The Bluffton boys’ and girls’ cross country teams took the road trip to Marion, IN, at Indiana Wesleyan University’s Wildcat Classic race. The boys’ varsity team won first place out of 20 teams in the event, while the junior varsity team finished 18th. The girls’ team varsity team placed 11th.
Individually for the boys, Tyler Godwin led the Tigers and finished second overall at a time of 17:25.4, a new personal best. Bluffton had another top-10 finisher in Sam Baumgartner, who placed eighth with a time of 18:01.0. The rest of the runners were Jude Baumgartner in 14th at 18:30.9, Levi Johns in 15th at 18:31.5, Brett Kuhlenbeck in 51st with a personal best at 19:48.6, Jackson Rocwell in 93rd at 21:18.7, Griffin Linderwell in 97th at 21:27.7, and in 99th Ayden Teeple at 21:34.8.
In the girls’ varsity race, Gabrielle VanCamp finished with a personal record at 25:05.2 and placed 48th. Following VanCamp, Dakota Lee placed 59th at 26:01.8, Annika Linderwell in 71st at 27:27.3, Alydia Bertsch in 90th at 29:39.8, and Amarah Robles in 107th at 32:37.1.
For the boys’ junior varsity team, Manning Nash led the way for Bluffton at a time of 23:12.1, followed by Elija Robles at 23:36.4, Owen Lesh at 23:51.1, Jonah Cole at 25:15.0, and Dalton Rodgers at 26:06.6.
The next race for both cross country teams will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, September 17, at the South Adams Invitational.
