Triumph on the track: Behind the scenes with Revere’s two-time coach of the year

By Dom Nicastro

What a couple of seasons.

Revere High School girls track coach was named Coach of the Year for the Greater Boston League twice – for winter and spring. Her teams didn’t lose a dual meet all school year and they won each GBL championship meet.

As the team has completed another phenomenal season, we catch up with the coach for a Q&A.

Age: 30

Life outside of coaching: When I am not coaching the girls, my full-time job is a Talent Acquisition Manager at the Boston Consulting Group where I’ve been for the last eight years. I work with US MBA students interested in joining one of our many international offices outside the US and Canada. I currently live in Beachmont with my husband, so I tend to run into my team a lot out and about in the city.

High school/college attended: I attended Revere High School and graduated in 2012. I was salutatorian of my graduating class and still hold two outdoor track records in the 100 high hurdles and 400 hurdles from my time on the team.

One of my goals as a coach is to coach a girl to break these records. I firmly believe that all records are always meant to be broken. I also dabbled in high jump and other sprint events. I went to Boston College and walked on to the Division 1 Track and Field team. While there I competed in seven ACC championship meets and even was lucky enough to race Briana Rollins who held the world record for the 100 hurdles up until a couple years ago.

Number of years coaching: I started my coaching career as an assistant coach for the indoor and outdoor RHS track teams under Sam Ros and Antonio Labruna in 2018. I took over as girls head coach beginning in 2021 and have been here since.

What motivates you to coach?

Growing up I worked with children at the Revere Recreation Department for almost 10 years. So I always knew I wanted to continue working with the youth of the city in some way. I think once you leave college and high school athletics you unfortunately are expected to give up your sports, but I just never felt ready to do that.

I love track so much and know that it can be a wonderful outlet for high school students and I want to pass on that love and appreciation to my girls. I always tell them that track is two hours of the day where you get to forget about the outside world and fully focus on yourself. Don’t worry about the test you have tomorrow or the argument you had with a friend. Just focus on the workout and take this time for you. Seeing how excited the girls get when they hit a new PR or finish a tough workout is my biggest source of motivation. Watching them believe in themselves and gain so much confidence is such a wonderful feeling to experience again with them.

How would you describe your coaching style? 

I think my girls would describe my coaching style as tough but understanding. I push the girls a lot at practice to give their best effort and really emphasize that if they don’t they are only selling themselves short.

My biggest goal as a coach is to make every girl understand her own personal potential and get excited about reaching it.

However, I want the girls to not only share their great races and moments with me, but also the not-so-great ones, too. If one of my athletes is having a tough workout day or doesn’t have the best race, they always know I’m ready to chat and give them any support they need once they’re ready.

Sometimes the best thing for an athlete immediately after a tough event is some space. I think I am also very realistic with my time, constantly telling them that it is impossible to PR every meet and as long as they are having fun that’s really all you can ask for. Additionally, I think it’s really important for women to coach young girls because we can relate to them and understand which workouts and training plans are best for them. It’s been wonderful to see so many more female coaches not only at RHS, but throughout the Greater Boston League.

What are the moments that make it all worth it?

One of the best feelings when coaching is knowing that your athletes are so excited to share their successes with you! My favorite moments are when the girls run over to me after a race, jump, or throw and say “Coach I Red” or “Coach did you see that?” The excitement in their faces and voices reminds me why I love this sport so much.

I feel so lucky that I get to be a part of those special moments and memories they are making. I am always running to the finish lines to jump and celebrate with the girls, so much to the point I have been told by officials that we need to move away from the finish line from now on haha!

It’s also amazing to see the friendships developing between my athletes because of track and how supportive they are of one another! Every single member of my team is always rooting for the girls around them, and it makes me so proud. I tell the girls that the friendships they make through this sport really are lifelong, and I’m living proof of that as my six best friends are all former Boston College Track and Field athletes as well 🙂

The league championships and wins are absolutely amazing, but those are only possible because of the individual success and support I mentioned above.

What’s it like working with other coaches in the school? 

Revere really has a great coaching community! I really feel that all of us have one main goal — the overall development of our student-athletes. All coaches I work with are great about sharing gym time and resources for the students.

It’s also great to have a coaching relationship with Katie Sinnot, the RHS XC coach and former Eagle as well! We are constantly chatting about how we can help female runners develop muscle and incorporate more strength training into our workout plans!

I also want to flag that there has been wonderful collaborative coaching efforts throughout the whole Greater Boston League this year. Without a throwing coach, I really struggled to give my throwers sufficient advice and workouts. I am super thankful for the Chelsea AD and Chelsea coaches who were willing to hold some throwing practices with my team and improve their overall shotput form. I also was super excited to work closely with the Chelsea High hurdlers in February and give them some hurdle technique training to bring back to their teams.

What are some proud moments from this season? 

I know we’ve already talked a lot about this team’s success throughout 2024, but it goes without saying that I am so proud of the team for going undefeated in both the indoor and outdoor seasons and being back-to-back GBL League champions. We also had 11 school records broken, multiple GBL champs and D1 state qualifiers.

The girls showed great talent and perseverance even at the toughest meets, and I can’t say enough about their commitment to the team and each other.

However, as much as track is a team sport, it also is an individual sport. One of my goals every season is that each athlete will walk away from the season with at least one PR or personal best. I am so proud to say that in both indoor and outdoor, all of the girls did this and were so proud of themselves. With hard work comes more self-confidence, and this is the type of attitude that leads to great team success.

Who are some of your coaching mentors? 

I feel super lucky to have had such wonderful coaches throughout my whole athletic career. I know that they are a huge reason that I was so excited to become a coach and make a new generation of athletes fall in love with track and field.

Peter Digiulio was one of my track coaches in high school, and he was so supportive of me throughout my whole four years of high school, including through an injury.

Sam Ros, who was the RHS boys head coach until 2023, was my other high school coach, and I am so lucky to call him not only a mentor but a friend. Sam pushed me every practice and meet to be the best athlete I can be. He also really embodies that tough but understanding coaching style I mentioned earlier. Sam has a great way of seeing his athletes’ potentials and making them excited about all they can achieve. He never took it easy on us, because he knew that wouldn’t help us in the long run. I remember when I was training to join the Boston College team, Sam would meet me at the MIT track to run workouts during his own workday and get me ready for tryouts. I owe so much to him and his constant belief in me. I really hope that some of my current athletes will feel that I helped support them the way Sam supported me!

What excites you about the 2024-2025 season?

Next year is going to be such a strong year for the RHS girls track teams! Our upcoming senior class is so strong and includes multiple GBL champions. I am so excited to watch these girls lead this team to another strong season. Our distance crew is also fairly young, mostly freshman and sophomores, so it will be great to have them pave the way for any new talented runners heading our way from the middle schools! I think this team will come into next year feeling super confident and motivated to get back out there and dominate the GBL!