For the third season in a row, the Pella Christian boys cross country team is heading to the State Meet in Fort Dodge, while the Eagle girls squad’s Bailey Vos and Jaclyn Holmes qualified for State as individuals. 

This season’s Pella Christian boys became just the second team in school history to qualify for the State Meet in three consecutive years, following in the footsteps of the 1981-1983 teams. Trailing #1 Des Moines Christian and #4 Chariton, the #15 Eagles and #16 Clarinda were tied at the 4K mark. But just like a year ago at the Pella Sports Park, Pella Christian got a late race surge to overtake the Cardinals and claim the third and final qualifying position. Sawyer Meinders led the way for the Eagles with a ninth place finish (17:05.46), while Tysen DeVries (17:15.34) and Deacon Branderhorst (17:15.44) weren’t far behind in 14th and 15th. Helping propel Pella Christian past Clarinda and rounding out the official scoring were Paxton Bouma in 24th (17:59.47) and Shaun Bos in 27th (18:27.57).

In a loaded field that featured 14 schools and five ranked teams, the #20 Eagle girls finished in fifth place behind #2 Albia, #4 Des Moines Christian, #16 Clarinda, and #15 PCM. Despite not qualifying as a team, the Pella Christian girls will be represented at State by two individual runners. Bailey Vos completed the course in 20:00.46 to claim 5th place and Jaclyn Holmes finished in 14th with a time of 20:52.43 to punch their tickets to Fort Dodge.

View full results from the State Qualifying meet here. Hear from the State Qualifying athletes from the Pella Christian cross country teams on Today’s Lely Radio Sports Page. The State Meet for the Eagles will take place on Saturday, October 28th at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge.