Simon shines as CHS girls track opens with win
The Chelsea High girls indoor track and field opened its dual-meet season with an impressive 51-35 victory over Greater Boston League (GBL) rival Malden last Thursday at the Reggie Lewis Athletic Center in Roxbury.
Leading the way for the Lady Red Devils was sophomore star Thania Simon, who scored 15 points with first-place finishes in the 55 meter dash with a sprint of 7.75 seconds, the 300 dash in 48.71, and the long jump with a leap of 16’-3.75”.
What was especially impressive about Thania’s performance is that her time in the 55 dash was the fastest among all of the GBL competitors that evening (all eight of the GBL schools were at the Reggie to kick off their 2025 dual-meet season) and her long jump outdistanced the entire GBL field by 10 inches.
Additional first-place finishers for Chelsea were: Katherine Benitez in the 600 in a clocking of 2:20.11; Hazel Hatlerberg in the 1000 with a time of 3:55:53; and Kiara Ramirez-Villata in the shot-put with a throw of 32’-5”, a distance that by far (almost six feet) was the best in the GBL that night.
Adding three points to the CHS scoresheet with second-place efforts were: Aly Perez in the two mile; Lauren Nadow in the 55 hurdles; Angela Mejia-Martinez in the shot-put (Angela also scored a point with a third-place effort in the two-mile run); Isabel DeMatos-Lemos in the 1000; and Lily Serrano in the 55 dash.
Chacon-Aracena is No. 1 in GBL in shot-put in opening dual meet
Although the Chelsea High boys indoor track and field team came up on the short end of a 53-38 decision to Malden , a number of Red Devils turned in superb performances.
At the top of the list was senior Ariel Chacon-Aracena, whose shot-put throw of 47’-8” not only topped his Malden opponents, but proved to be the best among all of the GBL competitors on the night (all eight of the GBL schools were competing in their season-openers at the Reggie on Thursday) by nine inches.
Ariel also scored five points for the Chelsea cause with a first place in the high jump with a leap of 5’-4”.
Sherwin Kim scored points in three events, taking second place in the long jump, second in the 300, and a third in the 55 hurdles to score seven points on the night.
Bryan Amaya Yanes came across the line in first place in the 1000 in a clocking of 3:05.11. Teammate Kyle Leong was right behind in second place with a time of 3:05.90.
Xavier Guzman took second in the 600 dash with a clocking of 1:36.01, which was the fourth-fastest in the GBL that evening.
Carlos Perez-Acosta finished second in the mile to add three points to the CHS side of the scoresheet. Eric Anderson also scored three points with his second-place finish in the two-mile run.