Mixed results at Gaithersburg

SEPT. 19, GAITHERSBURG HS-

The girl's varsity cross country team beat the Gaithersburg Trojans, 29-26, while falling to the Churchill Bulldogs 24-37, this afternoon at Gaithersburg. The boys lost to both teams, 49-15 to Trojans and 42-18 to Bull dogs.

Despite the losses, the Blazers had overall exemplary performances, with many runners continuing to set personal records. Four out of the seven varsity boys ran under 19 minutes, with senior co-captain Emanuel Waktola leading the way clocking in at 17:57. Seniors Tuynh Nguyen and Paul Ishimoto were only four seconds apart in 18:34 and 18:38, while junior Mike Willems rounded out the pack in 18:51. For the Lady Blazers, senior Halsey Sinclair also broke 19 minutes to claim first place in 18:43, only one second ahead of the next female finisher.

Coach Carl Lewin said that though the boys suffered two losses today, it must be taken into consideration that Gaithersburg and Churchill are two of the top teams in the county. "Everyone ran really fast today. The guys ran against the two of the best guys' teams in the county," Lewin said.

Senior co-captains Waktola and Anna Coughlan were pleased with the results and the team's improvement, despite the new blemishes on the Blazers' season records, girls 3-1 and boys 0-4. "We succeeded in accomplishing our goals time wise," Waktola said. "Of course I would have liked to beat Churchill, but they had a really strong team," Coughlan said.

Senior Torie Neff agreed with Anna in regards to the immensity of Churchill's team, which is over fifty girls strong, especially massive in comparison to Blair's roster of eleven girls. "Churchill has a lot of depth. We just don't have the kind of numbers that would let us be as competitive," Neff explained.