Girls finish 7th, boys finish 14th in County Championships

Halsey Sinclair set a new course record today at the Cross Country County Championships at Gaithersburg High School. Sinclair finished with a time of 18:28, breaking the record of 18:45, which she tied last year. Ashlyn Sinclair also ran under the previous record at 18:39. Halsey Sinclair finished 1st overall in the girls' heat, and her sister finished 4th. The girls' team placed 7th and the boys' team placed 14th overall.

The girls' team finished 7th out of 17 schools, but the dominant performances by the Sinclair sisters overshadowed the team's achievements. Coach Carl Lewin was "very pleased with how our girls' team did. They ran extremely well and should have a good chance of qualifying for states."

The boys' team also did well, finishing 14th out of the 23 teams despite being an unusually young squad. The team was led by sophomore Josh Uzzell with a time of 17:10. Uzzell finished 25th overall. In 2nd place for Blair was freshman Michael Willems at 18:35 followed by freshman Adrian Servetnick at 18:43. Senior captain Alan Bateman ran a time of 18:49.

Coach Lewin has "been pleased with the development of the boys' team. Almost every runner has reached or passed their goal time set at the beginning of the season," he said after the meet. The 2nd through 4th place runners were extremely close today and next year, with a core of Willems, Servetnick and Uzzell, the team "should do much better," said Coach Lewin.

Numerous runners agreed with Lewin's assessment. "Both of our teams did very well," said junior Katie Lafen. "It's important that we continue to work hard in order to finish this season strong," continued Lafen. "Both the girls' and the boys' team have done very well this year so far."

Blair will compete in the regional meets at the Rockville Civic Center on Nov. 4 at 3:30 p.m.