Herron 6th at Van Wert Co. Hos. Inv.

The Bluffton High School cross country team competed Saturday at the Van Wert County Hospital Invitational, the site of their upcoming conference meet.

The girls placed 7th of 13 teams and the boys placed 13th of 16. Competition was tight, and Bluffton ran in the faster of the two divisions.

The Pirates arrived at 8:00 after a 7:15 departure and started to jog the course. Most were unaware of quite what the course had in store.
Directly after a flat, crowded, and winding first mile, a steep hill appears. As you get to the top, legs burning, one can finally see the reservoir.

It's a mile in circumference and surrounded by a running trail. The wind is fierce but the view is spectacular; the sky reflected in the water is beautiful. It's almost enough to distract someone from the pain of the race. The entire second mile is run there.

The third mile, while not quite as scenic (it once circles a dried sludge pond), goes quickly, as does the entire course. Coach Blair was excited to be visiting her old home site, as she graduated from Van Wert High School.

Boys Results
Senior Matthew Herron once again led the way for the Pirates with an individual 6th place finish. His time was 16:39.56. Drew Trusty of Mohawk won the race in 15:53.49.

Next was Dustin Brinkman, whose 18:39 was good for 48th place. Jonathan Nisly placed 90th in 19:40, and Jared Staley placed 93rd in 19:45. David Moser closed out the scoring with a 106th place finish in 20:13. Stefan Stechschulte finished with a kick to place 170th. He improved his time to 24:24. Overall, the boys came in 13th of the 16 teams in the Scarlet Division.

Girls Results
The Pirates finished 7th overall, led by Hannah Chappell-Dick with an individual 10th place finish in 20:11.32. Coldwater's Christina Seas won the race by a large margin in an impressive 18:54.37.

Unfortunately, the official times for the rest of the girls have not yet been posted. Lydia Guagenti was 2nd for Bluffton, coming in 40th. Morgan Humphreys was close behind in 43rd. Julie Althaus placed 55th and Evania Bonifaz 67th.

Audrey Marshall finished in 84th place and Delaney Reineke 96th. Morgan Shroeder and Jene Sommers went 115-116, and Courtney Barnett was 118th. Casey Demellweek placed 125th and Amber Bewsey 137th. Andrea Spallinger ran a PR and placed 148th. Brittany Brown came in afterwards in 158th.

Haley Keller placed 82nd in the junior high 2-mile race in 15:37.90
Riverdale in next on the schedule for the Pirates on Thursday.