Pella and Knoxville won’t have to go far away from home for the opportunity to qualify for the Class 3A state cross country meet. The Pella Sports Park is a 3A district site as the boys and girls from both schools attempt to earn a spot at Fort Dodge on October 30th.

The No. 2 Pella boys are the highest ranked boys team in their field, with No. 8 Carlisle and No. 9 Mount Vernon-Lisbon all trying to find themselves in the top three of the standings to advance to Fort Dodge. Assuming Pella can hold serve with their pre-meet ranking, they will make it to a 22nd all-time state cross country appearance and their 15th in 16 years under Head Coach Doug Cutler.

No. 1 Ballard is the top girls team, with No. 10 Mt. Vernon-Lisbon and No. 12 Carlisle as the other ranked teams in the field. The Lady Dutch are just outside the top 15, and will look to upset one or both of the two teams behind the Bombers for a 16th straight state meet appearance.

Knoxville’s Norah Pearson is the 13th ranked girl in Class 3A entering the state qualifying meet in Pella, and she will face stiff competition for the chance at an at-large bid. The top three individual runners in 3A are all at the site, including No. 1 Paityn Noe and No. 2 Shewaye Johnson of Ballard, as well as No. 3 Ainsley Erzen of Carlisle. To qualify for state as an individual, a runner must place in the top 15 of a meet, regardless of team standings. Pearson, a Panthers’ sophomore, is seeking her 2nd consecutive trip to state.

Racing begins at 4 p.m. at the Pella Sports Park in Pella.

The Indianola cross country teams are making a long trek west for the chance to qualify for the state meet this afternoon.

In Class 4A, they will head to Council Bluffs Lincoln. The No. 13 Indianola girls and unranked boys will join ranked Johnston (No. 1 girls, No. 7 boys) and Ankeny Centennial teams (No. 4 girls, No. 11 boys), as well as the No. 3 Sioux City, North boys for the chance to race at Fort Dodge.

The Indianola boys will have to likely beat one of the three ranked 4A boys teams to qualify for the state meet as a full team for the 24th time in school history and first time since 2016. The Indianola girls — led by No. 12 in 4A Emily Naughton and No. 28 Joey Werling, will look to make a return trip to Fort Dodge after qualifying last fall.