The Pella Christian boys cross country team has their sights set on making yet another State Meet appearance this upcoming season. 

Prior to 2021, the Eagle boys had waited 11 years to get back to State, but have now qualified to compete against Iowa’s best three years in a row. Pella Christian’s experiences in Fort Dodge have produced fifth, seventh, and fourteenth place finishes over the last three seasons, and head coach Mike Buchheit says that the team’s aspirations to compete among Iowa’s elite has helped drive that success.

“A couple years ago, we were doing everything we could to encourage the kids to think past conference, think past that state qualifying meet. So, it’s fun to know that there’s another point of motivation for the kids and in trying to compete at the highest levels. And some of that plays out just with the particular meets that we’ve chosen to participate in.”

The Pella Christian boys kick off the season at 4:30 on Thursday afternoon with the Marshalltown Early Bird Meet.