By Cort Reynolds
VAN WERT - The Bluffton cross country squads competed at the 16-team Van Wert Health Hospital Invitational hosted by Lincolnview Saturday.
Sophomore Erik Nygaard finished 12th in the field of 113 boys runners to pace the Pirates. He crossed the finish line in a time of 17:38.3.
Senior Elijah Conley ended up in 39th place in 19:01.9. Sophomore Sam Derstine came in 49th in 19:14.4.
Senior Brandon Good finished in 51st place with a time of 19:15.2. Sophomore Jonah Rehm was 70th in 20:03.9 as the fifth Pirate scorer.
Trey Boblitt ran sixth for Bluffton and came in 81st in 21:03.9. Soph Wyatt Lovell came home in 85th with a time of 21:12.8.
The average Bluffton time was 19:03.
Junior Hayden Schmidt of Anna won the boys individual race with a time of 16:17.7.
Host Van Wert scored 56 points to edge Columbus Grove (59) by three points for the team crown. Anna came in third with 85 points, while Bluffton finished eighth with 215.
Pirate freshman Amiari Painter came home 65th in a field of 129 girls runners to pace Bluffton. Her time was 24:32.7.
Junior Caitlin Dailey finished 86th in 25:54. Freshman Kaelin Weissling was two spots behind her in 88th with a time of 26:02.5.
Anna won the 12-team girls title with 62 points. Senior Madison Langdon of Lincolnview captured first in the girls individual race standings with a time of 19:54.1.
Bluffton is scheduled to run in the Bath Invitational September 29.
