The Pella High School cross country teams again boast record numbers this fall, and the reason for the continued growth of the program is no fluke. Beyond their success at the varsity level, the Dutch have built a culture of equal importance and a family-like atmosphere during head coach Doug Cutler’s tenure, and that has fostered the large numbers of student-athletes who wish to participate each fall. Cutler says everyone who goes out is responsible for any success that happens for the seven runners who make varsity.

“Our theme this year is ‘Everyone Counts’, and we mean that to the core. We make sure we really work hard to let everyone on the team know that they are part of what is happening here,” said Cutler.

“No one questions when a football team or a basketball team wins a state championship – that it didn’t matter if you were sitting on the bench or played 40 minutes in that game – that you were part of that state championship team. The same thing happened for us last year. The boys won the state championship, the girls finished third, but our entire team was a part of that and helped accomplish that.”

This year Pella High boasts 127 runners out for cross country and they are excited for the start of the season. They’ll get in their first meet on Saturday at Cedar Rapids Prairie.