Blazers perform at highest level of the season

JAN. 8, PRINCE GEORGE'S SPORTSPLEX–

The Blair Indoor Track team ran some of its best times of the season today at the Montgomery County Invitational Meet. Sophomores Halsey and Ashlyn Sinclair finished 4th and 5th overall in the 1600m and most Blazers set personal records.

"Although the day started off poorly, we really performed at our best at the end," said Coach Carl Lewin after the meet. The team started off with several mediocre performances, not earning any points, but towards the end of the meet, Blair began to excel in the distance runs and relays.

The Blair girls finished first overall in the distance medley relay even though they were fatigued. "Each girl had already run at least one race, but they were still able to perform very well," said Lewin. The boys' distance medley team did not finish as highly, but each runner ran his fastest time of the year.

The 4x200m team ran its fastest time of the year. Lewin attributed this to the fact that "the runners had perfect hand-offs, something not easily accomplished." Even with this stellar performance, the strength of the competition limited their success.

The Sinclair sisters competed in several events today, succeeding in many. Halsey and Ashlyn ran the 1600m in 5:11 and 5:13 respectively and finished close to the lead runner. They also competed on the distance medley team, which had recently competed at an invitational meet in New York City. Ashlyn also ran in the open 800m, finishing 4th at 2:22, while her sister competed in the open 3200m and placed 2nd.

Other students were also competitive today. Sophomore sprinting captain, Aaron Townsend ran the 400m in 55.6 seconds and finished 2nd in his heat, but did not advance to the finals. Junior Thomas Dugan finished third in his heat in the 55m dash with a time of 7.6 seconds, but there were over 15 heats for the event and Dugan failed to reach the finals as well.

Sophomore Josh Uzzell set two personal records at the meet, improving his fastest 1600m time to 4:49 and later to 4:47. Uzzell was pleased with the teams' performance today but thought the team as a whole had room for improvement. "We just need to keep sight of our goals, because right now they are all within reach."