TOGETHER! That is this year’s overarching theme. It is something we have talked about in just about every practice. Saturday was an opportunity for the Pella Dutch runners to put togetherness on display. They did NOT disappoint.

Varsity Kicks It Off

The varsity girls kicked off the day with a 5K race. From the gun, you could see that togetherness was a goal. Juniors Jacie Trine and Autumn Blink ran alongside Sophomore Raegan Snider for most of the race. The trio moved will through the pack, feeding off each other’s energy. By the finish of the race all three had placed in the top 10 in the Orange division. Snieder crossed the line in 20:23.8 (3rd), Trine finished in 20:36.4 (4th), and Blink finished in 20:50.3 (5th.) Juniors Sophia Boonstra and Tess Paulsen rounded out the varsity scorers finishing in 22:08.2 (18th) and 22:47.6, respectively. Senior Abbey Bogaards completed the 5K course in 24:05.8. Junior Abby Teagarden started the race but was unable to finish due to a mid-race illness.

The varsity girl’s team placed 4th in the overall scoring averaging 21:21 with a 2:23 spread. In the Orange Division, the girls placed 2nd by 5 points to 4th ranked 2A Monticello.

The Boys varsity race was next up. Togetherness remained the theme as the boys took to the course. Junior Chase Lauman went out with the leaders representing some of the best runners in the state, including Jedidiah Osgood of Marion and Isaiah Hammerand of Western Dubuque, Epworth. Junior Nathan Vander Waal tucked in behind, working with the lead group. Lauman and Vander Waal would finish the 5K course in under 17 minutes. Lauman finished 2nd in the orange division running an all-time best 5K in 16:06.6. Vander Waal also ran a lifetime best, finishing in 3rd, covering the 5K course in 16:39.4. The subsequent Dutch runners show the strength of the TOGETHER theme. Senior Zack Neumann and Sophomore Devon Browne raced to the finish line to finish within .1 of each other in 18:17.5 (10) and 18:17.6 (11), respectively. The next pair of Sophomore Kaiden Browne and Sophomore Aren Hellbusch had a similar race to the line, finishing in 18:31.3 (14) and 18:31.8 (15), respectively. Junior Wyatt Van Dyke finished off the Dutch varsity runners covering the 5K course in 18:44.4 to finish in 20th place.

The varsity boys placed 5th overall score with a 17:34 average and a 2:24 second spread. In the Orange division, the boys placed second to #1 ranked 3A team, Marion.

Fabulous Freshman Have Stellar Start

Cedar Rapids Prairie Invitational ran a freshman-sophomore 4K race. This allowed the freshman runners to run together in a race that eased them into the 5K race. The Dutch runners took this opportunity to showcase their outstanding freshman class (one of the largest ever) to the rest of the state. The races did not disappoint.

The girl’s freshman-sophomore race displayed the power of these incoming freshmen definitively. The freshman girls swept the Orange division placings, with Marissa Ferebee winning the 4K race in 15:50. Lizzie Neumann took runner-up honors finishing in 16:52.8. Avary Hunsinger covered the course in 17:36.5 for 3rd. Addison Van Wyk and Emerson Wogen wrapped up the scoring positions running 17:39.4 and 17:52.8, respectively. Next in for the Dutch were Cora Ebelsheiser 21:35.3 (11), Lyndon Norton 21:44.2 (13), Isabella Smith 21:51.1 (14), Morgan McAninch 23:35.9 (15.)

In the team scoring, the freshman girls were 1st overall with 17 points and first in the Orange division with a perfect score of 15.

The boy’s freshman team responded to the girl’s race similarly. Canaan Dunham set the tone for what should be a fantastic high school career covering the 4K course in a stellar time of 12:40.9 to take the win. The next three in were all Pella freshmen in the Orange division race. Noah Schuknecht 13:45.6 (2), Mason Gaulke 14:22.4 (3), and Daniel Rozenboom 14:47.3 (4) all ran well for their first high school race. Other Dutch finishers were: Evan Johnston 16:08.1 (9), Asher Schiebout 16:09.6 (10), Zach Dobson 17:11.8 (16), Henry Gauley 17:46.4 (23), Aiden Huston 18:57.4 (24).

The freshman boys finished 3rd overall with 70 points and were 1st in the Orange division with 19 points.

Junior Varsity Race Shows Depth

The Girls JV race was small in numbers as several Dutch runners did not travel to Cedar Rapids this weekend. However, the four girls that did run executed their first race of the season well. By the time the JV races started, temperatures had neared 80 degrees. Sophomore Mara Schiebout led the JV runners in completing the 5K course in 26:11 for 9th place in the Orange division. Fellow sophomore Chloe Punt wasn’t far behind, finishing 11th in a time of 26:32. Senior Maddie Schmitz put on a strong second half of the race to complete the course in 16:38 for 12th place. Rounding out the JV runners was sophomore Phoebe Schrauben who ran an all-time best of 28:19, eclipsing her personal best by almost a full minute.

The JV girls did not have enough runners to score in the team scores.

The Boys JV race showed just how dominant the running Dutch could be. The first runner to reach the finish for the Dutch was Junior Jake Huston getting his first career cross country win, finishing the hot 5K course in 19:13. Junior Stephen Gaul finished next, completing the 5K in 19:24 for 2nd place. The following three scores for the dutch were Mars Chapel (SO) 20:19 (4), Jacob Shaffer (SR) 20:41 (8), Jack Conrad (JR) 20:46 (9). The remaining Dutch finishers were Noah Huffaker (SO) 21:12 (12), MacK Copeland (SO) 21:22 (14), Elijah Ruckman (SR) 22:15 (20), Kolton Messer (SO) 22:16 (21), Jordan Shaffer (SO) 22:16 (22), Alex Mitchel (JR) 25:43 (40)

The junior varsity boy scored 87 points to take 3rd overall and 24 points to win the Orange division.

Complete scores can be found here:
Var. Girls
Var. Boys
JV Girls
JV Boys
Fr-So Girls
Fr-So Boys

Up Next!

The next race is the Pella Invitational on Saturday September 3rd, 2022. The race will be held on Central College’s cross country course. The Girl’s race will start 9:45 at and the Boy’s will follow at 10:15. Award will be presented following the boy’s race.

See you there!