Eagles Boys Track and Field Take 1st at the Rocket Relay

The Pella Christian boys track and field squad competed in the Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont Rocket Relays Tuesday and scored 143 points en route to winning the team title in Class A of the meet.

Luke Nikkel had a fantastic meet for the Eagles, as he took first place in all four events he participated in on the night. He won the long jump with a distance of 19-08.50, and the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.41 seconds. As part of the 4×800 sprint medley team Nikkel along with Peyton Ritzert, Danny Andringa, and Levi Schelhaas won the event with a time of 1:36.73. Then with the 4×100 meter relay team Nikkel along with Drew Geetings, Andringa, and Schelhaas grabbed first place (44.78 seconds). Trevor Veenstra won his fourth individual shot-put event of the year with a throw of 49-00.50 and also won the discus throw (136-03). Ritzert won the 400-meter dash with a time of 53.68 seconds. Rounding out the event winners for the night was Andringa, Ritzert, Cooper Spronk, and Schelhaas winning the 4×400 meter relay with a time of 3:35.01.

Other top five finishers for the Eagles included:

Drew Geetings – 2nd Place – High Jump (6-00.50); Noah Nunnikhoven – 2nd Place – 400-meter hurdles (1:01.69); Theo Hugen – 2nd Place – 100 meter dash (12.36); Andringa, Theo Hugen, Ryan Natelborg, and Kaden Van Wyngarden – 3rd Place – 4×800 meter relay (9:16.43); Ryan Natelborg – 3rd Place- 1600 meter run (5:02.38); Kaden Van Wyngarden – 4th Place – 1600 meter run (5:03.96); and Ben Gosselink – 4th Place – 3200 meter run (11:50.30).

The Pella Christian boys track and field team returns to action Thursday with the girls squad at the Tulip Time Relays on Thursday. 

Pella Christain Boys Tennis Defeats Chariton, Girls Tennis Falls to Indianola

The Pella Christian boys tennis team dominated in a 7-2 victory over Chariton Tuesday afternoon, while the #9 ranked Eagles girls tennis team fell at Indianola 7-4.

In the boys match, the Eagles swept the Chargers in doubles action, and grabbed wins in four of the six singles matches. Top singles player Alejo Marcon swept his singles match, and Alejandro Murdoch, Shaun Oosterheert, and Aaron Meinders grabbed wins in the number four-six spots in the singles lineup. Murdoch is playing tennis for the first time and has been enjoying the learning process and success he and the team have had this season.

“I’ve been learning a lot of things. I used to think that tennis was easy, but when I started it wasn’t really easy. But we’ve been doing really good, we’re winning a lot of meets so that’s really good, and we have a winning record so that’s amazing.”

Against Indianola, the ranked Eagles girls team managed just two wins in singles play and two wins in doubles action. Juniors Claire Vander Molen and Sydney Van Arendonk were a part of all four match wins for the Eagles, as they grabbed the two singles wins in the second and third spots in the lineup. In doubles play, Vander Molen teamed up with Katy Roose to win in the top spot in the lineup, while Van Arendonk and Tessa Breems won in the second spot.

The Pella Christian boys tennis team improved to 4-2 on the season, while the #9 ranked girls team’s record fell to 4-2 this spring and 2-2 in the Little Hawkeye Conference. Both teams will be in action Thursday at 4:15 p.m., with the Eagles boys tennis squad traveling to Centerville and the girls team hosting Norwalk. 

Pella Christian Golf Finishes 10th at Oskaloosa Invitational

The Pella Christian golf team competed for the third time in four day Tuesday at the Oskaloosa Invitational and finished in 10th place with a team score of 339. 

Senior Kyle Gao and sophomore Isaiah Breems led the way for the Eagles, as each shot an 81 on the afternoon. Freshman Eliot Menninga also shot under 90 on the day, carding an 85 at Edmundson Golf Course. Freshmen Deacon Branderhorst and Landon Fransman each had a score of 92, and Dane Geetings rounded out the varsity lineup with a 98.

The Eagles have the next couple days off, before returning to the course Saturday at the Panther Invitational at Pine Knolls Country Club.

Eagles Soccer Teams Shut-Out Against Dallas Center-Grimes

The Pella Christian boys soccer and girls soccer teams were each shut-out by ranked Dallas Center-Grimes squads on Tuesday. The Eagles boys team lost 5-0 to the Class 2A #4 ranked Mustangs, while the girls fell 6-0 to the undefeated and #2 ranked DCG team.

The Eagles boys soccer squad held their own against the top team in the Little Hawkeye Conference Tuesday. After being mercy ruled in the first half last season by the Mustangs, Pella Christian allowed just two goals before halftime. In the second half DCG would find the back of the net three more times to down the Eagles. 

At Dallas Center-Grimes, the Pella Christian girls faced the tall task of trying to score on a DCG squad that’s only allowed four goals through 11 games. The Eagles were unable to tackle the challenge as the Mustangs controlled the possession for most of the game. DCG had 19 shots on goal and 38 shot attempts compared to the Eagles 1 shot attempt. 

The Pella Christian boys soccer team’s record now sits at 2-5 on the spring and 0-4 in the Little Hawkeye Conference, while the girls’ are 3-4 overall and 0-2 in league play. The Eagles boys squad will look to snap their five game losing skid on Thursday at Sigourney. The Pella Christian girls squad will resume action Monday at home against Knoxville.