DeCrosta Is Double Champ at GBL Meet; El-Asri Is 400 Dash King; Cunha Easily Wins 800; Close Wins High Jump
The Revere High boys outdoor track and field team turned in a strong performance at last week’s Greater Boston League (GBL) Meet.
Four Patriots won GBL championships in their respective individual events, led by their standout hurdler, Isaiah DeCrosta, who was a double champion, winning both the 400 and 110 meter hurdles races.
Isaiah handily won the 400 with a clocking of 58.84, which was almost three seconds faster than his closest rival, Nate Nadow of Chelsea, who came across in a time of 1:01.74.
In the 110 event, Isaiah sped to victory in a time of 15.50, which was 1.41 seconds faster than his closest rival.
Teammate Sami El-Asri claimed a GBL title with a first-place finish in the 400 dash with a time of 52.91, edging an Everett opponent by a margin of just 0.48. Sami also took fourth in the long jump with a leap of 19′-.25″.
Patriot standout trackman JV Cunha defended his GBL title in the 800, winning the race going away with a time of 2:01.61, which was more than four seconds faster than the runner-up.
Javan Close reigned supreme in the high jump with a leap of 5′-4″ to claim a fifth individual GBL crown for the RHS trackmen.
The Patriots also won first-place medals in both the 4 x 800 relay with a time of 9:15.64 and the 4 x 400 in a clocking of 3:36.35, as well as a fifth place in the 4 x 100.
Medy Bellemsieh scored eight points in two events. Medy finished third in the 400 dash with a clocking of 53.41 (which was a scant 0.50 behind the winning time of teammate Sami El-Asri) and took fifth in the triple jump with a landing of 38′-5.5″.
Youness Chahid scored four points with a fourth place finish in the two-mile run in 11:11.78.
Kenan Batic earned a sixth-place medal in the mile with a clocking of 4:56.87.
Allen Hou earned a ribbon with a sixth place effort in the shot-put with a throw of 37′-5.5″.
Kevin Purcifull also took home a sixth place medal in the discus with a toss of 109′-3.5″.
Erick Mayorga scored a point and a medal for his sixth-place effort in the javelin with a throw of 108′-6″.
The final team scores showed the Patriots taking second place among the eight-team competition with 92 points behind first-place Somerville with 121 points.
Boys Volleyball Awaits State Tourney Opponent
The waiting game soon will be over for the Revere High boys volleyball team, who have been awaiting the announcement of their final seeding and first-round opponent in the upcoming Division 1 state volleyball tournament.
Coach Lianne Mimmo’s Patriots, the undisputed champs of the Greater Boston League with a perfect 14-0 record, finished the season with a final overall mark of 16-4 and were ranked 22nd in the MIAA’s power rankings as of Monday morning.
The top 16 teams will have a home game in the opening round, which means that the Patriots will be hitting the road for their tourney opener.
 Stamatopoulos Scores 16 Points at GBL Meet
Freshman Gemma Stamatopoulos turned in a superb afternoon for the Revere High girls outdoor track and field team in last week’s Greater Boston League (GBL) Meet.
Gemma took second place in the 800 meter run with a clocking of 2:35.56; third in the two-mile in a time of 13:54.47; and fifth in the high jump with a leap of 4′-6″ to tally a team-high total of 16 points on the day.
Yara Belguendouz was next on the scoring chart for coach Racquel MacDoald’s squad with 12 points with a pair of third-place finishes in the 100 hurdles in a time of 19.94 and in the javelin with a throw of 74′-2″.
In the 400 hurdles, two Lady Patriots earned medals. Ashley Rodriguez took third place with a clocking of 1:17.63 and teammate Hiba El-Bzyouy took fifth with a time of 1:19.57.
The Lady Patriot duo of Olivia Rupp and Rocio Gonzalez Castillo finished 4-5 in the mile in times of 6:15.66 and 6:29.41 respectively.
Valeria Sepulveda added four points to the RHS scoresheet with a fourth-place finish in the two-mile in 14:16.40.
Basma Sahibi scored two points with a fifth-place finish in the triple jump with a final landing of 28′-10.75″.
Marwa Riad scored a point with a sixth place effort in the 400 meter dash with a time of 1:12.63 and Jocelyn Lazo brought home a ribbon with a sixth place showing in the javelin with a throw 69′-8″.
The Revere girls also placed second in the 4 x 800 relay in 12:23.17 with the quartet of Valeria Sepulveda, Hiba El Bzyouy, Bella Stamatopolous, and Daniela Santana Baez and sixth in the 4 x 400.
The Lady Patriots finished in fifth place among the eight teams in the competition with 59 points. Medford won the team title with 116 points.
“I think the real highlight of the meet was Gemma Stamatopolous,” said MacDonald. “Gemma is a freshman who achieved three personal records (PR) in that meet. She placed second in the 800m with a time of 2:35, which was a 10 second PR for her and only put her five seconds from states. She jumped 4′-6′ in the high jump and also came back to take third in the two-mile with another season PR and breaking the 14 minute mark. I really only see big things ahead for Gemma, especially when all of the girls who beat her in the league were seniors.
“Another freshman, Olivia Rupp, was able to pull away with a season outdoor PR for the mile in 6:15,” MacDonald continued. “This is super impressive, as she’s been battling a hip injury the majority of the season. She and Rocio Gonzalez, with her season mile PR, were able to take six points for us in the really stacked mile field.
“Our 4×800 team also took a 2nd place finish which was huge,” MacDonald added. “I’m super proud of that quartet for placing second, especially since most of those girls had never raced an 800 before.
“Overall, It was a really successful year for the team, going 5-2, while missing our top senior, Kyra Delaney, with an ACL tear and some other athletes who had other commitments throughout the season,” MacDonald concluded. “The girls really battled for each win and continue to get stronger even now as we head into off-season training. As always, I can’t describe how proud I am to coach these girls every day.”
RHS Girls Tennis Wraps Up 2023
The Revere High girls tennis team concluded its season this past week.
The Lady Patriots dropped a hard-fought 4-1 decision to Somerville.
Sophomore Dayna Phan fell short at first singles in a closely-contested match that went three sets, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3; senior Tenzin Chime won her match in three sets, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2; and at third singles, senior Christy Ly dropped a 6-1, 6-1 decision.
At first doubles, the duo of juniors Lesly Calderon Lopez and Jaimy Gomez fell 6-1, 6-1, and at second doubles, the tandem of sophomores Rachel Sanchez and Ivana Nguyen came up short by a score of 6-1, 6-0.
The Lady Patriots also fought hard in a 3-2 loss to Medford. Phan handily won her match in straight sets at second singles , 6-1, 6-2, and Sanchez pulled out a three-setter at third singles, 2-6, 7-6, 6-3.
Chime fell in two close sets at first singles, 6-4, 7-6, as did the first doubles team of Lesly Calderon Lopez and Ivana Nguyen, 7-5, 7-5. At
second doubles, Jaimy Gomez and junior Karla Leal fell short, 6-1, 6-4.
In the season-finale to Malden, the closest matches for coach Carla Maniscaldo’s squad came at second singles, where Chime fell by a score of 6-1, 6-4, and third singles, with Ly dropping a 7-6, 6-2 match.
