The Tulip City cross country teams opened competition this fall with a quad meet at Central College Saturday.

Pella swept victory in both the boys and girls races against Oskaloosa and Grinnell, with Pella Christian placing 4th in the boys race and not fielding a full team in the girls competition.

Senior Abby Cutler won her first career race to lead the Lady Dutch with a time of 21:35.8, with freshman Autumn Blink placing 4th at 22:04.4 and senior Ashley Blommers close behind in 5th at 22:17.6. Freshmen Jacie Trine and Sophia Boonstra rounded out the Pella scoring with 8th and 9th place finishes in the team race.

Pella’s boys were equally dominant and despite some pre-race nervous and illness, flashed some of the special potential they have. Two-Time All-State Runner Josiah Wittenberg opened his junior campaign with a 1st place finish and a time of 16:50.7. Sophomore Chase Lauman was 3rd overall (17:34.6) and Senior Tony Schmitz was close behind with a time of 17:41.8 for 4th. Freshman Nathan VanderWaal placed 5th and Braden Rowe rounded out Pella’s team score with an 8th place finish.

The Pella Christian boys opened their season at Central Saturday as well. Senior Brayton Juffer led the way with a time of 19:22.2 and a 12th place finish, Kaden Van Wyngarden started his sophomore season with a 16th place finish at 19:48.5, and Junior Micah DeHaan placed 21st with a time of 20:21.8.

Ethan Milligan’s 22nd place finish and Tysen Devries placing 26th contributed to the Eagles’ team score. The Pella Christian girls were paced by freshman Jaclyn Holmes in her debut, placing 6th with a time of 22:18.6. Sophomore Karis Fikkert finished 22nd (26:22.7) and Savannah Oosterheert (Oh-ster-heert, like ear) was in 23rd (26:25.7).

Both Pella and Pella Christian are back in action Saturday, September 5th at the annual Central College invitational.

Full results:
Boys: http://onlineraceresults.com/race/view_plain_text.php?race_id=71903
Girls: http://onlineraceresults.com/race/view_plain_text.php?race_id=71902#INDIVIDUALS