Many Highlights for CHS Track Teams at GBL Meet; Rodriguez GBL Champ
The Chelsea High boys and girls indoor track and field teams wrapped up their 2023 regular season, competing in the Greater Boston League (GBL) Meet that was held last Friday at the Reggie Lewis Athletic Center in Roxbury.
A number of Red Devil athletes turned in superb performances at the meet, which featured all eight of the GBL schools.
Lady Red Devil Gizelle Rodriguez won the GBL title in the 600 meter dash, smashing her previous CHS school record of 1:44.12 with a clocking of 1:41.67.
“This time also qualified Gizelle to run the 400m in the Rising Stars division at the New Balance Nationals meet,” said CHS head coach Cesar Hernandez.
Her teammate, Hazel Hatleburg, finished in sixth place in the 600 with a five-second PR of 1:56.00. Hazel will be joining Gizelle and Thania Simon at Nationals, as this qualified her for the 400 in the middle-school division.
Rodriguez also turned in a stellar performance in the long jump, leaping 15’-3” to take second place, marking the first time that Gizelle has broken the 15-foot barrier.
In addition, Rodriguez ran a leg of the girls’ winning 4 x 800 relay team. Altogether, Gizelle scored 20.5 points, one of the highest totals among all of the boys and girls competitors at the meet.
Other top performances for Chelsea included:
Thania Simon finished in fourth place in the girls 55 meter dash with a personal record of 7.95, after running 8.09 in the prelims, which ranked her sixth going into the finals.
“Thania now will be following in her sister Stephanie’s footsteps,” said Hernandez, referring to all-time CHS star track performer Stephanie Simon. “Thania’s time qualified her for the Middle School division in the 60 meter dash at the New Balance Nationals meet.”
In the 300 meter dash, Darily Sanchez finished fourth for the girls with a 46.93, while Ali Warsame finished sixth on the boys’ side with a PR clocking of 38.09, which was .8 faster than his previous personal best.
Red Devil Nate Nadow had a big PR in the 600 by three seconds, running 1:29.13 to earn a third-place medal. Nate’s time auto-qualified him for the D-2 state meet in a few weeks.
In the 1000, Gigi Olivar finished in fifth place, running 3:47.36. She also finished in 5th place in the 55 meter hurdles, running 10.42, a new personal best.
In the one mile, Rosalinda Rojas ran a 6:30.52, a new personal best, to finish 6th.
In the two-mile run, Reina Moreira ran a 15:51.76 to finish in fifth.
On the boys’ side, Josue Hernandez PRed by over 30 seconds to finish fifth, running 11:58.24.
In the girls’ shot-put, Lady Red Devils Lamari Davis and Dhalia Christmas went 5th and 6th, with throws of 28’-00.25” and 27’-3.5” respectively.
For the boys, Greandoll Oliva and Emerson Melgar finished 3rd and 5th with throws of 36’-10” and 34’-10” respectively.
In the 4 x 200 relay, the Red Devil team of Joao Cassim, Carlos Alfaro, Cristian Mazariegos, and Alex Cano finished in sixth place.
On the girls’ side, the 4 x 200 quartet of Marcaylla Louis-Jean, Thania Simon, Vanesa Lopez, and Valerie Ramirez also finished sixth.
In the 4 x 800, the Chelsea girls team of Rodriguez, Sanchez, Hatleburg, and Rojas took the first-place medals.
For the boys, the 4 x 800 foursome of Alex Flores, Sherwin Kim, Jason Rodrigues, and Kyle Leong brought home fifth-place medals.
In the 4 x 400 relay, Ali Warsame, Nate Nadow, Jose Olivar, and Austin Freeman finished in fifth place for the boys, while Ashley Mejia, Gigi Olivar, Reina Martino, and Keiri Hernandez snared sixth-place ribbons for the girls.
CHS Basketball Teams in Action This Coming Week
The Chelsea High boys and girls basketball teams completed their Greater Boston League schedule this past week and will be wrapping up their 2023 seasons in the coming week against non-league opponents.
Coach Cesar Castro and his boys’ squad will host Watertown this Sunday for a 1:00 tip-off in the CHS gym. They will travel to Cambridge Rindge and Latin next Tuesday (Feb. 14) and then will trek to East Boston for their season finale next Friday (Feb. 17).
Coach Leslie Santiago’s girls will host Lynn Tech this Monday (Feb. 13) at 4:00 and will journey to Mt. Alvernia next Thursday, February 16, for their final contest of 2023.