The Chelsea High boys track team edged Greater Lowell, 108-103, to capture the championship of the Commonwealth Athletic Conference’s All-League Meet Saturday at the Greater Lowell track and field facility. The victory over Greater Lowell avenged the Red Devils’ loss to Greater Lowell last week in the teams’ dual meet.
“There are almost 500 points that are scored at this meet, so to be separated by only five points shows how evenly matched we are with Greater Lowell,” said CHS head coach Don Fay. “I think losing last week gave us more focus and determination to beat them at the league meet.”
Saturday’s triumph marked the fourth consecutive CAC Meet triumph for Chelsea. This year’s victory was achieved even though not one Red Devil won an event, as compared to last year’s meet when Chelsea won seven events.
However, the Red Devils’ depth was evident by a glance at the final tally sheet, which showed Chelsea with seven second place finishes and six thirds to account for the bulk of their points. The top three finishers in each event received medals and the fourth through sixth places received ribbons.
Second places went to: Ronnie Gomez in the discus, who threw 109’11”; Walter Cortez, who threw 131’11” in the javelin; Norbert Simon, who jumped 5′ 4″ in the high jump and was also second in the 200 dash in 23.2; Luis Hernandez, who also had two seconds with a 63.7 in the 400 meter hurdles and a 17.1 clocking in the 110 meter high hurdles; and Joseph Arroyo, who turned in a personal record (PR) by 16 seconds in the two mile, running 11:03.
Third place finishers, who contributed six points to the CHS cause were: Cristian Ortega in the shot put with a throw of 39′ 3″; Juan Achar, who had a personal best in the discus with a twirl of 107′; Simon, who qualified for the state meet in the long jump with a leap of 20′ 2″; Santos Hernandez, who ran 64.7 seconds in the 400 meter hurdles; Francisco Colindres, who ran a PR in the 800 meters in 2:13; and the 4 x 400 relay quartet of Colindres, Calvin Hernandez, Brandon Rath, and Arroyo.
Fourth place performers who scored four points were Juan Achar, who had a PR in the shot put with a heave of 37’2″, and Simon in the 100 dash in 11.49. Norbert enjoyed a banner day for the Red Devils, placing 26 points onto the Chelsea scoresheet.
Fifth place finishers were: Santos Hernandez in the 110 meter high hurdles, running 18.1; Brandon Rath, who ran a PR of 57.3 for the 400 meters; Brian Pilego, who tied his PR of 2:18 in the 800 meters; and the 4 x100 relay team of Calvin Hernandez, Kevin Luu, Zavier Martin, and Ronny Gomez.
“It was very satisfying to win after last week’s disappointment,” noted Fay. “The boys showed that they are resilient and were able to bounce back and be emotionally ready for this week. This victory makes the seniors undefeated in their high school career in the League Meet, with three dual meet titles on top of that.”