Sinclairs place third at Howard County Winter Fest

Ashlyn Sinclair and Halsey Sinclair finished third in the 800 meter and 3200 meter races respectively at the Howard County Winter Fest Dec. 17 at the Prince George's Sports and Learning Center.

Ashlyn's third place finish in the 800m was in 2:28.7 minutes, with Halsey completing the 3200 m, or 2 mile, with a time of 11:38.98 minutes. Keianna Dixon also competed in the 800m, placing 14th.

Blair boys at the meet included Josh Uzzell, who finished 21st out of 40 with a 4:55 mile time. Tommy Dugan and Nilan Schnure both finished 20th in their events, Dugan completing the 200m in 24.39 seconds and Schnure finishing the 400m run in 54.70 seconds. Schnure also placed 17th in the 800m, with a time of 2:13.34 minutes.

This meet was an invitational, limiting the field to only the top runners from each school. Five Montgomery County high schools and one Virginia school attended the meet, with the rest of the teams hailing from Howard County.

Invitation meets tend to get competitive, as the best runners vie for faster times and higher placements. Sometimes, the runners get a little too competitive, to the point of pushing and shoving during the races. "A lot of the races were very physical. There was a lot of pushing, which means our times were worse," Sinclair said.

Overall, the meet was a good chance for the runners to gain more experience. "Blair varsity got a chance to stretch out their legs, and a chance to go out there and do our events. We had some really good competition," said Uzzell.