pella cross country

For the 11th consecutive season, both Pella cross country teams will make a trip to the state cross country meet.

The No. 3 Lady and No. 6 Little Dutch full lineups qualified for the chance to win state titles in Class 3A at the Central College Cross Country course that served as a 2A and 3A postseason site.

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Pella’s girls finished 1st overall with 56 points. Tess Roorda, Kelcey Blommers, Ciara Buchheit, Caroline McMartin, and Mikayla Kruse were the top placeholders for the Lady Dutch by all placing in the top 15. The former individual state champion Roorda tells KNIA/KRLS Sports it was important to finish once again as a tight pack, and it’s a key to getting the team a title next weekend.

“It’s very important because one of our goals is to win a state championship and to get on the deck and place at state, so keeping that pack together and as close as possible will help us in scoring and achieving our goal,” Roorda says.
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The Little Dutch at 66 points were barely edged by Mt. Pleasant for a 3rd place finish, which guarantees Pella’s boys a 12th straight trip to state. Blaise Winegardner and Nick Bernhagen finished fourth and fifth as individuals. Bernhagen says qualifying reflects just how hard many of the new varsity runners had to work to make up for the talented senior class they graduated last year.

“At the beginning of the year, I would say as a team we probably weren’t so sure that we were going be really as good as we were last year but I think after today, it really proves we’ve really made some big improvements over the season,” he says.

PCM and Pella Christian were unable to send teams on the boys and girls side in the Class 2A field, but two boys who have been at the top of many leaderboards throughout the season will continue their careers for a final race at state. The Mustangs’ Chris Ellens was the top runner in the boys race, and the Eagles’ Grant Dunsbergen finished sixth, which means both will make the return trip to the state meet.

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Ellens says he’s been using his previous experience to make extra improvements this year.

“We did a little more work in the grass, pace work in the grass and I think that helps getting used to the grass and the turf,” he says. “And then being able to start out faster and that’s what we worked on to, and that really helped me because my start was pretty slow last year,” Ellens says.
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Dunsbergen tells KNIA/KRLS Sports it was a very competitive field he raced against, which helped push his time lower.

“You just got to step it up, you got to meet the levels where you are,” he says. “I had to run with people that were put in my district and I think it’s helpful.”

Knoxville also competed at the Pella site, and wrapped up their season with a 9th place girls finish and a 12th place mark for the boys. The 2016 state cross country meet is Saturday, October 29th in Fort Dodge.

RESULTS:

Click here for the 3A Girls.
Click here for the 3A Boys.
Click here for the 2A Girls.
Click here for the 2A Boys.

Full state cross country schedule (by class)

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