Dutch Cross Country Preview: Williamsburg Invitational

Date: Tuesday, September 30, 2025
Location: Williamsburg Sports Complex, 913 Franklin Street, Williamsburg, IA 52361
Admission: $5 per person, $10 per car (no pets allowed per IHSAA/IGHSAU)

5:00 Varsity Girls  (Run 7 – Count 5)

5:30 Varsity Boys  (Run 7 – Count 5)

6:00 JV Girls

6:30 JV Boys

Meet Overview

The Williamsburg Invitational brings together more than 30 schools across all four classes, making it one of the larger and more diverse fields of the regular season. The course layout at the Williamsburg Sports Complex is spectator-friendly and offers plenty of opportunities to cheer from start to finish. While not a state-level preview, it’s an ideal tune-up as teams prepare for October championship racing.

Varsity Girls Preview

The #1-ranked Dutch girls come in as heavy favorites even while resting their top two runners, Marissa Ferebee and Elsie Brenneman. That opens the door for the rest of the varsity lineup — Altwine, Dobson, Dunham, McCulla, Neumann, Vande Voort, and Wittenberg — to step into scoring roles and gain valuable experience.

Opposition will come from #3 Mount Vernon-Lisbon, #5 Solon, #15 Williamsburg, and #8 Pella Christian (2A). All are quality squads, but the bigger storyline is about Pella’s depth and how well the team’s younger athletes respond when asked to lead the charge.

Williamsburg offers the girls a chance to sharpen their pack running, test lineup flexibility, and continue building confidence before the postseason stretch.

Varsity Boys Preview

The boys’ race sets up as one of the more intriguing showdowns of the week. The #2-ranked Dutch will line up against #3 Mount Vernon-Lisbon (3A) along with #12 Tipton (2A). That mix gives Pella a meaningful mid-season test across multiple classes.

The Dutch lineup features Carlton, Dunham, Ebersole, Gaulke, Paulsen, Schiebout, and Schuknecht. Individually, Canaan Dunham will be among the top contenders for the win, with challengers expected from Mount Vernon-Lisbon. The key for Pella will be how tightly their second through fifth runners can close the gap behind Dunham — a dynamic that could prove decisive come state meet time.

A strong showing here would reinforce Pella’s status as Gilbert’s main challenger in 3A while also providing confidence against larger-school competition.

Individual Race Outlook

Boys:
The headliner is Canaan Dunham (Pella, #4 in 3A), who enters as one of the top-ranked individuals in the state. He’ll face stiff competition from Dawson Scheil (#9 in 3A, Mount Vernon-Lisbon), Sawyer Feldman (#15 in 3A, Mount Vernon-Lisbon), and Noah Schuknecht (#20 in 3A, Pella). Expect a strong chase pack with runners from Tipton and Solon adding depth.

Girls:
With Marissa Ferebee (#1 in 3A) and Elsie Brenneman (#4 in 3A) resting, Pella’s individual spotlight turns to Carleigh Altwine (#9 in 3A), Elizabeth VandeVoort (#11 in 3A), and Ruth Dunham (#20 in 3A). They’ll be tested by Evelyn Moeller (#6 in 3A, Mount Vernon-Lisbon), Kiersten Swart (#25 in 3A, Mount Vernon-Lisbon), Channing Becker (#21 in 3A, Williamsburg), and Natalie Anderson (#5 in 3A, MOC-Floyd Valley) if she competes. Solon also brings multiple athletes capable of pushing into the top 20.

While the girls’ individual title picture changes with Ferebee and Brenneman out, the race still features at least five top-25 ranked 3A athletes and should provide a valuable measuring stick for postseason positioning.

Looking Ahead

The Dutch will use Williamsburg as a confidence-building and depth-developing stop before the championship portion of the schedule begins. Conference and state qualifying meets are now just around the corner, and this invitational provides the right mix of competition and opportunity to prepare the team for October.

The next time the Dutch will race will be with a partial squad attending the Steve Johnson Invite at Wartburg College on October 4th.