By Cort Reynolds

COLUMBUS GROVE__The Bluffton High School cross country teams competed at the Northwest district meet on Saturday, Oct. 24 at Columbus Grove.

PIRATE GIRLS RESULTS
The Pirate girls came in eighth out of 14 full teams in the Div. IV race. The top nine girls' teams advance to regionals next weekend.

• Pirate Xandra Gatchel finished a strong fifth in the 114-runner girls race with a time of 19:41.8 to pace Bluffton.
• Teammate Tessa Tarplee crossed the line 35th in a time of 21:31.9.
• Pirate sophomore Georgia Hagen came in 54th in 22:29.2. Junior Zaeda Hermiller finished 70th in 23:04.5.
• Freshman Hope Luginbill was the fifth Bluffton scorer as she came in 81st in 24:09.8.
• Junior Tala Gipson was 84th in 24:25.2. Sophomore Jora Boisvert came in 114th in 32:01.6.
• Maeleigh Evans of Lincolnview took first in the girls Div. IV race in 19:02.

Archbold won the girls district team title with 51 points, well ahead of second-place St. Henry (92). The Pirates scored 215 points.

Girls Team Regional Qualifiers

1. Archbold 51 points  2. St Henry 92  3. Lincolnview 130  4. Marion Local 135 5. Delphos St Johns 140  6. Columbus Grove 170  7. Parkway 199 

8. Bluffton 215  9. Wayne Trace 221 

Girls Top Individuals
1. Maeleigh Evans (Lincolnview) - 19:02 

5. Xandra Gatchel (Bluffton) - 19:41 

35. Tessa Tarplee (Bluffton) - 21:39 

PIRATE BOYS RESULTS
The Bluffton boys cross country team finished seventh out of 11 teams in their Div. III district meet at Columbus Grove. Only the top six teams made it to regionals.

The Pirate boys scored 183 points to finish just four points behind Wauseon, the last qualifying team, which scored 179.

• Junior Levin Essinger led Bluffton, finishing 23rd in the 71-runner boys race in 17:09.7.
• Senior Owen Shoemaker ran second for Bluffton, finishing 25th in 17:20.2. 
• Pirate sophomore Atticus Prothro finished 34th in 17:57.9.
• Junior Toby Clevidence came in 39th with a time of 18:15.0. 
• Sophomore Micah DeMarco was 64th in 19:49.5 as the fifth Pirate scorer.
• Freshman Ian Scott finished 67th in 20:03.9.

Elmwood’s Henry Good won the boys race with a time of 15:41.

Van Wert won the boys district team crown with 45 points. Elmwood edged out Bryan for second place, 57-61.

Boys Team Regional Qualifiers
Van Wert 45 points  2. Elmwood 57  3. Bryan 61  4. Archbold 101 

5. Paulding 133  6. Wauseon 179