It may be an almost too-early indication, but it certainly seems the Pella boys track and field team has another strong season on the horizon after their performance at the Iowa Track and Field Coaches Association Indoor State Meet Thursday.

The Dutch boys placed 2nd in a field featuring 29 Class 3A schools with 47 team points, behind ADM and their score of 79, and just ahead of Solon (46) and Clear Creek-Amana (45).

Nathan Vander Waal proved that Pella’s distance crew has accepted the challenge of filling in the enormous shoes of three-time 2023 individual champion Chase Lauman, placing 2nd in the 1600 meters and earning a Drake Relays Blue Standard bid with a time of 4:19.78. Teammate Canaan Dunham, the reigning individual 3A cross country champion, was in 3rd in the same race and just missed a blue standard time by 1/10th of a second (4:20.10). Dunham also won the 3200 meters race with a time of 9:23.19, missing that blue standard by .19 seconds. Vander Waal was 8th in that event with a time of 10:03.68.

Hanson King also improved on his throw from UNI and just missed a Drake Relays blue standard, but won the Class 3A shot put indoor title with a distance of 55-01.75 (the automatic qualifier is 55-6).

Other top eight finishes for Pella:
60 Meter Hurdles – Andrew Vanderhoff, 8th (9.03 seconds)
400 Meter Dash – Colin Kerndt, 8th (54.34 seconds)
Shuttle Hurdle Relay – 5th (35.33) – Andrew Vanderhoff, Levi Shetterly, Rex Rhamy, Cor Huyser
4×400 Meter Relay – 8th (3:41.46) – Colin Kerndt, Rex Rhamy, Bailey Shetterly, Cooper Lautenbach
4×800 Meter Relay – 4th (8:52.76) – Wyatt Van Dyke, Stephen Gaul, Mason Gaulke, Devon Browne

Find full Pella team results here.

The Pella girls will compete in the same meet today.