With most of the upperclassmen gone on spring break trips, the freshmen and sophomore members of the Pella High girls track and field team stepped up to make a big impact in the Little Hawkeye Conference indoor meet. Sophomore Becky Visser won the high jump and freshman Jessica Holterhaus was the long jump champion. Another freshman, Lydia VanEe, won the 60 meter hurdles.

The Lady Dutch also got second place finishes out of Holterhaus in the 200 meters, freshman Ashley Kirkland in the 800 meters, sophomore Abby Fyfe in the 1500 meters, and Marielle Gaiser in the 60 meter hurdles. Head coach Dak Rasmussen says the early season competitions are beneficial to all of his runners to help them prepare for the outdoor season.

“For the indoor meets, we really look at those as a chance for some of the veteran runners to get back into shape; knock some of the rust off, and for the younger runners it’s really a chance to get rid of some of the butterflies. It also helps them feel what it’s like to run at the high school level; feel what it’s like to run as a varsity runner – as opposed to what they were doing in middle school,” said Rasmussen. “If we could get some good times in there, that’s great too, but really it’s about getting the experience before we get to the outdoor season.”

The Pella High girls will get in one more indoor meet on Tuesday in the Dickinson Relays at the University of Northern Iowa.