Photo by Wayne Lee Dutrow
The 2015 edition of the Blazers Invitational (now known as the Hood College Invitational) featured one of the closest finishes of the entire season and perhaps the best race in the event's brief history. It was two sophomores sharing the spotlight on September 19 at Utica Park in Frederick: River Hill's Jasmine Tiamfook and Liberty's Heidi Rinehart. Both had been fantastic the year before as freshmen, running almost the exact same time at the state championships and each helping their team win a state title.
Rinehart and fellow sophomore teammate Maeve Lyons led the group through two miles along with Tiamfook and Thomas Johnson's Abigail Pinto, but it was Tiamfook who held off Rinehart down the final stretch as each girl ran a huge 5k personal best (both under 19 minutes). Pinto and Lyons rounded out a top four separated by just eight seconds, and almost 30 seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Tiamfook's winning performance was more than enough for the Hawks to earn a team victory, as they put six in the top 15 on their way to scoring just 46 points.