Excel

Academy

Charter

School

—

Athletics

Newsletter

Volume 1, Issue 2, Winter 2017

Golden Wolves Win MCSAO Dance Championship Inside this issue: Boys Varsity Basketball

2

Girls Varsity Basketball

3

Boys JV Basketball

4

Basketball All Stars

2

Middle School Roundup

3

Spring Sports Preview

4

Special points of interest:  Golden Wolves are MCSAO Dance Champs  Boys and Girls Varsity Basketball have best season to date  Boys JV debut season a success  Spring Sports preview

The Excel Golden Wolves dance team, made school history this season, as they won Excel’s first ever MCSAO Championship. Participating on the hallowed boards of UMASS Boston, in front of a packed gym, & in a fiercely competitive contest, they defeated 4 other talented charter school dance teams, from Roxbury Prep, Salem Academy, KIPP Lynn & CCSC. The MCSAO dance competition was judged and scored on a number of categories including creativity & musicality, communication & projec-

tions, difficulty, formations & transitions & synchronization. The Golden Wolves choreographed a brand new routine for the championships, & practiced for hours each day to perfect this routine. Coach Srinivasan said “Our team worked so hard to not only choreograph the routines, but to ensure that everything was on point, from the routine, to the uniforms to hair & make up. They were all surprised, overwhelmed & proud of their victory” In the melee of the team receiving the award, students

were in shock, and Freshman Kevin Salgado and Sophomore Jaydon Colon were ecstatic to learn that they earned 1st place. Captains, Camila LopezGiraldo , Jasmine Maldonado, Axel Perez Castillo brought the trophy back to school, and thanked any and all students who showed up to support them throughout the season. With this victory, the Golden Wolves get to perform again at Umass Boston, at the AllStar Game! Go Wolves!

Page 2

Boys Varsity Basketball Take 3 W’s What a difference a year makes! Last year, the Excel Wolves Boys Varsity Basketball team ended the season with zero wins. Despite a season full of smaller victories, the results just didn’t get them a notch in the W column. With Coach B returning for his second season, and many of our sophomores including Yanluis Santos, Kerby Mathieu, Ismail Fofana and Luis Criado-Dejesus having that full year of Varsity experience, the team were confident that that first W was just around the corner. That corner came in just their second game of the season, an away game Vs. PCSS II. Up by 14 at

the half , a slow start saw PCSS II getting back into the game, and the second half was a back and forth affair. At the end of the game, thanks to 16 points from Ismail, 14 from Yanluis, and 11 from Kevin Gomes, gave Excel their first win of the season 61— 54. The boys did not rest on these laurels, and ended up picking

up 2 more league wins, blowing out Phoenix Academy Lawrence 66— 31, and battling to a hard fought victory again City On A Hill II 66— 59. In both of these game, the student athletes shined, and with outstanding shooting from Freshman Zakaria Nouri, and invaluable assists and buckets from Kerby Mathieu, the boys began to find their rhythm. These 3 wins should give the boys the motivation they need, as Excel’s basketball program continues to grow. With a final season record of 3—10, The Wolves finished in 10th place, above 4 other schools.

MCSAO All –Star nod for Nayeli Lebron and Yanluis Santos “Yanluis and Nayeli will represent Excel at the MCSAO All Star Game at UMASS Boston.”

MCSAO Basketball All Star nominations were unveiled at the end of the season, & Excel received one male & one female nominee. We would like to offer a huge congratulations to Sophomore Yanluis Santos, & to Freshman Nayeli Lebron, both receiving honorable mention accolades. Yanluis finished the season with 7.4 points per game, 48% free throw percentage & a team leading 6 player of the game awards. Nayeli was described as the most reliable, dependable and committed athlete for the girls team, & was always the first name on the team sheet. While her stats may not be as high as she would like, Nayeli has many attributes that there are simply no way to

tally up. Her discipline, her level of support, as well as her rebounding and strong defense, make her a great choice for the All Star Game. Both Yanluis and Nayeli will join student athletes from all 21 MCSAO basketball schools, at the All Star Game, taking place at UMASS Boston. The opportunity to play on a college court, in front of a large crowd and college coaches, and the opportunity to represent Excel, is one that both students have worked hard to earn, and deserve to be applauded for. We could not be more proud of our two MCSAO All Star nominees, and with them good luck at the All Star Game at UMass Boston.

Page 3

Girls Varsity Basketball Finish Stronger Than Ever!

“We wanted to win some games, get better individually and work hard to support each other” Olivia Kelly

The Girls Varsity Basketball team had some lofty goals as the long winter season began. “We wanted to win some games, get better individually, and work hard as a team to support each other”, said injured sophomore Olivia Kelly. Kelly, who is working hard to recover from a torn ACL, spent the season keeping the girls spirits high, and helping out coaches Camacho and Cross, all from the sidelines. Despite the team missing Kelly’s talents on the court, they were able to make up for this gap, with some exciting young talent including, 7th grade East Boston student Riley Hallahan,

Freshman Nayeli Lebron, Anahi Miranda, and Erika Florez-Villamarin. Alongside returning sophomores including Stephanie Gonzalez, Jade Darling, Ghrayce Nicolas & D’Aiza Ellis, the girls eventually found the correct blend to record not 1, but 3 wins. The first coming in a thrilling 46— 25 victory over City On A Hill.

In their very next game, they girls became the first Excel Basketball team to win back to back games, with a dominating 37—11 win over Codman Academy. They ended the season with their third win of year, besting City On A Hill New Bedford 51—22. Statistically, Riley Hallahan had a breakout year, leading the team with 14.7 points per game, 8 3-pointers, a 51.8% from the free throw line, and several player of game accolades. Stephanie Gonzalez was second in the same categories, and both girls, alongside their teammates, will look to help the team get even better next year.

Middle School Basketball Roundup All three of Excel’s middle schools had successful basketball seasons this Winter. Here is a brief roundup of each school’s season: Excel Orient Heights: Participating in the MCSAO Division 2 North, OH’s boys finished the season with a 4— 6 record. John Festa was the teams leading points scorer, with 14.8 points per games (PPG), closely followed by his brother, Nick Festa with 12.1 PPG. Both Festa boys were top 20 in the overall league for PPG. Davian Rodriguez was the team captain! The OH girls team had a tougher season, with a record of 0-10. Despite not picking up any victories, young Arianna Perez led the way with 5.9 PPG. Shout outs should also go to Lia Areniello and Gia D’Amelio, whose performances were huge for The Mavericks!

Excel Chelsea (Girls team pictured to the left): Participating in the MCSAO Division 2 North, The Challengers were the standout Excel team this Winter. The Boy’s finished 5— 5, with 8th Grade Mikey Martinez finishing 4th overall in the league with 15 PPG, and youngster Che Hanks taking the 9th spot, with 13.3 PPG. Kamaury Appleberry & Joseph Arroyave also played starring roles this season, making some important picks, passes and shots! Chelsea’s girls team had the most wins of any Excel basketball team, finishing 6— 6 on the season. Chelsea’s secret weapon was their big three, featuring Jaylssa Colon (8.4 PPG), Elianni Monge (8 PPG) and Alyssa Lao. These three girls led the way, not only with their basketball skills, but also with their positive attitudes.

Excel East Boston: Participating in the MCSAO Division 1 North, The Wolf Pac boys & girls teams both finished with a 2— 8 record. The boys were led by 6th grader Anthony Teixeira (11.2 PPG), and 7th grader Eldon Bonitto (5.5 PPG). With such young talent, the future is bright for the East Boston Wolf Pack! East Boston’s Ladies picked up W’s against PHA & Salem, led by Marisa Do Valle & Jocelyn Gonzalez both with 3.3 PPG. A special mention also goes out to both Farah Lachmi & Kennya Martinez, who as 5th graders made valuable contributions to the Wolf Pack this season. Congratulations to all middle school student athletes!

JV Boys Basketball Debut Season

“With so many JV athletes getting the chance to play up...the season was a success!” Coach Marcus Carvalho

For the first time ever, Excel fielded a Junior Varity team. Having enough interest and talent to have a JV team is the mark of a programs growth, and our boys basketball JV team stepped up to this plate. The JV team practiced alongside the Varsity team, and many JV athletes also got the opportunity to experience Varsity ball for the first time. While not actually participating in a league, the JV team got to play a 10 game schedule, ending the season 2—8. Both victories came against Edward Brooke High School,

athletes getting the chance to play up, and gaining that priceless experience will only serve the continued growth of the basketball program.”

with Christian Gonzalez and Luis Portillo starring in both games. Those athletes who demonstrated their ability to be coachable & committed were given a number of opportunities to suit up and get some valuable minutes for the Varsity team, including Akkun Fujishiro, Gabriel Figueroa Portillo, Felipe Escolero, & Mark Rody Pierre.

Next year, we hope to expand out JV offerings, not only in basketball, but in many other sports. Athletic Director, Mr. Benedick went on to say “the more committed and interested students we have, the more we can expand our competitive sports program. I foresee many more JV teams next year and beyond, as our student body population grows.”

Despite a 2-8 record, Coach Carvalho went on record to class the season as a success, saying “with so many JV

Spring Sports Preview With the Winter season over, all eyes are turning towards the sun coming out, and some new athletic opportunities opening up. Spring sports are huge here at Excel, with 5 different sports on offer (the most of any season). We are piloting three brand new sports this Spring, including baseball, softball and wrestling. Wrestling will transition to a Winter sport next year, but we are pleased to offer it in the spring as an introduc-

tion, led by Coach Lewis. With new sports, we also have new coaches. Our new baseball coach is Coach Beechwood, who comes to us with 9+ years of baseball coaching experience. Our new boys volleyball coach is Coach Morales, who has over 5 years of volleyball coaching experience. Coach Potterton will look to defend his teams Girls divisional championship, as the

Wolves track & field athletes get prepared to race! Mr. Benedick will be leading the Lady Wolves Softball team for their maiden season! All Spring sports tryouts begin on Monday March 27th. Please be sure to come prepared to tryout for the sport of your choice, and as a friendly reminder, in order to be eligible to play in any Excel sport, you must have a current up-to date physical on file.

Student Athletes of the Month High School

High School

Excel Orient Heights

Excel Chelsea

Excel East Boston

December:

January Sophia Bonitto (Dance)

January:

December:

November:

Matteo Munoz &

Ashley Maradiaga &

Jasson Matzatz

Lia Areniello

Mateo Morales

December:

February:

January:

Kyara Ortiz

John Festa &

Che Hanks &

January:

Nicole Sepulveda

Carla Garcia Colon

Omar Deras

February:

February:

DJ Johnston & Emely Lopez

Michael Forbes

Natalia Calvo Edwin Lagos Yasmine Calvo Kevin Salgado

Gabriel Figueroa Portillo (Basketball) February Yanluis Santos (Basketball) Nayeli Lebron (Basketball)