By Cort Reynolds
Photos below by Jamie Nygaard
COLUMBUS GROVE - The Bluffton boys cross country team finished a strong second at the 10-team Div. III district 1 meet Saturday at Columbus Grove.
Host Grove won the boys team title with 31 points. Bluffton came in second to their league foe with 75 points to qualify as a team for regionals next weekend.
Bluffton sophomore Erik Nygaard finished an impressive fourth in a time of 16:46.1 to pace the Pirate boys in the 63-runner field.
The six other Bluffton runners, with place and time, are listed below. The top five runners scored, with the scores of runners six and seven counting only in case of a tie in the team standings.
13th Sam Derstine 17:51.2
14th Elijah Conley 17:58.7
21st Trey Boblitt 18:41.5
23rd Brandon Good 18:46.2
24th Jonah Rehm 18:49.0
32nd Wyatt Love 19:44.1
Junior Caleb Stechschulte of Columbus Grove won the boys individual race in a time of 16:35.6. Senior Zach Britton of Upper Scioto Valley finished second in 16:42.7.
Sophomore Trent Koch of Grove ended up third in 16:44, 2.1 seconds ahead of Nygaard.
Marion Local took third place with 98 points to also qualify for regionals. The top three teams and the individuals not on qualifying teams who finish in the top 12 advanced to the regional tournament at Tiffin.
The Pirate boys run next in the regional meet Saturday morning, October 31 at Tiffin's Hedges Boyer Park.
Boys Div. III district 1 team results
1) Columbus Grove 31 points
Average Time: 17:06.3
2) Bluffton 75
Team total times: 1:30:04.0 Average Time: 18:00.8
3) Marion Local 98
Average Time: 18:27.2
4) Parkway 115
Average Time: 18:42.3
5) Waynesfield-Goshen 146
Average Time: 19:30.6
6) St. Henry 159
Average Time: 19:32.9
7) Upper Scioto Valley 165
Average Time: 21:49.8
8) Fort Recovery 176
Average Time: 19:58.1
9) LCC 253
Average Time: 24:44.5
Spencerville-one runner short of a team score
Minster took the first six places in the girls Div. III district 1 race to post a perfect score of 15 and run away with the team crown.
Senior Ella Boate of Minster took first in the girls individual race with a time of 19:33. The next four Minster runners all finished within two seconds of each other (between 19:46-19:48) as they ran in an effective pack.
Lady Pirate freshman Amairi Painter finished 37th in the 51-runner field in a time of 24:09.6 to pace Bluffton.
Pirate junior Caitlin Dailey came home right behind her teammate in 38th place with a time of 24:26.5.
Freshman Kaelin Weissling came in 41st with a time of 25:27.2.
Bluffton was two runners short of the requisite five to register a girls team score.
Girls Div. III district 1 team results
1) Minster 15 points
Average Time: 19:44.4
2) New Bremen 57
Average Time: 21:05.3
3) Delphos St. John's 73
Average Time: 21:30.1
4) Coldwater 118
Average Time: 22:40.7
5) Parkway 126
Average Time: 23:25.6
New Knoxville, Ada, Kalida, Ottoville and Cory-Rawson also competed but did not have enough runners for a girls team score.
