The fall sports season in Marion County is coming to a close as most local football teams fell in the playoffs last week, all local volleyball teams have been eliminated from the postseason, and the state cross country meet marked the finish line to racing this fall.

The excellent tradition of Pella Cross Country continued Friday as the boys placed 4th and the girls placed 8th at the state meet in Fort Dodge. The Lady Dutch came in as the 11th ranked team and for the second year in a row at state, outperformed their pre-meet seeding. Pella’s boys just missed a spot for a top three trophy in a field that was highly competitive beyond champions Dallas Center-Grimes.

On Saturday, Rylee Dunkin from Twin Cedars earned an All-State finish for the 2nd consecutive season, placing 10th in the Class 1A race.

In class 2A, Pella Christian’s Kaden Van Wyngarden played 88th in the boys race, and PCM had two girls run in class 2A as Paige Steenhoek placed 52nd and teammate Tiffany Koonce came home 95th.

Later this week, PCM competes in the 2A Football quarterfinals when they travel to West Marshall. Hear the Mustangs live on 92.1 KRLS and the KRLS3 stream, with coverage starting at 5 p.m. on Friday.

Pella swimmers with the NCMP Aquagirls from Newton will race in the district meet this Saturday at Southeast Polk High School. Stay tuned to 92.1 KRLS for continuing coverage of local high school athletics.