Graduate Close Up: Gerson Calles

Calles, who graduated in 2011 has aspirations of attending M.I.T.

Recent Montgomery Blair High School graduate Gerson Calles was able to balance the responsibilities of being both a student and an athlete. "Gerson is an outstanding student. He's carried well over a 3.5 GPA throughout this year," said Kirk D. Simms, Montgomery Blair High School counselor. The graduate already accumulated more than a dozen credits at Montgomery College, and plans to get even further ahead by taking additional classes this summer. Gerson, who is from El Salvador is dealing with visa issues, which prevents him from attending a four-year university. Once he has completed three years at MC, his hope is to win a Fullbright Scholarship and attend M.I.T. In addition to taking classes, Gerson plans to spend time with friends and …

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Blair Hosts Info Session on Concussions to Educate Parents, Coaches and Athletes

Girls' basketball coach Erin Conley led an hour-long meeting on Wednesday evening.

A meeting was held at the Montgomery Blair High School auditorium on Wednesday night to inform coaches, parents and athletes on the dangers and proper treatment of concussions. Hosted by girls' basketball coach Erin Conley, the meeting was attended by 30-plus parents. According to Blair Athletic Boosters President Ron McClain, the meeting is part of an “ongoing and relatively new educational effort inside the county to help parents, players and school staff get up to speed on the information and the best advice.” Conley’s team has already experienced three concussions this season, which she said led her to become more educated on the subject, and then share that information with the Blair community. “We had a lot of parents with questions …

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Gaithersburg Coach Accused of Poor Sportsmanship Following 88-41 Dismantling of Blair

A controversy between coaches overshadowed Friday’s game at Gaithersburg High.

Friday afternoon the Montgomery Blair Blazers (11-6) arrived late to Gaithersburg High School to face the Lady Trojans (14-0), causing the start time of their game, an eventual 88-41 loss, to be pushed back. It is customary that during team introductions, coaches shake the opposing players’ hands. However, Blair head coach Erin Conley elected to skip over the tradition because, she said, she had arrived too late to the court to wish her opponents good luck. Her omission, however, seemed to cause a stir in the gym and anger from Gaithersburg coach Adrian McDaniel. Following the game however, he shot down that notion. “It was just a misunderstanding on both parts,” he said. “We talked and resolved it. She’s a great coach, and it was just a …

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The Takoma Park Five

Blair Athletic Events to Check Out This Week

The Blair Blazers have several games worth attending this week.

Today starts The Takoma Park Five, the first in a series of recurring lists about Takoma Park. Each weekday, we'll feature top five lists that look at sports, people, real estate, weekend best bets and a wild card topic. (If you want to help us figure out the wild card topic for this week, tell us in the comments section.) First up for Monday is sports. It would be untrue to claim that the Blair athletic program has excelled so far this fall season. However, it would also be untrue to use their mediocre start as a surefire sign of things to come. With most teams approaching the midway point of the season, now is the time for squads to pick up the pace and decide if they want to compete for a regional championship, or sit back while other …

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