Pirate boys 2nd; Essinger qualifies in girls race

By Cort Reynolds

Bluffton HIgh School boys swept the top two spots in the Div. III district 2 cross country meet Saturday morning at Columbus Grove, leading to a second-place Pirate team finish.

Bluffton senior Landon Armstrong won the 69-runner race in 16:05, followed in second by classmate Erik Nygaard 4.9 seconds later.

Pirate senior Sam Derstine ended up a strong 11th, followed closely by teammate Liam Jordan in 13th. 

Lincolnview won the 12-team district 2 title with 44 points, while Bluffton was close behind at 50. New Bremen was third with 54 points. 

The top three teams qualified for the regional meet next Saturday.

The Bluffton girls squad finished seventh in the District 1 Div. III girls race at Columbus Grove Saturday morning.

Lady Pirate sophomore June Essinger finished 12th in a field of 63 runners to pace Bluffton.

Essinger was the lone Pirate girl to qualify for the regional meet as an individual in a time of 20:30.1.

Minster's Margaret Hemmelgarn won the girls race in a time of 19:35.9.

Dominating Minster swept the first five spots to easily win the girls team crown with a perfect score of 15 points. Parkway was a distant second with 86 points.

Bluffton finished seventh with 183 points to edge Coldwater (186).

Bluffton boys results:

Place Runner Time

1 Landon Armstrong 16:05.0

2 Erik Nygaard 16:06.9

11 Sam Derstine 17:43.3

13 Liam Jordan 18:00.3

23 Landon Sehlhorst 18:52.5

24 Jonah Rehm 18:53.5  

29 John Paul Yoder 19:21.0

District 2 Div. III boys team standings:

Place Team Score

1 Lincolnview 44 points

2 Bluffton 50

3 New Bremen 54

4 Parkway 112

5 Crestview 164

6 Spencerville 190

7 Delphos St. John's 197

8 Waynesfield-Goshen 224

9 Paulding 231

10 New Knoxville 247

DNP Lima Perry

DNP Allen East 

Bluffton girls results:

Place Runner Time

12 June Essinger 20:30.1 

42 Grace Conley 23:53.3

45 Amairi Painter 24:15.3

50 Elizabeth Honse 24:44.5

52 Kaelin Weissling 25:34.7

59 Sadie Tarplee 27:17.0

60 Faith Combs 27:42.0

District 1 Div. III girls team standings:

1 Minster 15 points

2 Parkway 86

3 New Bremen 100

4 Lincolnview 105

5 Wayne Trace 106

6 Waynesfield-Goshen 181

7 Bluffton 183

8 Coldwater 186

DNP Ottoville

DNP New Knoxville

DNP Paulding

DNP Swanton