CHS Roundup
Impressive performances
for CHS indoor track teams
Members of the Chelsea High boys and girls indoor track teams competed this past week in three meets, the Greater Boston League Freshman/Sophomore meet, the Speed Classic at the Reggie Lewis Center, and the state Freshman/Sophomore meet, also at Reggie Lewis.
At the GBL frosh/soph meet at Somerville, the Chelsea squad came through with a good showing, led by Hector Garcia, Chelsea’s sole winner who took first place in the mile with a time of 5:46.
“Hector is only a sophomore and is coming off foot injuries to start the season,” said CHS head coach Mark Martineau. “We still have no idea how good he can be.”
Freshman Yarid Dera also turned in a strong performance in the mile with a time of 6:39.
At the MSTCA Speed Classic, Chelsea runners also performed well. The top finisher for Chelsea was senior Mariama Kamara, who finished fifth among a field of 128 competitors in the 55 meter dash with a time of 7.55.
“Mariama has been working hard and this time ties her personal best from last year,” said Martineau.
Also doing well in the dash was sophomore Martin Simon, finishing 14th, also with a personal best of 8.00. Martin also finished 16th in the long jump with a personal-best leap of of 14’-10.25”, a distance that is just off the qualifying mark for the state meet.
Freshman Jocelyn Poste finished 20th out of 125 competitors in the 600 — an event Jocelyn usually does not run — with a time of 1:51.69. The girls 4 x 400 relay of Kamara, Simon, Poste, and Awa Bajinka just missed qualifying for the state meet with a fifth place finish in a time of 4:40.58.
On the boys’ side, senior Jose Aguiar finished 17th in the 300 (out of 135 competitors) with a time of 39.31. Also finishing well in the 300 were Alezio DaSilva (25th, 39.92), and Leonardo DeAlmedia (40th, 40.82). Chelsea’s top performer in the 55 meter dash was junior Adriel Cedano in a time of 7.19. The highlight of the day for the boys was the 4 x 200 relay crew of Aguiar, DaSilva, Cedano, and Junior Nick Ieng, who finished 10th with a time of 1:38.10.
This past Saturday the top CHS freshmen and sophomores competed in the State Freshman/Sophomore meet at Reggie Lewis. Sophomore Martin Simon finished fourth in the long jump with a leap of 14’-7.25”. Simon also finished 22nd in the 55 dash in a time of 8.11. Freshman Jocelyn Poste finished 24th in the 1000 with a time of 3:35. Freshman Yarid Deras ran a personal best time of 6:36 in the mile. Freshman Masireh Ceesay finished 22nd in the shotput.
“It is great to bring our younger athletes to meets of this caliber,” noted Martineau. “By competing on the state-wide level this early in their careers, they will get used to the ‘bright lights’ and be able to focus on competing, not adjusting to their surroundings.”
The entire CHS boys and girls squads will compete in a dual meet today (Thursday) against Medford.
Bruins Beat
by Bob Morello
Bruins skating on thin ice
As the saying goes, ‘A win is a win is a win,’ the alternative being ‘A loss is a loss is a loss!’ That being said, despite a pretty good effort by the Bruins in Tuesday night’s 3-2 loss to the league-leading Washington Capitals, it was costly, not only in the missed points in the standings, but also the loss due to injury to Adam McQuaid. The Bruins defenseman took a major hit from behind, courtesy of Washington’s Zach Sill early in the second period, driving his head into the glass. McQuaid needed assistance leaving the ice, and did not return, a definitive report was not available following the game. In a happier note for McQuaid, following a review by the NHL of Boston’s only goal scored in the recent 2016 NHL Winter Classic, originally credited to Matt Beleskey, the change now awards the goal to McQuaid – his first of the season, with assists to Ryan Spooner and Jimmy Hayes.
Washington’s 3-2 victory on Tuesday, allowed Braden Holtby to continue his mastery over the Bruins, boosting his numbers to 9-2-0 in 11 games against the Bruins, including three shutouts. On the other side of the ledger, Tuukka Rask’s record fell to 1-8-3 in 11-career games versus the Capitals, as the Caps improved their league-leading road record to 14-4-2. Eluding the Bruins again on Tuesday night was the chance for Boston to reach a milestone with a victory, which would have raised their lifetime record to 3,000 regular-season victories. Having lost five of their last six games, after not bearing a regulation loss in the previous six games, the Bs are beginning to appear as a cyclical team with a Jekyll/Hyde makeup.
Beginning tomorrow (Friday) night, Boston will embark on a schedule of five road games in eight nights, before returning to Garden ice, Saturday night (1/16) to host the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 7:00pm faceoff. The Bruins five road games will include facing the New Jersey Devils (Friday 1/8 at 7:00pm), the Ottawa Senators (Saturday 1/9 at 7:00pm), the New York Rangers (Monday 1/11 at 7:00pm), the Philadelphia Flyers (Wednesday 1/13 at 8:00pm), and the Buffalo Sabres on Friday 1/15 at 7:00pm.
At press time (Wednesday), the Bruins were precariously holding onto the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, tied with Ottawa (Bs with 2 games in hand), the Pittsburgh Penguins played the Chicago Blackhawks Wednesday night and were one-point behind Boston (Bs with one game in hand), and Tampa Bay Lightning two points back (Bs with 2 games in hand). Presently three games shy of hitting the mid-point of regular season play, the Bruins need to put together another winning streak to create some space between themselves and the rapidly approaching rest of the pack.
Bruins winger Brad Marchand will sit out the New Jersey Devils game on Friday, completing his three-game suspension for his December 29th hit on Ottawa’s Mark Borowieki. With the question of the severity of the injury to McQuaid, and the prolonged absence of David Krejci presently on injured reserve, Boston can’t afford many more holes in their lineup.