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Pirate girls 2^nd as team; Bluffton track qualifies 6 individuals, 4 relays to state

By Cort Reynolds

MARION – The Bluffton High School track and field team had two athletes and a girls relay win regional titles, while several others advanced to the state meet with strong showings at the Div. V Region 11 finals hosted by Marion Harding on Friday, May 29. 

Sophomore standout Maelee Miller and senior speed demon Kain Wright each seized two regional running championships.

MAELEE MILLER
Miller won the girls 100-meter hurdles crown with a personal-best time of 15.01 in the Friday finals. She shaved a whopping .46 off her preliminary time.

Miller had crossed the line second in the 100-meter hurdle preliminary heats with a time of 15.47.

In the 400-meter finals later on Friday evening, Miller made it a double-victory as she again took first place by .07 with a time of 56.78. Second-place Ava Travis ran a 56.85.

In the 16-runner 400 preliminary heats Wednesday, Miller ended up third with a time of 58.64. 

She led the Pirate girls team to second place in the regional meet.

KAIN WRIGHT
Pirate senior speed merchant Kain Wright captured first in the 100-meter dash finals with a school-record time of 10.67. He beat second-place sprinter Nigel Yorke of Cristo Rey by .24.

Wright qualified for the 100-meter dash finals with a time of 10.78 in the preliminary heats Wednesday. He was seeded second out of 16 sprinters after the prelims.

In the 400-meter finals, Wright again swept to first place with a time of record time of 47.93. He won by a whopping 1.19 seconds over second place Eli Treece of Wayne Trace.

NORA MATTHEWS
Bluffton junior middle distance standout Nora Matthews took second in the 1600-meter final Friday with a personal-best time of 5:02.1.

Matthews also finished fourth in the 800-meter finals with a season-best time of 2:16.86, .90 faster than her district final time. 

LILIANA FLEMING
Pirate freshman Liliana Fleming came in a strong second in the 300-meter hurdles final on Friday evening. She posted a personal-best time of 45.59 to finish .88 behind winner Hannah Watson. 

Fleming shaved .75 off her previous round qualifying time. She was third overall out 16 competitors Wednesday in the 300-meter hurdle preliminary heats after posting a time of 46.34.

GIRLS 4X200 RELAY
The girls 4x200 relay quartet of Gracie Warren, Fleming, Aubrey Burkholder and Miller captured first place in the eight-team finals race Friday evening with a season-best time of 1:44.13.

The foursome had finished fourth in the 16-team preliminary round with a time of 1:47.28 Wednesday.

BOYS 4X400
In the last event of the two-day meet Friday night, the Bluffton boys 4x400 relay quartet of Kohen Anderson, Wright, Calvin Derstine and Ethan Sprunger rallied to finish second in a time of 3:23.22.

The Lakota quartet took first in 3:21.4.

The Pirate foursome had come in fourth out of 16 squads in the preliminary heats with a time of 3:24.74 Wednesday.

BEKAH REHM
Pirate Bekah Rehm finished a strong fourth out of 16 competitors in the pole vault with a top vault of 11-0, her personal-best and a major 18-inch improvement over her district vault. 

She cleared 11-0 on her third attempt, and went out at 11-4, which was the winning height.

TAYTE GIESIGE
Pirate junior Tayte Giesige finished sixth in the long jump finals Wednesday. He recorded a best leap of 21-3 in his third attempt of six jumps to make it to state as well.

GIRLS 4X800
The Pirate girls 4x800 relay team of Phoebe Edwards-Leeper, Tessa Tarplee, Chloe Nycz and Matthews finished seventh out of 16 squads in the finals Wednesday evening in 9:44.24. The foursome improved on their district time by 14.48.

OWEN SCOLES
Bluffton junior Owen Scoles came in eighth in the discus finals Wednesday with a best toss of 151-8 on his first attempt of six throws.

REGIONAL CROWNS
The Huron girls nosed out the Pirate girls to win the team regional crown by five points, 63-58. Coldwater came in third with 54 points.

Huron also won the boys regional team title with 61 points. Margaretta took second (57), followed by Liberty-Benton (47) and Coldwater (43). The Bluffton boys tied Defiance Tinora for seventh with 35 points.

Top-five finishers in the regional meet automatically advance to the state meet at Ohio State University in Columbus next week.