Blair track team rocks Rockville

With two minutes left in the meet and two hundred meters left in the race, distance runner David Shope pulled ahead of his fellow Blair and Rockville High school competitors. He speeded with such force through the finish line that he recieved not only first place, but also a scraped shoulder from practically running himself into the track.

Shope's superhero finish was a perfect end to a crushing meet in which the Blair girls triumphed over Rockville 103 to 24 and the boys won 101 to 18. Both Blair teams, boys and girls, won every relay event.

The boys' track team showed improvement since the last meet with the help of track newcomers Perry Smith, and Brian Djenodjieon who both placed in their events. In the long jump event, Smith leaped 18 feet 7 inches to win first place. Sprinter Avon Jackson also placed first in his event, the triple jump, with 39 feet, 5 inches, having only learned the jump one practice prior to the meet.

The Lady Blazers showed fortitude and teamwork when several of their key runners were sick or absent. At the last minute seniors Kim Schaerdel and Ashley Moorefield filled in for absent teammates in the 3200-meter and 4x1 races respectively. Though this meet was the first time Schaerdel ran the two-mile race in competition, she finished in 14:57 and placed first.