By Marathana Prothro

The Bluffton Middle School boys cross country team won first place at the Allen County Invitational on Tuesday, Oct. 1, at Faurot Park in Lima. The Pirates were led by eighth grader Carter Steinmetz who won the two-mile race with a time of 11:48.6.

Eighth grader Tessa Tarplee won the girls two-mile race with a time 13:47.9.

Other scorers for the Pirates boys were Atticus Prothro in second place (12:28.9), Micah DeMarco in 11th (13:10.2), Camden Verb in 14th (13:31.8), and Logan Stechschulte in 18th (13:56.5). Max Fritsch missed the top 20 by less than a second to finish in 21st with a time of 14:04.5.  

This was the fourth team trophy the Pirate's middle school boys cross country team has won in 2024-2025.

They placed first at the Blue Jay Invitational Aug. 29 at the Delphos Stadium Park in Delphos where runners from 13 schools competed. Steinmetz placed second (12:02.87), Prothro was third (12:03.79), Verb was 12th (13:12.39), DeMarco was 15th (13:29.73), Stechshulte was 20th (13:51.23), and Fritsch was 22nd (14:12.44).

The Pirates placed third out of 16 teams at the Spencerville Bearcat Invitational Sept. 7 in Spencerville. Steinmetz finished fifth (11:44.3), Prothro was sixth (11:49.7), Verb was 31st (12:24.5), Stechschulte was 37th (12:38.4), DeMarco was 67th (13:15.8), and Fritsch was 82nd (13:34.5).

At the Kalida Wildcat Invite on Sept. 28 at the Kalida Fish and Game Club in Ottawa, the team placed second. Steinmetz placed third (11:31.01), Prothro was 6th (11:42.2), DeMarco was 30th (12:52.9), Verb was 34th (13:07.7), Stechschulte was 36th (13:08.9), and Fritsch was 42nd (13:17.7).

The Pirates are also scheduled to run in the Northwest Conference meet on Saturday, Oct. 12.