Taren Kershaw set a new Revere High School (RHS) record in the 400 meter run last week, breaking a record that had stood for 26 years that had been set by Chris Haney in 1983.
Taren initially bettered Haney’s time of 65.5 with a 65.3 clocking in a meet with Salem last Monday and then topped her own record with a run of 63.7 in the meet with Beverly a few days later.
THE 2009 REVERE HIGH GIRLS TENNIS TEAM — Front row left to right: Hanan Kadri, Cristina Difabio, Julie Lu, Donna Le, Jennifer Kingston, Sabrina Sot. Back row left to right: Nancy Nguyen, Karen Chan, Mounia Elarar, Victoria Mauro, Zerina Dervisevic, Gia Ciccolo, Yvonne Rincon, Elma Meskovic, Samantha Harris, Cleopatra Duque.
“Taren has been a real success story,†said veteran RHS head coach Peter DiGiulio. “She has improved her time in the 400 by 10 seconds over last year. She is always the first one at practice and the last to leave. Her record is a testament to her hard work and determination.â€
Kershaw and her teammates on Monday then pulled out a thrilling victory over Lynn Classical, 63.5-62.5,that was decided in the final event, the 4×400 relay.
“Taren started that race for us and gave us a lead that Lynn Classical had no hope of making up,†said DiGiulio. “Her teammates responded, and we won going away.â€
In addition to Kershaw, other members of the winning 4×400 quartet were the Hough sisters, Colby and Tayla, and Kassandra Digitale.
However, as DiGiulio was quick to point out, every point (and every half point) counted toward the narrow margin of victory and each Lady Patriot who scored made a vital contribution to the winning effort.
“This was a real character building win for our team,†noted the coach. “It showed them that every event is worth competing hard to the end because every third place finish is important. If there had been just one place difference in favor of the other team, we would have lost.â€
First place finishers for Revere were Colby Hough in the mile in 6:09.8; Tayla Hough in the 800 in 2:38; Racquel MacDonald in the high jump with a leap of 4-6; Briana Scata with a personal record (PR) throw of 27-2.5 in the shot put; and Loujain Hamza with a discus toss of 65-1.
The 2009 Revere High School boys tennis team— Front row (from left) are: Michael Truong, Richie Leng, John Nguyen, Kristi Kasuli, Carlos Monroy, Brian Sou, and Juan Jimenez. Back row (from left) are: coach Michael Flynn, Francesco Tartaglia, Joseph Tran, Adin Avelic, Richard Bonilla, Timothy Mellen, Jefferson Saky, Steaven Nguyen, Chris Prak, Pariwat Chaiwong, Malak Mossadek, and Victor Wongwajarachot.
In addition, a key factor in the win was the triumph by the 4×100 relay team that benefited from a dropped baton on the final handoff by the Classical girls. The foursome of Theresa McHatton Santiano, Racquel MacDonald, Sara Boukdad, and Marissa Parent pulled out the win, which at the time didn’t seem to be as crucial as it later turned out to be.
“Marissa just blew right by the Classical girl when the dropped baton occurred,†said DiGiulio. “It just shows that you never give up in a race because anything might happen.â€
Second place performances were turned in by McHatton Santiano in the 100 dash in 14.5 and in the 200 in 29.2; the versatile Elizabeth Nutile in the 800 in 2:47.3 and in the high jump with a leap of 4-2 (Liz also took thirds in the 400 hurdles in a PR time of 1:20.3 and in the triple jump with a 26-4); Kershaw in the 400 in 64.5; Kassandra Digitale in the mile in 6:50.6; Jessica Mack with a twirl of the discus of 61-1; and Parent with a long jump of 14-3.
Then there were the all-important third place efforts: Anjelica Cimino in the two mile in 27:16; Alexis Tyrrell, a newcomer to the team, who tossed the shot put a PR distance of 22-7; and the third place tie, good for a point, that was earned by McHatton Santiano in the long jump with her leap of 14-2.
The Lady Patriots are set to close out their dual meet season next Thursday at Peabody and then will compete in the Northeastern Conference Meet on the following Saturday.
