Field hockey season suffers from cancellations

Blair's field hockey's second half of the season came to an abrupt end due to the sniper shootings and cancellations of four games, leaving their record 3-3-1. The record has remained the same since the team played against Whitman High School, Oct 1.

In the beginning of the season, Blair started strong, winning their first two games against Paint Branch and Rockville high schools. Later in the season, senior attack Amy Nguyen pointed out, the team lacked in scoring, even though they capitalized on a "strong defense" throughout the shortened season.

Blair had plans to win most of their games in the second half of the season but those plans slowly diminished as the sniper case continued through October, according senior link Ariel Beck. As Blair faced tough opponents, like Churchill High School, in the first half of the season, they were expecting to play and beat teams of a lower caliber, such as Kennedy High School, in the second half of the season, said Beck.

"It was disappointing that we could not improve our record," Beck said. "We would've dominated against teams like Kennedy and Wheaton."

Besides game cancellations, field hockey practices were also cancelled. During the sniper incidents, the team met two times for practice in the small gym, less than a week from the playoff season, which starts Oct 26.

A few players on the team believed that the cancellations were not necessary. Senior defense Jessie Procter said she felt "there was no need to cancel all the games, but to reschedule them."

Others, like senior attack Leah Cowdrey, believes that the precautions taken were necessary towards after school activities. "I'd rather miss half a season than see myself or friends hurt," Cowdry said.