No. 7 in our list of the top moments from Pella High School this past academic year takes us to the peak of one of the most difficult cross country seasons in recent memory for Iowa’s students — as one of the wettest falls on record made many courses muddy and sloppy for the majority of the season. But the conditions improved enough for the district finals at Central College on October 18th, and featured a championship race from Freshman Josiah Wittenberg as he led the Pella boys cross country team back to the state meet after a year absence for the powerhouse program. Wittenberg blazed past the field with a time of 16:58 to win the boys individual district title. He said after the race 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.

On the same day, the Pella Lady Dutch cross country runners finished one point away from a team crown to DCG, but still qualified for state for the 13th consecutive year. Pella’s programs capped off another season among Iowa’s elite distance runners at the state cross country meet in Fort Dodge, as the Lady Dutch finished in sixth place, while the Pella boys placed in 5th.