Most people lack the time and motivation to do everything they want. As Anthony DeRubeis lines up before the start of his races, he could think about all of the things going on in his busy life, but instead he chooses to enjoy every moment and activity in front of him.
From being a member of the Revere High School (RHS) cross country, track and speech and debate teams as well as National Honor Society, a taekwondo club, the recycling club and even finding time to master the guitar in his free time, DeRubeis is involved in many activities in and outside of school.
DeRubeis began running cross country and track in 7th grade. Being with his friends in sports has always been important to him and is how he developed many of his hobbies.
“A lot of my friends were doing cross country and track. That’s how I met a lot of the friends I have today. I wasn’t that great starting out but I just stuck with it and that’s just where my passion led me,” DeRubeis said.
Paula DeRubeis, his mother, said that DeRubeis has always been active and a hard worker. She had a different story for why he started running.
“Anthony hadn’t really ever run before other than baseball, but he came with me to run around the neighborhood one day. I would tell him ‘Anthony if you need a break or anything just let me know,’ well then he blew me away…. We did a 5k and he did great and it just took off from there,” she said.
Billy D’Amico is the head track coach at RHS and has coached DeRubeis for the last four years, D’Amico recognizes his value as a runner and leader of the team.
“Anthony is very determined…. He will be a two time captain this year, and because of that he knows how everything goes whether that’s distance practice or team-oriented stuff. He leads by example…. If all of my athletes ran and were as determined as him we’d be a very good track team,” he said.
D’Amico was a member of the last Revere track team to win the Suburban League. He has similar expectations for this year’s team. He also has high expectations for DeRubeis and hopes to see him compete in the state tournament.
“We will always compete for the league title. It would be nice to win the league for the first time since 1988…. I was on the last district champion and district runner-up teams and I think we can do that as well…. We’re hoping to get Anthony to states this year as well,” D’Amico said.
Outside of running track and cross country for RHS, DeRubeis explained that for the last few years he has loved rock music. His playlist is filled with Metallica and Megadeth among many others. DeRubeis has been playing their music on his own guitar for years and in September of 2023 began posting his guitar journey on TikTok, where viewers can track the progression of his skills. DeRubeis said that his parents introduced him to rock music.
“My parents influenced me on my music taste. They introduced me to older rock music…. I’ve been playing for about five years. Three to four years into my playing is when I started becoming more of an intermediate guitar player and I started posting videos,” DeRubeis said.
DeRubeis said his guitar journey began when he was thirteen years old when his parents bought him a guitar for his birthday. Paula DeRubeis recalled that DeRubeis learned how to play the Happy Birthday song on his guitar for her because her birthday was 10 days after his. She later saw a sign on the road promoting guitar lessons and signed DeRubeis up, and now it is one of his favorite hobbies.
“I think I started playing guitar because one of my friends could. My parents got me lessons and I did that for a few years. I like playing in my free time now…. It’s one of my favorite things to do in my free time,” he said.
In the future, DeRubeis plans to attend Ohio State University and major in Mechanical Engineering while also being in the Honors Program. DeRubeis originally wanted to study law, but grew interested in many of the concepts in his AP Physics class at RHS. That interest led him to Mechanical Engineering. Paula DeRubeis said she was excited to see what’s to come for him.
