Sports 02-07-2019

CHS Roundup

Lady Red Devils are CAC track champs

The Chelsea High girls indoor track and field team captured the Commonwealth Athletic Conference championship last week.

The Lady Red Devils handily defeated all of their competitors, scoring 98 points.  Greater Lowell was Chelsea’s closest rival in a distant second place with 64 points.

There were many contributors to the CHS column on the scoresheet, led by Stephanie Simon, who captured first place in three events, the hurdles, 50 yard dash, and high jump, to account for 30 points.

Teammate Yarid Deras was the next top-scoring Lady Red Devil, contributing 18 points with a first-place finish in the mile and a second-place performance in the two-mile in what by any measure was a challenging  day of competition.

Ana Chang scored in two events to add 12.5 points to the CHS cause with her first-place performance in the 300 dash and as the lead-off leg of the Lady Red Devils’ winning 4 x 400 relay quartet. 

Ana’s victory in the 300 dash was especially impressive because her time of 48.3 seconds was the only clocking below 50 seconds among the entire field. 

The other three members of the triumphant 4 x 400 foursome were Denali Mejia, Jocelyn Poste, and Yarelis Torres Diaz.

Poste also scored an additional eight points with her second-place finish in the 600 dash to give her 10.5 points on the day.

Yarelis Torres Diaz, another member of the relay, contributed four points with her fourth place finish in the 600 dash for a total of 6.5 points for the meet.

Other point-scorers for Chelsea were: Nicole Torres Diaz, who finished third in the 1000;  Masireh Ceesay with a third-place toss of the shot put; Janieshelly Morales, who scored in two events with sixth-place performances in the 300 dash and the 50 dash; Percy Melgar, who crossed the line in fifth place in the two-mile run; and Deanna Christmas, who took sixth spot in the shot put.

CHS boys finish third at CAC meet

The Chelsea High boys indoor track and field team finished in third place at last week’s Commonwealth Athletic Coneference Meet with a total of 50 points. Greater Lawrence won the meet with 100 points, followed by Lynn Tech with 61.

CHS head coach Cesar Hernandez received outstanding performances from a number of his Red Devils.

Two Chelsea boys won their events to claim the status of league champion. Rigo Flores captured the shot put with an impressive throw of 42’-2.5” and Jazmany Reyes sped to victory in the most exciting race of the day, the 600 dash, in a neck-and-neck finish with a Greater Lawrence opponent.

Jazmany also took third place in the mile to account for a team-high total of 16 points for the meet.

Teammate Justin Turner was the next top point-scorer for the Chelsea cause with a second-place performance in the two-mile run and a third-place finish in the 1000 for a total of 14 points.

Other point-scorers for Chelsea were: Anthony Del Rosario with a fourth place toss in the shot put; Jesus Matos with a fifth in the high jump; Limilson Tavares with a sixth in the 1000; Frank Suarez with a sixth in the hurdles; and Ian Padilla with a sixth in the mile.

Bruins Beat:Bruins in ‘celebration’ mode

Tuesday night’s 3-1 win versus the New York Islanders, was a celebration that began with a celebration, as the New England Patriots were in attendance with their sixth, and latest, Vince Lombardi Trophy. Dropping the ceremonial puck before the start of the game, Patriots’ Julian Edelman used a Gronkowksi-like spike, and from that point on it was Patrice Bergeron’s night to celebrate. The Bruins forward began his 1,000th game as a Bruin, and proved he hasn’t missed a step, scoring the first and last goal of the night to cement the victory. Bergeron’s first goal was number 306 of his 15-year Boston career, the empty-netter to end the game number 307, and was made even more memorable when David Pastrnak, with wide open ice to the empty net, unselfishly left the puck for Bergeron to score.

At press time Wednesday, the Bruins were in New York, being hosted by the New York Rangers. Following the game Boston will enjoy a two-day respite before returning to the friendly confines of TD Garden ice to begin a homestand of three-games-in-four days. Visitors include the Los Angeles Kings in a Saturday matinee (1:00pm), the back-to-back game on Sunday with the Colorado Avalanche (3:00pm), and end the homestand by taking on the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night (7:00pm).

This will be a situation where the Bruins will have to be careful to not play down to their opponent’s level, as the three teams they face during the homestand are at this time, in the bottom six of the Western Conference. The Kings are the cellar-dwellers holding onto the 15th position, the Avalanche currently hold tenth place in the West, and are still in striking distance of a playoff spot, while the surging Blackhawks are 13th, but also still within three points of the last playoff spot.

Prior to last night’s game (Wednesday) with the Rangers, the Bruins held fifth spot in the tight Eastern Conference standings, and fourth place in the Atlantic Division. The Bruins came into New York trailing the Montreal Canadiens and the New York Islanders by a single point, and the second-place Toronto Maple Leafs by two points. The importance of the four games that began Wednesday shows that if the Bs can continue the two-game win streak they are currently riding, they can make a solid move upwards in the Conference standings. The consistent play of Tuukka Rask has certainly been a main factor in Boston’s recent success. The netminder continues on a game point streak, now at ten, with 8-0-2. Rask’s overall stats are, 16-8-0-4, with a 2.30 goals against average, and a save percentage of .924, including two shutouts. Rask will likely have to wait until the team returns to the Garden on Saturday to extend his streak, as Jaroslav Halak was expected to be manning the Boston net in New York on Wednesday.

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