In another excellent showing at the district qualifier, the Pella cross country teams are heading back to the state meet.

The No. 5 Lady Dutch were edged by DCG for the district crown by one point (54 to 55), but Pella will send the whole team anyway, as the top three advance. It’s the 13th consecutive trip to state for Pella, the three-time defending runners-up in 3A.

Caroline McMartin paced Pella with a time of 19:38 for 3rd place, followed by Makayla Kruse at 7th (20:13), Abby Cutler 13th (20:42), and Chelsea Jorgensen 14th (20:46). Kruse and McMartin tell KNIA/KRLS Sports they are looking forward for the chance to once again compete for state after a great day at the Central College cross country track.

“It just really means a lot, because I love this team and I love running with my girls, and I’m just so happy we get to run together one more time at state,” Kruse says.

After missing a trip to state last year for the first time after a dozen appearances in a row, Pella’s boys are back on the road to Fort Dodge with their second place performance with a race Coach Cutler called by far their best of the year. Freshman Josiah Wittenberg was the individual meet medalist, blazing past the field with a time of 16:58. He says while he was a bit shaky before the opening gun sounded, he started feeling like he could have a special day early in the run.

“I was so nervous leading up to the race,” he says. “Once the race started and got like 100 meters in, and I was like, ‘oh, I feel good,’ and I just went from there,” Wittenberg says.

The No. 9 Little Dutch had the number 12 to 14 finishers cross the line nearly together, Drew Van Hauen, Cutler Turner, and Mason Johnston. The state meet is on October 27th in Fort Dodge.

Knoxville’s boys placed 12th as a unit, and the girls finished in 11th overall, and their season has come to a close.

Find full results from the state qualifying meet in Pella below:

Boys: http://www.iahsaa.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/18_3A_Pella_SQM_CC_Results.html
Girls: https://dehayf5mhw1h7.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/1072/2019/01/18100801/xcpella3a.pdf

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