Competing in their only meet in the Tulip City until the State Qualifier in mid-October, the Class 2A #14 ranked Pella Christian boys cross country team took second and the #12 ranked girls finished third in the small schools division at the Pella Dutch Invitational on Saturday.

The Eagle boys finished with 45 points in the meet, just 16 points behind 2A #7 ranked Mid-Prairie with 29. For the second straight meet, sophomore Sawyer Meinders finished in the top five, taking fourth place with a time of 17:40.2. Fellow sophomores Paxton Bouma (18:23.5) and Deacon Branderhorst (18:48.3) were the next two Pella Christian runners to cross the finish line in seventh and tenth respectively. Seniors Shaun Bos (19.04.4) and Tysen De Vries (19.22.5) finished just outside the top ten in 11th and 13th. Junior Eli Hoksbergen (19:39.8) and freshman Meixner Hudson (19:54.2) rounded out the scoring for the Eagles with 16th and 18th place finishes. 

The Pella Christian girls had 82 points in their race, finishing behind meet-winner and Class 2A #1 Mid-Prairie and Class 1A #18 Collins Maxwell. Sophomore Bailey Vos took one minute, 14 seconds off of her time on the Central College course from last year, taking seventh place with a time of 21:50.5. Senior Jaclyn Holmes (22:13.3) finished 9th in the field. Sophomore Maisy Meinders (25:12.7), freshmen Nora Lamb (25:16.7) and Greta Vos (25:18.5), and seniors Amelia Boender (25:50.6) and Carly Huyser (26:04.5) completed the Eagles scoring on the day, taking 21st through 25th in the meet.

View full results from the Pella Dutch Invitational here. Hear more from Bailey Vos and Sawyer Meinders about the meet and the early season for Pella Christian on Tuesday’s Today’s Lely Radio Sports Page. The Eagles cross country team’s next compete on Thursday in the Gilbert meet at the Iowa State University Cross Country Course.