CHS Athletes Perform Well at Meets Over the Break
A contingent of Chelsea High athletes from the girls and boys indoor track and field teams competed in invitational meets over the vacation break.
In the Boston Holiday Challenge, Gizelle Rodriguez finished 12th in the 600 with a time of 1:45.43, despite coming off four days of not running because of illness.
Teammate Darily Sanchez ran a 46.34 in the 300, dropping her time by over a second from the Speed Classic meet two weeks ago.
On the boys’ side, Ali Warsame and Nate Nadow, two other athletes who had just been getting over illnesses, also had strong performances in the 300 (Ali, 39.44) and 600 (Nate, 1:32.96).
At the MSTCA Distance Classic, Chelsea’s best performance came from Darily Sanchez in the 800, whose time of 2:40.89 gave her a 12th place finish.
“This was about an 11-second improvement from when she ran the same event at the end of outdoor last school year,” noted CHS head coach Cesar Hernandez.
Gizelle Rodriguez turned in a superb time of 5:50.45 in the mile, finishing 15th.
“This was Gizelle’s first time running the mile this season, and she just missed the school record by one second, so we are hoping she will finish the job at the Northeast Invitational next Friday,” said Hernandez.
Senior Dhalia Christmas also did well at the meet, finishing 19th in the shot-put with a toss of 26’-11”.
Hernandez and his crew were set to resume their dual-meet schedule against their Greater Boston League rivals yesterday (Wednesday) against Everett. They will take on Malden next Wednesday.
CHS Boys Hoop Hosts Malden Today
The Chelsea High boys basketball team is scheduled to host Greater Boston League (GBL) rival Malden today (Thursday) at the CHS gym.
The opening tip is set for 5:30.
The Red Devils competed in the Christmas tournament at Lowell Catholic last week in which they came up short against a team from Rancho Solano, Arizona, in the opening contest and then in the consolation contest with Lowell Catholic.
The following night coach Cesar Castro and his crew trekked to Watertown and played well in a 51-44 loss.
“We played hard, but some inexperienced mistakes cost us,” said Castro. “But that’s going to happen with a young team.”
Watertown’s long-time legendary head coach, Steve Harrington, who has more than 400 career victories, had some nice words for the young CHS squad.
“He said he loves what we are doing with the boys, that they play hard and have a lot of energy, and that we will be a scary team in the future,” said Castro. “That meant a lot because he is an amazing coach and he’s been doing this for 29 seasons with a couple of state championships under his belt.”
Despite the setbacks, Castro remains upbeat about his squad.
“I still believe in my guys, but for the most part, all this is basically their first-year experience on a varsity level, even competitive basketball at that,” Castro said, whose team now stands at 1-6 . “It’s growing pains and that is going to happen. But we will learn from our wins and losses and keep getting 1% better every day.
“I love how everyone supports us and knows we are just building the foundation. Chelsea basketball will be special and I stand on that.,” Castro added.
After tonight’s encounter with Malden, the Red Devils will host Revere next Tuesday at 7:00 and will travel to Medford next Thursday.
CHS Girls Working Hard, Improving
Although the Chelsea High girls basketball team has yet to break into the win column, first-year CHS head coach Leslie Santiago has been seeing improvement from her squad.
“The girls are getting better each game and they are working hard in practice,” said Santiago.
In Tuesday night’s loss to Everett, the highlights for the Lady Red Devils included a pair of three-pointers by freshman Monica Cespedes-Cruz; a five-point effort from junior Keara Chevez Trejo, who shot 50% at the free throw line; and a five-point contribution from
freshman Melize Siliro, who was 2-for-2 from the free throw line.
Santiago and her crew will travel to Malden today (Thursday) and to Revere next Tuesday before heading home to host Medford next Thursday.