A pair of young and somewhat inexperienced squads will represent the Pella Christian Cross Country program this fall, a fact that has head coach Jocelyn Meinders more excited than worried. Meinders says along with looking forward to getting to new talent, she also enjoys watching her experienced athletes take on leadership roles.

“Seeing how they [upperclassmen] step when the other leaders have graduated is always something fun for me to see,” says Meinders.

“It’s also fun to see the maturity that they show from year-to-year and how they step up each year and show that leadership; and some of the people who maybe have a little bit of a quiet personality still end up stepping up and being my leaders in cross country, which is really good for them and really fun for me to see.”

Pella Christian’s cross country season begins September 3rd at the Pella High Invitational.