For most of the fall season, the Pella and Ballard girls cross country teams have battled among the top four of Class 3A in the rankings and at multiple races over the past two months.

The two headline this Wednesday’s district race at the Pella Sports Park, as the #1 Bombers and #2 Dutch go head-to-head for the edge heading into likely state bids at Fort Dodge.

Ballard, the Raccoon River Conference championship winner, is headlined by the fastest girl in Iowa High School history — Paityn Noe, who has broken the 5K record in Iowa (17:09 at Fort Dodge two weeks ago) and is the clear favorite to win her second consecutive individual state championship. Her teammates Annika Larson and Ava Vance are ranked 9th and 25th respectively as individuals. The Bombers are likely among the Class 3A team title favorites with Pella and Solon next week in Fort Dodge, assuming all three advance.

The Dutch will likely be without 2021 All-State runner and #15 in 3A Raegan Snieder, who is still nursing an injury suffered a few weeks ago. Pella — who won the Little Hawkeye Conference without Snieder, will still have #5 Marissa Ferebee, #14 Autumn Blink, #23 Jacie Trine, and #24 Lizzie Neumann. Pella has won seven meets in a row, dating back to the Grinnell invitational on September 6th — which included wins over the Bombers at the Ballard Invitational and Heartland Classic.

The top three teams will advance from this week’s field — and ultimately who wins between the top two in 3A is only for bragging rights heading into the following race. This week’s qualifier also includes #14 Iowa Falls-Alden and #17 Carlisle, who will be in a close battle for the final state qualifying spot.

Racing at the state qualifying site begins Wednesday at 4 p.m. at the Pella Sports Park. Tune in for a preview of the boys’ meet tomorrow.