The Blair cross country teams ended their season during the regional meet at the Rockville Civic Center thursday afternoon, with the girls finishing ninth and the boys finishing tenth out of eleven division 4A teams.
With a score of 242, the girls' team defeated Watkins Mill and Springbrook as Quince Orchard finished in first place. The boys had a similar score of 243 as they defeated Springbrook while Damascus came in first.
The meet was highlighted by senior Laurel Jefferson, easily the girls' top runner. Although she was tied in first at the 1.5 mile mark, she fell to a fifth place finish with a stellar time of 20:43 Jefferson advances to the state meet at Hereford High School on Saturday, November 9, a competition where she finished third in her sophomore year.
Matt Sheldon had the boys' best time, with 18:29, and placed 25th overall, only six positions behind the score that he needed to qualify for the state meet. Despite his own strong performance, Sheldon believes that the team has underachieved. "Earlier in the year we had a lot of promise, but we never fulfilled our potential," he said.
The Washington area shootings forced cancellation of all meets and practices for three weeks in October. Due to the proximity of the shootings and Blair's closeness to the beltway, many Blazers were deterred from practicing on their own. According to coach Angelique Bosse, "They lost some conditioning."
Bosse also believes that the future of the team looks bright because of the large number of up-and-coming runners.
Zach Mellman. Zach Mellman was born on October 18, 1956 (he was held back once or twice). He has lived in Takoma Park, Maryland his entire life. He is currently a senior at Blair enrolled in honors classes. He is also a member of Blair's golf team, … More »
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