~ RHS Patriots Sports Roundup ~

Revere girls track team shines on state level with school records

By Dom Nicastro

The Revere High School girls track team came out of the Massachusetts State Track Coaches Association Invitational last week with two top-eight finishes and two new school records.

Gemma Stamatopoulos set a new school record in the 600-meter with a lifetime PR of over three seconds at 1:42.08. This broke the old school record set in 2018 by over one full second. This time was also good for an eighth-place finish overall in a super competitive field.

“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,” Revere coach Racquel MacDonald-Ciambelli said. “She knew she would have to lead the race 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 race 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’ve 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 Division 1 State championships in a couple weeks.”

The Patriots’ second school record was broken by senior captain Ashley Cabrera Rodriguez in the triple jump. Cabrera Rodriguez also holds the outdoor triple jump school record. Her jump of 30-10 broke the old record by three inches (set in 2020) and was good enough for seventh place overall.

“It’s important to note that the triple jump is typically not contested indoors, so we don’t practice it often,” MacDonald-Ciambelli said. “Ashley was able to complete this record-breaking jump with minimal practice.” Cabrera Rodriguez also competed in the 55-meter and ran an 8.20.

Liv Yuong was Revere’s third and final competitor at the Invite. She ran a 10.09 in the 55-meter hurdles, good for 24th place overall. Yuong also competed in the long jump and jumped 15-6.5, which was good for 26th overall. “Super impressive day for Liv again competing in multiple events while balancing illness,” MacDonald-Ciambelli said.

Revere girls basketball team hovers around .500

The Revere High School girls basketball team stood at 7-6 after 13 games.

The team fell to Lynn English, 48-29. It was a tough offensive game for the Patriots. Missing Belma Velic was a huge loss for Revere in this game in terms of rebounding. English had a great game collectively. The Patriots struggled to slow down their guards and the 3-ball.

The Patriots fell to Whittier, 43-34. Revere had better offensive tempo for the second time around in this season series against the team from Haverhill and were able to break their press more efficiently. Another game without Velic took away a lot of offensive strengths and allowed the opponent’s defense to pressure guards more.

Revere was nipped by Northeastern Conference team Winthrop, 33-31. It was a slow first half for the Patriots, but they turned on the gears for the second half to make a big run. It was a game of catch-up, which made it harder to clinch the win. Having the team’s starting five back was helpful in terms of offensive fluidity. No urgency in the first half resulted in the loss, according to coaches. Revere played solid defense in the second half.

Revere beat Malden, 29-22, with a great team effort. Low-scoring game on both ends – Revere applied great defensive pressure throughout the entire game. Having a selection of different defenses to resort to has been helpful for the Patriots.

Somerville topped Revere, 37-48. Once again, not having a full starting five made it difficult to take over this game. Somerville has a few strong guards and rebounders, and missing Shayna Smith resulted in a weak rebounding game for Revere.

Revere topped Medford, 37-33. Allyson Oliviera led the way with 12 points, followed by Smith with 11 points. Applying full court pressure in the second half was essential for Revere to keep its urgency up.

Medford went on a short run in the second half, but the Patriots were able to recover and gain momentum back. Revere went 6 for 17 from the free throw line, keeping the game close.