A dominating performance for the girls and a back-and-forth race to the finish for the boys still ultimately earned the Pella cross country teams victories at the Mike Carr Invitational in Ballard Monday evening.

In a field featuring some of the best teams in Class 3A, both Dutch squads ultimately won the overall standings — even as it came to the sixth place tiebreaker for the boys in a late rush to pass #2 Gilbert in the final half mile. Canaan Dunham earned another meet medal (16:00.4) to pace the Dutch, and Nathan Vander Waal placed 3rd among individuals (16:08.7). Noah Schucknecht (11th – 16:48) and Aren Hellbusch (15th 16:53) both broke the 17 minute barrier, while Mason Gaulke (17:00.8) placed 23rd to round out the overall team scoring. Jake Huston’s 26th place finish was enough to break a 53-53 tie with the Tigers. Pella won the Class A race by four points when accounting for school size.

Pella’s girls team made up of six ranked individuals flexed their muscle in the girls race to narrowly edge #13 in 4A Indianola and dominate several key ranked 3A teams. Ruth Dunham (19:36.7) and Autumn Blink (19:38.6) placed 2nd and 3rd to lead the Dutch; Macy Schroeder (14th – 20:28), Raegan Snieder (16th – 20:32.1), and Marissa Ferebee (21st – 20:45.8) rounded out the team score on a day where both JV teams also swept the top races. Find full results here.

The Dutch are next in action at home at the loaded Heartland Classic at Central College on Saturday.