Ghoul came close to a 2 x 2 with nine points and nine boards. Senior captain James Clauto also hit for nine points and Ramadan Barry added six.

Last Thursday, the Pats came up just short to Lynn Classical, 66-61. The teams were tied at 61-61 in the final minute when a desperation heave by a Ram player from three-point land as the shot-clock expired sank through the hoop with 0:20 to play.

Revere had a couple of nice looks in their ensuing possession, but could not hit the tie-breaker. Classical added two free throws for the five-point margin.

Junior Domenic Boudreau was on fire for Revere, draining six three-pointers to lead the Pats with 22 points. Barry hit for 11 and junior Alexander Hincapie came off the bench to provide a spark with nine points.

In the opening round of the Patton Tourney this past Monday, Revere dropped a 52-45 decision to No. Reading. The Pats led 10-9 after the first period, but could not find their shooting touch thereafter as they made just one three-pointer on the day. They managed just four points in the second period to trail 19-14 at the half.

They trailed 36-29 after three periods, but never were quite able to overcome the deficit. Clauto led Revere with 14 points. D’Ambrosio (12 points) and Boudreau (10) also reached double figures for the Pats.

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