Golf shoots under par

Blair's first co-ed golf team finished the 2007 season fourth in the Kohut Division, one of two divisions in Montgomery County. With a 9-8 record and an average of 253 strokes, the squad placed 20th out of 25 teams in the county.

Freshman Maia Schecter, ranked third in the county, and sophomore Lena Jia, ranked 17th, advanced to the district finals, held Oct. 3. Schecter then qualified for the Maryland State Golf Tournament, which took place during a rainstorm on Oct. 22. Schecter placed eighth overall with a score of 82, ranking her 11th in the Maryland Woman's High School Golf standings. "My score was a good improvement from [the regular] season and even though it was pouring rain, I still finished my round satisfied," she says. "I still have three more years to come home with the championship."

golfPepRally

Photo: Adam (front, center) poses with the golf team at the 2007 fall pep rally. Picture courtesy of Hannah Simon.

Adam (front, center) poses with the golf team at the 2007 fall pep rally. Picture courtesy of Hannah Simon.

On the boys' side, sophomore Adam Hallberlin qualified for districts, but was unable to qualify for states. "I came really close and will definitely make it next year," he says.

This season, assistant coach Mark Schechter – Maia Schecter's father and an experienced golfer – accompanied head coach Geoffrey Finch. "[Schechter] gave us excellent instruction which really helped step up our game," junior Nora McNally said. "We all really learned a lot."

Practices this season were usually held at public Montgomery County golf courses including Needwood and Redgate, according to junior Hannah Simon. But the team was only able to bring eight players to each practice. "Some players weren't even able to go to a single practice," Simon says. "We didn't get the kind of time in that most schools do."

Finch is excited for the upcoming season and believes that practice in the offseason will help the team progress. "I look forward to a hardworking offseason," Finch says. Simon agrees, "I think we did well enough, but we could have done better."

For tournaments next year, the players are similarly optimistic. "As a team, I hope to see us win some tournaments... we placed second in many of them, which shows our potential," Schecter says.