UPDATED May 9 with photo of Bonnie preparing for a race

By Bill Herr
Bluffton Icon columnist

Who was the fastest Lady Pirate in Bluffton High School track history?

Arguably, it was Bonnie Stratton. She is the oldest of Jay and Barb Stratton's three children. Their two boys, R.J. and Robbie, were outstanding football players for the Pirates. When they played, their grandpa, Rod Stratton, engineered a cannon that fired every time the Pirates scored a touchdown on Harmon Field. It was loud. I was told it scared the referees.

Bonnie is a great person, humble and friendly. When she was in middle school, my wife and I got to know her when she borrowed, trained and showed our pony, Scout, at the Allen County Fair. She was a terrific showman and won a trophy. She also had her own horse, a black horse named Shadow, and won 2nd place in horsemanship at the Ohio State Fair. Her mom told me she is a perfectionist. Her dad said when she didn't do as well as she thought, when they got back she would take Shadow to the barn and practice.

When Bonnie was a freshman, she ran sprints and was on a relay team for the Pirates. She blossomed as a runner her sophomore year. She was State Champion in the 200 meters.

She also placed in the 100m and ran on the 4X100 and 4X200 relay teams. Her junior year was one of her best years. She was State Champion in both the 100m and 200m sprints, and anchored the two relay teams. Before her senior year, she had a reoccurrence of a hip injury. She was unable to recover completely, and although she still ran qualifying races, she was not able to run as she was accustomed to and didn't place individually at state. But her 4X200 relay team took third.

I talked with her three excellent coaches. Steve Bruskotter was the head coach, Denny Philips gave drills, and Dan Staley was her sprint coach. They all agreed Bonnie was very competitive. During her junior year, she would run with Jesse Herr and John Guagenti at practice, both of them outstanding runners on the boys' track team that won the State Track Team Championship that year (2008). Jesse told me "she would run with us to push her times. She wanted competition to get better. She did beat us a couple times. She was a speedster."

Besides being competitive, what made Bonnie Stratton a terrific sprinter? Her coaches said she had a great stride, very long. Coach Philips said that when it came to regional and state competition, the best runners had laser focus on their lane before the start. When the gun sounded, they had the best starts. He said when Bonnie started, after her first three steps, she was already one step ahead of the other runners. They would try harder to catch up and sometimes get out of their rhythm.

My wife and I and our daughter's family went early to Columbus to the State Track Meet the day Bonnie was to race. As we approached the "Shoe," Bonnie happened to be outside the stadium and spotted us. She came over and gave each of our two young granddaughters a hug. Later I'll never forget my excitement being in the stands waiting for the final in the 100m.

There were a lot of Bluffton fans present. The runners were in their positions limbering up. Bonnie, as some do, was jumping straight up and down. For her height, I've never seen anyone jump that high. The runners got in their starting blocks and waited. The announcer said, "runners set" and the gun went off. Bonnie led the race from start to finish. She was flying. It was exciting to watch.

She was a great Pirate champion. She is even a better person.