Boys cross country team finishes 10th 

By Cort Reynolds

Led by two top-four standout runners, the Bluffton boys squad finished a solid 10th at the 20-team Div. III state cross country meet late Saturday morning, November 5, at Fortress Obetz. 

Pirate senior Landon Armstrong crossed the finish line third out of 185 runners in 15:55.3 to pace the red and white in his last race.

Bluffton senior teammate Erik Nygaard finished right behind him in fourth at 15:59.2.

The speedy Pirate duo finished higher than any other tandem in the meet.

Brylan Holland of East Canton won the boys state crown with a time of 15:41.7, followed by Rittman's Luke Snyder in second at 15:50.8.

Pirate senior Sam Derstine came home in 63rd place with a time of 17:14 to serve as the third Bluffton scorer. 

Teammate Liam Jordan finished 154th in 18:44.

Landon Sehlhorst ended up 165th in 18:58.6 as the fifth and last Pirate scorer. 

Jonah Rehm came in 170th with a time of 19:04.7.

Isaiah Conley was the seventh Pirate finisher at 180th in 19:48.6.

Mount Gilead won the Div. III boys state team title with 82 points. Ottawa Hills was a distant second at 151, followed closely by Summit Country Day in third (157).

Botkins ended up fourth at 167, with Maplewood fifth (188) and NWC rival Columbus Grove sixth (235). 

Bluffton scored 266 points to finish nine points behind Belpre, and three ahead of 11th-place East Canton.

Forty other teams had runners represented but lacked the requisite qualified five harriers needed to field a team score.

Full race results can be found here: 

https://finishtiming.trackscoreboard.com/meets/501208/events/1346