The #4 moment on our countdown of the top 10 sports stories at Pella Christian during the 2023-2024 school year saw the Eagles boys cross country team qualify for the State Meet for the third season in a row, while the girls squad’s Bailey Vos and Jaclyn Holmes qualified as individuals on Thursday, October 19th. 

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). Bos said it was a great feeling to make it back to Fort Dodge.

“It means a lot, especially this year as a senior when we were, I’d like to say under ranked. We had a lot to prove at this meet and we came out and showed it.”

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 were 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. 

The Pella Christian boys cross country team finished their season with a 14th place finish at the State Meet, while Vos and Holmes claimed 31st and 73rd place finishes, respectively.