DYNAMIC DUO: Revere boys, girls track sweep Greater Boston League championship

Both boys and girls teams run undefeated to mark stellar season

By Dom Nicastro

They won everything. Literally. The Revere High School boys and girls track team won the dual-meet Greater Boston League title and then each completed the season sweep by capturing the GBL championship meet.

The boys scored 108 points, beating Somerville, the next closest team, by 14 points. In addition to winning the league meet, the team finished with a regular season record of 7-0.

“We knew it would be close against Somerville and that they would come out strong,” Revere boys coach David Fleming said. “I told them don’t be surprised if we’re down 15-20 points early on, but don’t panic. The plan was to pick up points as the meet went on and to finish strong in the relays.”

The final three events of the meet are relays, where Revere outscored the Highlanders, 28-16. Those points in the relays were crucial to the win.

“Over the past few years, we graduated several superstars like JV Cunha, Medy Bellemsieh and Sami El Asri. In many ways, this is a new group,” Fleming said. “They blended really nicely with veterans like Isaiah DeCrosta and Kenan Batic, who came up under Coach Sam Ros. It was exciting to see what they were able to accomplish this season.”

Each athlete participates in up to three events only, including relays.

Jeremy X, junior captain, scored 14.5 points. He was fourth in the 55-meter dash and second in the 300-meter and anchored the 4×200-meter relay team to a win. “Jeremy’s a complete professional and can absolutely fly,” Fleming said. “He was less than a half-inch away from a win in the 300. He’s so fun to watch on the track.”

Youness Chahid, senior, scored a team-high 24 points and finished second in the 1,000-meter, mile and 2-mile. “Youness was a workhorse in this meet,” Fleming said. “I can’t say enough about his performance. He singlehandedly kept us in it during the middle part of the meet.”

Joey Angiulo, sophomore, was second on the team with 16 points. “Joey had an incredible rookie season for us. He’s an exceptional great athlete, he works hard and always wants to get better,” Fleming said. “And he’s just a sophomore. He’ll be a force next season.”

The Revere 4×200-meter team of Oliver Escobar (junior), Kepler Celamy (junior), Anthony Pelatere (freshman) and Jeremy X took first place. This team qualified for the state meet. Pelatere is only a freshman. “As he’s done all season, Oliver rocketed out to the lead and handed to Kepler, who ran his best relay leg of the season,” Fleming said. “Anthony ran a hugely important third leg fighting off other teams to keep the lead. And once he handed it to Jeremy, we knew it was all over.”

The 4×800-meter relay team of Kenan Batic (captain), Edwin Alacron, Mo Fares (captain) and Adam Ourazzouk took first place. Revere saved Batic and Fares specifically for the 4×800. “Kenan and Edwin got us out to a big lead,” he said. “Mo and Adam held on strong for the win.”

On the girls side, Revere came into the meet with a goal to back up its undefeated season with a win. And they did it, scoring 126 points. “It was a tough meet with the score going back and forth with Somerville the whole time until we really pulled away at the end,” Revere coach Racquel MacDonald-Ciambelli said. “We were also battling some sickness and injuries throughout the team so it was really a full team effort to crank this out.”

Liv Yuong went three for three again to be the GBL Champion in all three of her events (high jump, long jump, 55-meter hurdles). She started out the meet with a huge 0.3-second PR in the 55-meter hurdles, running a 9.25. She came back in the finals to better her PR by .01 with a 9.24. “She three-stepped the whole race which has been a huge goal for us,” MacDonald-Ciambelli said. “With some fine-tuning she should be able to get that time to 9.1 by D1 states.”

Yuong then came back to win the long jump with a jump of 15-7, three inches ahead of the second-place jumper. Finally, she topped off her 30-point night with a 4-10 jump to win the high jump.

Gemma Stamatopoulos took home 26 points for the team with two first-place finishes and a third-place finish. She continued her undefeated GBL run in the 600-meter (1:43.72), taking first place as GBL champion. This was a whole three seconds faster than the second-place runner.

She then came back to take the GBL title in the 2-mile (13:46.81), an event that she does not commonly run but is always willing to step into to gain some team points. She then took 3rd in the high jump after running the 2-mile. “Jumping 4-6 on tired legs is not easy,” MacDonald-Ciambelli said, “and Gemma still manages to handle the multiple events every race.”

Revere’s final GBL championship team was the 4×800-meter relay team of Gigi Zierten, Gianna Chiodi, Zizi Kalliavas and Olivia Rupp. This team ran a whole eight seconds faster than its closest competitor. “It’s also important to mention that Gianna and Zizi are brand new to the 800-meter and really stepped up for the team here when we were faced with illness and injury,” MacDonald-Ciambelli said. “Zizi, a truly exceptional freshman, ran this 4×800-meter and then came back to run a 4×400-meter with only about six minutes to recover. That 4×400-meter relay quartet took third overall so Zizi came away with two medals. So proud of her.”

On top of her stellar anchor leg of the 4×800-meter relay, Rupp took two massive second-place finishes for the team in the mile and 1,000-meter. She ran a 5:42.82 mile, which bested her previous PR by another two seconds and qualified her for Division 1 states. She then came back to take second place in the 1,000-meter (3:26.55), running only one second off her lifetime PR. “It’s clear that Olivia is at peak physical fitness right here and should be able to break that 5:40 mark at states,” her coach said.

Francoise Kodjo took second place in the shotput with a massive PR throw of 28-3.5. This tops her previous PR by almost a full foot.

Third-place finishes included Zierten in the mile (6:17.05) and Basma Sahibi in the 55-meter hurdles (9.86). Zierten was only one second off her lifetime PR, and Sahibi set a new PR in the 55-meter hurdles by over .5 seconds.

Valeria Sepulveda took home two fourth-place finishes in the 1,000-meter (3:38.57) and 2-mile (15:02.45). Neyla Vranic took fifth place in the long jump (13-10). Sixth-place finishes included Ashley Cabrera Rodriguez in the 55-meter dash, Danni Hope Randall in the 300-meter and Jocelyn Lazo in the shotput.

Also taking third place were the two relay teams: 4×200-meter (Rania Hamdani, Danni Hope Randall, Dayana Ortega, Jaliyah Manigo) and 4×400-meter (Hope Randall, Ortega, Zizi Kalliavas, Cabrera Rodriguez). “The 4×200-meter third place was crucial in putting us over Somerville,” MacDonald-Ciambelli said. “Danni Hope Randall, the anchor leg, took the lead over her Somerville competitor right at the finish line with an absolutely incredible lean. Danni then came back to lead off the 4×400-meter relay with minimal rest in between. Dayana Ortega also was added to both the 4×200-meter and 4×400-meter teams at the last minute and helped us secure those crucial 12 points.”

MacDonald-Ciambelli noted what an absolutely incredible season it’s been. Beyond the winning, it’s been a special season – paying tribute to a loss in the Revere school and track communities. “I wanted to point out that the girls have been wearing pins on their uniforms this year in remembrance of former RHS track coach Peter DiGiulio who passed away in December. Peter was not only my track coach, but so many of the girls knew him through his time in the school system and his time as a track official. The RHS track program owes so much to this man, and we are eager to ensure that his memory lives on.”