Photo courtesy of Troy L. Hugen Photography

For the second season in a row, the Pella Christian cross country teams will host one of five Class 2A State Qualifying Meets today at Pella Sports Park.

The Eagles enjoyed a great deal of success in this meet a year ago, as both the boys and girls teams punched their tickets to Fort Dodge in the same year for the first time since 1986. In last year’s meet, the Pella Christian girls took third place to grab the final qualifying spot. Meanwhile, the Eagle boys sat in fourth place at the two-mile mark, but used a late race push to finish second and claim a spot at State. As both squads look to duplicate that success today, they are also hoping to make even more history at Pella Christian. The Eagle boys are seeking to become the program’s second team to qualify for the State Meet in three consecutive years, following in the footsteps of the 1981-1983 teams. Meanwhile, the girls squad is trying to make it back-to-back appearances at State for the first time since 1985 and 1986.

Both the Pella Christian boys and girls teams will face difficult fields that feature 14 schools. The #15 Pella Christian boys run against three ranked teams in #1 Des Moines Christian, #4 Chariton, and #16 Clarinda, while the #20 Eagle girls compete against four ranked teams in #2 Albia, #4 Des Moines Christian, #15 PCM, and #16 Clarinda. 

Pella Christian’s Class 2A State Qualifying Meet at the Pella Sports Park begins today at 4 pm.