By Hannah Chappell-Dick

Last Saturday, the Bluffton cross country teams travelled to Kalida to compete in the first ever Wildcat Invitational.

Only two days before, a victory for the girls at the Riverdale Invitational left many exhausted and happy, but the runners knew that they couldn't be satisfied just yet.

A chilly rain poured from the sky and dampened their bags, but not their spirits. Though lethargy threatened to take over as everyone curled up in the tent, Coach Blair and the captains were adamant about getting everyone outside to warm-up with junior-higher Haley Keller, whose race was first.

Keller ran a PR (Personal Record) despite the wet weather. Her 15:24 effort earned her a 7th place finish and a shiny medal.

Next was the girls' race. Bluffton narrowly beat out Kalida by only 2 points and an average of 2 seconds. Bluffton gained 31 points with an average time was 21:45.0 and Kalida racked up 33 points, averaging 21:47.4.

Hannah Chappell-Dick led the Pirates with a 20:18 effort, coming in 2nd. Jessica Doepker of Kalida came in first with a time of 20:09. Morgan Humphreys was 4th with a time of 21:34.

Julie Althaus and Lydia Guagenti went 8-9 with times of 22:08 and 22:21. Evania Bonifaz was close behind, placing 11th in 22:24. Delaney Reineke came in 14th with a 22:51 effort and Audrey Marshall was 16th in 23:04.

Morgan Shroeder and Jene Sommers were next for Bluffton, coming in 29th (25:28) and 30th (25:34) respectively. In 38th place was Casey Demellweek in 25:56. Courtney Barnett and Amber Bewsey also came in together, placing 45th (27:07) and 46th (27:28). Andrea Spalllinger placed 50th in 28:02 and Courtney Coldiron was 61st with 32:39.

The last race of the day was the high school boys'. The boys placed 3rd with 82 points, just missing out on a trophy. Van Buren was 2nd with 75 and Ottawa-Glandorf won the prize with only 28 points.

Matthew Herron led the race from start to finish, easily beating his competition and finished in 16:57. Dustin Brinkman was next in 12th with a solid performance of 18:45. In 16th was Jonathan Nisly in 19:08, and Jared Staley was 19th in 19:14. David Moser ran cautiously and placed 39th in 20:40. Stefan Stechschulte was 65th with a PR of 24:07.

The Pirates continue their busy week on Tuesday at Thoreau Park for the Allen County Meet.