By Hannah Chappell-Dick

The Bluffton Cross Country team has been training all summer and the time has finally come to bring it all together.

Although their season officially kicked off at the Upper Sandusky Icebreaker Invitational on Tuesday, it wasn't the first time the Pirates competed this year.

Bluffton Girls Third at Spencerville All-Comers Meet
On Thursday, August 18, the team travelled to Spencerville to participate in their annual All-Comers Meet. Though the race is run in the same way as a cross country meet, adults and unattached athletes are allowed to compete and form their own teams as well.

The course, which is historically slower than average, allowed for a test drive of new spikes or racing flats, as well as some pre-season experience for the new runners.

As a team, the Bluffton girls placed 3rd, behind rivals Van Wert and Kalida's unofficial teams. Senior Hannah Chappell-Dick (1st), Junior Julie Althaus (7th), Sophomores Morgan Humphreys and Audrey Marshall, and Freshman Haley Keller were Bluffton's top five scoring runners. Sophomore Alan Childs was Bluffton's only male representative, running well in his first race ever.

Nisly, Chappell-Dick Top 20 at Icebreaker Invitational
PRs (Personal Records) were the theme of the day for many of Bluffton's athletes. The lightening fast, flat course at Upper Sandusky sets the stage for runners to realistically and simultaneously optimistically assess their early season abilities.

Junior Jonathan Nisly set the tone for the evening, placing 14th in a 14 second PR of 18:15, winning a coveted "Top-20 Finisher" t-shirt. Alan Childs finished 39th in 19:19, over a minute faster than his first race the week before. Steve Weaver of Napoleon, the defending DII state runner-up, cruised to victory in 15:52, 50 seconds ahead of the next competitor.

On the girls' side, Bluffton scored 6th of 11: a solid finish, considering the caliber of teams competing. Hannah Chappell-Dick led the way, earning runner-up honors in 19:16 and shattering her old PR of 19:48.

Toledo Notre Dame's Alexandra Aughenbaugh was the champion, finishing in a blazing 18:53. Audrey Marshall was 2nd for Bluffton, placing 57th in 24:15, followed closely by Junior Delaney Reineke, 58th in 24:25.

Morgan Humphreys crossed the line in 24:36, placing 64th. Freshman Adel Sommers rounded out the scoring in 76th place with 25:12. Haley Keller (25:45), and Sophomores Morgan Schroeder (25:58) and Courtney Barnett (26:03) placed 90th, 95th, and 98th respectively.

Sophomore Noelle Heinze finished 129th in 30:54, a 3 minute improvement from her first race at Spencerville.

The Pirates will compete Saturday in the Delphos St. John's Blue Jay Invitational. The girls look to improve on their 3rd place 2010 finish and the boys hope to continue to see their times drop.