It may be hard to believe with the remarkable consistency of success in the program, but the Pella Boys Cross Country team hasn’t hoisted a top three trophy since 2015. After back-to-back 4th place finishes, with several key returners and talented newcomers, the Dutch could be poised to nab one of those prizes — and possibly more, in 2022.

Pella Head Coach Doug Cutler says this year’s group has a high ceiling, led by three-time state qualifier Chase Lauman, who was on the cusp of an All-State finish last fall before a mid-race illness slowed him back, and in turn, knocked Pella out of the mix for a 3rd place finish. He says Lauman comes into the fall as the clear leader on and off the course, and could be poised for his own special campaign while leading his team to heights not seen since the middle of the past decade.

From there, Cutler says several returners will be competing with a strong freshman class for spots 2-7 in the varsity lineup all fall, and he believes more than a dozen athletes could contribute to the team in 2022.

Athletes to Watch for Pella
Chase Lauman, Senior
Chase spent 2021 in the rankings of Class 3A and finishing first for the Dutch, emerging as the team’s No. 1 runner. He finished 10th in the Iowa Track and Field Coaches Association Rankings, but his state performance was hindered by a mid-race illness that took him from a potential top 10 race to 68th among 3A individuals. After a strong spring with top 8 finishes at the Drake Relays and 3A state meet, Lauman comes into 2022 as a contender for the top prize in 3A and will be pivotal in how far the Dutch can climb.

Nathan Vander Waal, Junior
Before a serious foot injury came into the picture, Nathan was poised for a breakout sophomore campaign. Vander Waal was able to salvage what was left in 2021, placing 45th in Class 3A with a time of 17:29.69 — which was about the same time (17:31.00) that he ran as a freshman in 2020. Nathan comes into camp as the likely No. 2 runner and assuming a healthier journey this fall, he could push those times down significantly and make a case to be among the most improved members of the Dutch team and in the Class 3A field.

Kaiden and Devon Browne, Sophomores
While the twins were neck-and-neck throughout much of the early part of the season as freshmen last fall, it was Kaiden who emerged late and found a spot in the state lineup, placing just seven seconds and five spots shy of an All-District performance. Kaiden couldn’t quite replicate that effort up at the state meet, placing 104th among individuals. Devon wasn’t too far behind his brother by the end of the season, and it will be intriguing to see how the duo improves in their sophomore campaign — especially with three varsity spots to fill from the 2021 state team.

Zack Neumann, Senior
The incoming senior placed as the 100th individual at the 3A state meet and was the 6th time across the line for the Dutch last fall. That momentum seemingly carried over to the spring, where he ran 11:07.83 to place 24th at the Blue Oval in Class 3A in the 3200 meters. Zack was the top finisher for the Dutch at their end-of-season JV meet with a time of 17:48 to earn his state spot, and while it’s not exactly as difficult as some of their upcoming courses, he clocked in at 17:39 at the Balloonfest 5K in July — a minute off of the pace of Lauman.

Cooper VandeVoort, Senior
While the return of Nathan Vander Waal and late season surge by Cutler Turner solidified Pella’s top five heading into conference and the state meet, Cooper VandeVoort provided needed depth and turned in a solid slate of races at the end of his junior campaign. Cooper placed 25th among individuals at the district meet and clocked in just below 18 minutes twice at the Pella Sports Park with both the conference meet and the state qualifier. He’s in the mix in what should be a competitive 6th and 7th spot in the regular varsity lineup.

Wyatt Van Dyke, Sophomore
The depth of Pella is highlighted so much by those who were on the cusp of contributing to the varsity lineup last year. Wyatt Van Dyke is coming off of a track and field season where he was called to action several times in the 4×800 relay and other distance races. Wyatt finished at the Pella JV meet last year at 17:51 — 2nd best on the team at that race. Coach Cutler believes there are up to 15 or so Dutch athletes who could make a push for a varsity spot — and Van Dyke is in that mix.

Canaan Dunham, Freshman
The Dutch have had a strong history of successful freshman in both the boys and girls program coming in to make an immediate impact — Josiah Wittenberg placing 9th in 2018 might be the most extreme and recent example on the boys team, and it’s certainly unfair to put that kind of expectation on anyone else. But the son of Central College Head Cross Country Coach Joe Dunham is expected to make himself known on the varsity lineup in 2022. Canaan comes in off of winning the 3A state meet as an 8th grader — a year where he also broke a lot of Wittenberg’s and Lauman’s Middle School track and field distance records in the spring, and is part of a freshman class at Pella that could push a lot of the returning upperclassmen for spots. Assuming good health and continued development, the story of the 2022 Dutch cross country team will likely be driven a lot by what this young runner can accomplish in his first varsity season.

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The Class 3A Field – Top Returning Teams
Pella placed 4th — and had their fair share of bad breaks and tough luck in October. Coach Cutler believes a deep field awaits the Dutch in their pursuit of a top three finish in Fort Dodge, even with three-time defending champions Dallas Center-Grimes jumping into Class 4A. Here are the contenders to watch:

Marion – 2021 2nd Place, 2nd in final 2021 team rankings
No team gave the Mustangs’ a better chase in their threepeat than the Wolves. Marion was three points shy of pulling off a huge upset in Fort Dodge — and there are piece in place to keep them in the discussion to finish at the top. Marion loses multiple-time All-State finisher and 2021 3rd place runner Shane Erb and 2021 All-State finisher Blake Roling. But the Wolves come back with Jedidiah Osgood, who is the top returning placewinner from the state meet (5th), and the Wolves had six runners inside 3A’s top 60. Marion comes into this fall as a strong contender to push to the top of the class.

North Polk – 2021 3rd Place, 3rd in final 2021 team rankings
Eight points separated the Comets from the Dutch for 3rd place in 2021, and while Pella’s misfortunes at the meet didn’t help, North Polk was certainly a capable team and arguably have the most returning talent from the state meet last fall. Twins Zach and Max Sporaa are the 2nd and 6th fastest returning state placewinners, with both earning All-State honors. Whether or not the Comets contend for the 3A title is how the rest of their roster improves — and it could be a lot, as all seven of their state runners were underclassmen last fall. Based on all of those factors and assuming all goes to plan, North Polk is a likely candidate to grab a top three finish again.

Solon – 2021 5th Place, 6th in final 2021 team rankings
The Spartans have had an athletic run of tremendous success over the past several seasons in multiple sports, and while they come into the Class 3A as its 11th smallest school enrollment-wise, they enter 3A with a decent shot at earning trophies on both cross country teams. While the Solon girls aim to repeat as champions, the Spartans boys are hoping to climb into what could be a crowded battle for a top three spot. They will have some holes to fill, but they are led by Brick Kabela, a junior who placed 14th last year and comes in as the 4th fastest returning runner in the 3A individual field.

MOC-Floyd Valley – 2021 6th place, 7th in final 2021 team rankings
Northwest Iowa’s brand of Dutch (technically Dutchmen) athletics showed off the talent of both the boys and girls track and field programs at the school — as they each outperformed their pre-meet ranking and earned a top eight finish. For the Dutchmen, they’ll have some work to do to get back to 6th place or better. Senior Sam May placed 7th among individuals, and three of the five scoring runners for MOC were seniors. Their best returner is Isaiah Hulshof, a Class of ’23 member who placed 30th as an individual last year. While the Dutchmen have an excellent shot at getting to Fort Dodge this year, it might be tough to stay near the top of a deep 3A field.

Carlisle – 2021 7th Place, 10th in final 2021 team rankings
The Wildcats had a pack mentality about them in 2021 — only state champions DCG had a smaller spread between their 1st and 5th place runner (18 spots) than Carlisle (20 spots), and they had the smallest time spread between those individuals of any one in 3A (17.6 seconds, with Mt. Vernon-Lisbon at 18.2). What makes that feat more impressive is that their 6th place runner was in 54th — which means they tied the championship-winning Mustangs with the best 1-6 spread. With several of Iowa’s best runners graduating, Carlisle has five of those six back in 2022. Chase Gach was the 48th fastest individual in the 3A field and enters his junior season leading what could be a team poised to make a big leap — especially as 25 seniors graduate from the state meet finals ahead of that group. The Wildcats biggest key will be navigating whichever district meet they get to and make sure they get the pack to Fort Dodge. If they do, they are a strong candidate to jump into the top three.

Epworth, Western Dubuque – 2021 8th Place, 8th in final 2021 team rankings
After two miles, the Bobcats were poised for a possible top five finish in Class 3A. But the final stretch had Solon, Carlisle, and MOC-Floyd Valley all leapfrog them in the team standings. In a very tight field from 5th through 10th last fall, they will aim to try and get back to the 5th spot in 2022. All-state finisher Eli Naumann and his 6th place spot will be missed. Isaiah Hammerand was 29th last year as a junior, but there is a big gap between him and their 2nd best returning runner Drew Meyer, who placed 104th among 3A individuals.

Decorah – 2021 9th Place, 13th in final 2021 team rankings
It will be a tough road ahead for the Vikings, who had a similar pack mentality to Carlisle in 2021. But unlike the Wildcats, Decorah said farewell to four members of the Class of 2022 — their top four at state, to be exact. That’s not to say that they can’t find their way back to Fort Dodge, but they will need a lot to change for the eight teams ahead of them (and many behind them) to be back in the top ten again in 2022.

Glenwood – 2021 10th Place, 5th in final 2021 team rankings
The Rams did not have their best day of the previous season in Fort Dodge last fall, to put it lightly. While 2022 junior Bryant Keller improved on his state qualifying time to earn an All-State finish (11th), and Andrew Smith was somewhat close in 35th, the rest of the Glenwood lineup did not fare as well. The good news for the Rams is all seven of their varsity competitors were underclassmen and will look to learn from what went wrong at last year’s meet to boost them into the fall of 2022. Look for a Chase Lauman-esque jump from Liam Hays, who placed 3rd at his district meet but 97th last year. This could also be the third time Keller, Smith, and Hays make it to the state meet — and maybe the third time will be the charm, and push the Rams closer to their 2021 team final ranking (5th) than their placement at Lakeside Golf Course.

Mount Vernon-Lisbon – 2021 11th Place, 11th in final 2021 team rankings
Tied with Carlisle for the 2nd smallest pack-spread one through five and less than a second behind the Wildcats in smallest time difference among their team, the Mustangs will look to bring back a close group to Fort Dodge. But unlike the Wildcats, Mount Vernon will have some shoes to fil — three of their top five were seniors in 2021. Lead by junior Luke Stephens (54th among individuals), the Mustangs will have some work to do to crack the top ten of a talented Class 3A field.

Newton – 2021 12th Place, 12th in final 2021 team rankings
The Cardinals from the Little Hawkeye Conference had one of their best boys athletic seasons in recent memory, with much of that earned in cross country and on the track. But it will be difficult to replicate their 2021 success this fall: 3A 4th place finisher Jackson Mace-Maynard and 34th place runner Treycen Garton both graduate from the top two spots of the Cardinals lineup. Three of the next five from Newton’s state race last year are back, keyed by Landon Menninga (67th). But the Cardinals had four of their runners outside of the top 100 in the individual 3A standings — they’ll need another leap forward and some help to contend for a top 10 spot in Class 3A, let alone in a deep Little Hawkeye Conference race.

ADM – 2021 13th Place, 9th in final 2021 team rankings
Life after two-time champion Nate Mueller wasn’t as bad as many expected for the Tigers in 2021. But the state meet was a bit tricky for the boys from Adel-Minburn-DeSoto: after the first mile, they were in 6th, and came out in 13th by the end of the 5K. Again, “it’s not a sprint, but a marathon,” may apply here, but ADM may find it difficult to get back to Lakeside Golf Course altogether in 2022. They graduated another All-State placewinner in Cooper Greenslade, and No. 2 runner Quinton Kimrey is also gone to graduation. Top-returner Torin Timmerman was 88th among 3A individuals at state as a freshman last fall, and the other three returning Tigers were outside of the top 100. It’s not fair to count out ADM by any stretch, but there is plenty of work to do if they are going to get back to the state meet this October.

Sioux Center – 2021 14th Place, 14th in final 2021 team rankings
Another pack team coming in, this time from northwest Iowa, just 34 seconds separated their 1st and 5th runners at the state meet last fall. The Warriors lose top runner Graham VandeVegte to graduation, but 2022 junior Hudson Vonk finished just two spots and less than two seconds behind his teammate. Runners 2-6 for Sioux Center return from that state team — and if they collectively improve a bit from their showing last fall, there’s a good chance the Warriors are back at Lakeside, and could push for top 10 finish in 2022.

Charles City – 2021 15th Place, 15th in final 2021 team rankings
It’s a long journey to the top in 3A cross country, and the Comets were a fairly distant final team in the final team scores last fall in Fort Dodge. The trick for Charles City is that their only runner that finished inside of the top 100 among individuals, Jacob Vais, has graduated. The good news is three of their returning qualifiers, led by sophomores Nick Williams (101st) and Xander Greser (110th), were underclassmen. Still, it’ll be a tough test to make it a return trip for the Comets in a talented northern Iowa qualifying pool.

Lewis Central – Class 4A in 2021
While DCG’s athletic powerhouse moves into the state’s biggest class this fall, another strong tradition comes down from 4A. Lewis Central placed 5th in a loaded 4A district meet that featured state runner up Sioux City north and both Ankeny schools as state qualifiers, and did so on a team with four sophomores and two freshman in the lineup. The Titans’ top runner is Ethan Eichhorn, who placed 4th in that state qualifier with a time of 16:04, and 13th in the Class 4A state race at 16:10.89. There is a good chance Lewis Central finds themselves in Fort Dodge this October, and while it’s hard to cross over too many comparisons between the classes, could contend for a top 10 spot–and maybe a bit more, this fall, and Eichhorn will likely battle for the 3A individual title as well.