By Cort Reynolds / Photo from Bluffton Pirates Facebook

UPDATED __The Bluffton girls cross country team and three Pirate boys competed at regional meets on Saturday, Oct. 31 in Tiffin.

Pirate harriers Levin Essinger and Xandra Gatchel advanced to the state meet next Saturday with strong showings.

Pirate Levin Essinger finished 15th in the boys' race with a time of 16:43 to advance to the state meet. Gatchel finished in 23rd place in the girls' race with a time of 19:55 to make it to Fortress Obetz on Nov. 7.

MORE GIRLS RESULTS
The Bluffton girls finished 18th out of 33 teams at the Div. IV meet with 464 points. Liberty Center won the Div. IV girls regional team title with 61 points, while Ottawa Hills came in second at 93.

• Tessa Tarplee finished 81st in 21:39.6
• Georgia Hagen finished 116th  in 22:09.0.
• Zaeda Hermiller finished 178th in 22:58.7
• Hope Luginbill finished 217th in 23:51.7
• Tala Gipson finished 248th in 25:01.8
• Jora Boisvert finished 288th in 31:47.3

MORE BOYS RESULTS

• Atticus Prothro finished 57th in 17:48
• Owen Shoemaker finished 63rd in 17:56
• Toby Clevidence finished 82nd in18:23.3 

Bryan captured the boys Div. III regional team crown with 106 points to edge Van Wert (117) by 11 markers. Only four boys teams made it to state from the Div. III regional boys meet.

Girls D4 Team State Qualifiers
1. Liberty Center 61 points 2. Ottawa Hills 93  3. Archbold 163 4. Milan Edison 217 5. Crestline 226 6. St. Henry 266 7. Lincolnview 296  8. Margaretta 301  9. Defiance Tinora 304

Top girls individuals and state qualifiers (IQ = Individual state qualifier)
1. Natalie Nixon (Ottawa Hills) - 17:28 2. Colbie Strayer (Liberty Center) - 18:17 3. Aubrey Ritzler (Seneca East) - 18:51 IQ 4. Piper Padgett (Ottawa Hills) - 18:57 5. Maeleigh Evans (Lincolnview) - 19:03 6. Laila Nally (Mohawk) - 19:04 IQ 7. Kylee Korte (Allen East) - 19:05 IQ 8. Claire Michaelis (Edison) - 19:06 9. Mya Stark (Liberty Ctr) - 19:13 10. Morgan Miller (Margaretta) - 19:15 11. Castyn Miller (Liberty Center) - 19:15 

12. Isabella Stueve (MVCD) - 19:20 13. Ady Reynolds (North Baltimore) - 19:34 IQ 14. Blythe Fitzenreiter (PH) - 19:36 IQ 15. Aliyah Zimmerman (St. Henry) - 19:38 IQ 16. Hadley Hudson (Archbold) - 19:42 17. Addison McDonnell (Edison) - 19:44 18. Nevaeh Hill (Crestline) - 19:46 19. Grace Tackett (Old Fort) - 19:48 IQ 20. Meredith Alvarez (Fairview) - 19:48 IQ 21. Emily Chen (Ottawa Hills) - 19:49 22. Kinsley Schuette (Holgate) - 19:51 IQ 23. Xandra Gatchel (Bluffton) - 19:55 IQ 24. Maddie Stufft (No. Baltimore) - 19:57 IQ 25. Ryley Miller (Liberty Ctr) - 19:57 26. Rae Newman (LCC) - 20:02 IQ 27. Brynn Guyrasics (Liberty Ctr) - 20:06 28. Sofia Elfituri (Ottawa Hills) - 20:07 29. Jorja Flores (Gibsonburg) - 20:08 IQ 30. Hannah Brunk (Spencerville) - 20:10 IQ 31. Emily Heth (Crestview) - 20:17 IQ 32. Penny Stoll (Edison) - 20:19 33. Hazel Baranowski (Woodmore) - 20:24 IQ 

34. Reese Durbin (Antwerp) - 20:25 IQ 35. Jovie Hudson (Archbold) - 20:28 36. Addison Hill (Crestline) - 20:32 37. Claire Koch (Col. Grove) - 20:33 IQ

Boys D3 Team State Qualifiers
1. Bryan 106 points 2. Van Wert 117 3. Elmwood 121  4. Upper Sandusky 167 

Top 15 boys individuals (IQ = Individual state qualifiers) 

1.Joel Smelcer (Perkins) - 14:56 IQ 2. Cole Zang (Margaretta) - 14:59 IQ  3. Henry Good (Elmwood) - 15:48 4. Wade Manns (Kenton) - 15:55 IQ 5. Colton Sheline (Bryan) - 16:04 6. Josiah Cummins (Bryan) - 16:17  7. Garry Phipps (Kenton) - 16:18 IQ 8. Carter Pohlman (Upper Sandusky) - 16:19 9. Evan Strausbaugh (Elmwood) - 16:20 10. Oliver Scott (Van Wert) - 16:26 11. John Deitemeyer (Bryan) - 16:34 12. Ben Buehler (Eastwood) - 16:37 IQ 13. Owen Panyard (Bellevue) - 16:38 IQ 14. Landon Grinell (Paulding) - 16:38 IQ 15. Levin Essinger (Bluffton) - 16:43 IQ