As far as performances go for one high school at a state championship event, it doesn’t get any better than what the Pella High School Cross Country teams accomplished on October 29, 2022.

The historic day for the Dutch turned into a pair of first place trophies, as the green and white distance runners claimed both team titles in Class 3A at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge. It’s the first time since the girls switched to a 5K that the same school swept the podiums, just the 5th occurrence since there were four classes established in 2003, and 15th ever clean boys-girls sweep in Iowa High School cross country. Also, both Dutch squads won their respective races by 36 team points.

For the Pella girls, this marked the first state championship in program history after several close calls since Head Coach Doug Cutler took over the reigns of the program nearly 20 years ago. The Dutch girls received a significant boost from 2021 All-State placewinner Raegan Snieder, who was on the injury list since late September and hadn’t run a competitive 5K until she found herself on the state meet starting line at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. Snieder placed 29th (20:14.73) despite the challenge.

Marissa Ferebee solidified her school record 5K — technically, she owned the fastest girls’ race in program history, but the team bases their final records on the objective state course in Fort Dodge. Ferebee was an All-State honoree this year, placing 5th (18:50.29), and has now broken the high mark held by former Dutch All-State star Caroline McMartin (19:13 – 2017). The Dutch team score was rounded out by Autumn Blink (17th – 19:43.69), Lizzie Neumann (35th – 20:20.41), and Macy Schroeder (49th – 20:35.23).

GIRLS POST-RACE INTERVIEW AT FINISH LINE:

Pella’s boys earned the school’s third ever state championship, and first since 2011. It was also the first team trophy earned (top three finish) since 2015. The feat was made possible by an All-State trio placing in the top ten; Freshman Canaan Dunham was just a second away from becoming one of the few freshmen to ever run under 16 minutes at the state meet, placing 6th (16:00.62). Senior Chase Lauman put an All-State cap on a stellar high school career in 8th (16:08.77), and Junior Nathan Vander Waal was right behind him in 9th (16:09.33) with a significant personal record.

Devon Browne wasn’t on the squad of seven that ran at the Little Hawkeye Conference meet back in mid-October, but having earned a bid on the final postseason varsity lineup, he had a big breakout finish to carry over into 2023 — Browne placed 34th (17:05.72) and was the fourth Dutch runner across the line for team scoring, with freshman Noah Schuknecht right behind in 37th (17:07.51) at his first ever state race.

BOYS POST-RACE INTERVIEW AT FINISH LINE:

Tune into Let’s Talk Pella Monday and Tuesday to hear the state champion girls and boys cross country athletes from Pella High School.