Race Preview: Dutch Set for Heartland Classic

The Pella Dutch return to action this Saturday, September 20, at one of the Midwest’s premier meets — the Heartland Classic, held at the Central College Cross Country Course in Pella. The event annually draws many of the top teams from Iowa and powerhouse programs from Nebraska, guaranteeing elite competition and fast times.

2024 Girls Varsity Results | 2024 Boys Varsity Results | 2024 Girls JV Results | 2024 Boys JV Results 

Teams Competing

Boys Field

The Heartland Classic features a massive boys lineup mixing ranked powers and tough unranked squads:

Ranked Iowa Teams:

• 4A: #1 Indianola, #3 City High, #4 Dowling Catholic, #5 Ankeny Centennial, #6 Prairie, #7 Waukee Northwest, #8 Pleasant Valley, #11 Dallas Center-Grimes, #14 Norwalk, #17 Waukee

• 3A: #2 Pella, #4 Des Moines Christian, #7 ADM, #8 Grinnell, #9 Clear Creek Amana, #20 Ballard

• 2A: #3 Chariton, #6 Pella Christian

• 1A: #1 Oakland Riverside #12 Lynnville-Sully, #15 Pekin, #20 Baxter

Other Iowa Teams in the Field: Ankeny, Burlington Notre Dame, Des Moines Lincoln, Des Moines Roosevelt, Marshalltown, Nevada, Ottumwa, Sioux City East, West Marshall, Winterset.

Nebraska Powers: Fremont (#3 Class A), Lincoln Southwest (#9 Class A), Papillion-La Vista South (#6 Class A), Millard West (#8 Class A).

Girls Field

The girls race is equally deep, highlighted by ranked programs from Nebraska and state-ranked teams from Iowa:

Ranked Iowa Teams:

• 4A: #5 City High, #6 Waukee Northwest, #8 Prairie, Cedar Rapids, #9 Waukee, #11 Norwalk, #13 Linn-Mar, #17 Ankeny, #20 Indianola

• 3A: #1 Pella (split squad top 10 at Griak), #2 Des Moines Christian, #5 Winterset, #12 Ballard, #13 ADM

• 2A: #3 West Marshall, #5 Waukon, #6 PCM, #11 Pella Christian

• 1A: #6 Lynnville-Sully, #11 Van Buren, #17 Pekin

Other Iowa Teams in the Field: Burlington Notre Dame, Des Moines Lincoln, Marshalltown, Nevada, Ottumwa, Southeast Polk.

Nebraska Powers: Millard West (#1 Class A), Lincoln Southwest (#2 Class A), Papillion-La Vista South (#7 Class A).

IATC Team Rankings

Individuals to Watch

Boys

• Quentin Nauman (Western Dubuque, Epworth, #1 3A) – A late addition to the race, Nauman is undefeated and the returning 3A state champion. He will come into this race as a favorite. He will be running as an individual without his full team.

• Canaan Dunham (Pella, #4 3A) – won the Dutch Invitational on this course in 15:10, and could challenge the course record of 15:04 (set in 2023 by Juan Gonzalez, now running for Oregon).

• Pella teammates – Porter Carlton (#15 3A), Noah Schuknecht (#13 3A), and Mason Gaulke (#19 3A) give the Dutch a strong front four.

• Des Moines Christian – Caleb Ten Pas (#2 3A), who beat Dunham last race at Gilbert Invite, and Josiah Sisler (#12 3A) headline a dangerous Lions squad.

• Other Iowa contenders – Reed Robbins (#5 4A, Indianola), Preston Johnson (#3 4A, Marshalltown), Nicholas Paulsen (#11 4A, Dowling), Cohen Moll (#8 4A, Ankeny Centennial), Teegan Kralik (#15 4A, Norwalk), and Kamran Foad (#28 4A, Pleasant Valley).

• Nebraska stars – Aden Soto (#7 Class A, Fremont), Eli Bickley (#13 Class A, Millard), plus deep rosters from Millard West, Lincoln Southwest, Fremont, and Papillion-La Vista South should make this race one of the fastest in the Midwest.

Girls

• Dutch split squad – Pella’s nationally ranked top-10 group, led by Marissa Ferebee (#1 3A) and Elsie Brenneman (#2 3A), heads to Minnesota’s Griak Invitational. That opens the door for new frontrunners at Heartland.

• Des Moines Christian’s Elyse Erzen (#4 3A) – becomes the top favorite. Teammates Hallie Roberts (#16 3A) and Annie Bruxvoort (#28 3A) add strong depth.

• Winterset’s Mallory Back (#25 3A) will look to challenge for a top-10 spot.

• 4A challengers – Piper Messerly (#3 DCG), Laney Sundet (#4 Waukee NW), Abigail Burns (#6 City High), Harper Groteluschen (#12 Prairie), and Hailey Kozloski (#17 Linn-Mar) make the race deep and unpredictable.

• Nebraska elites – Meredith Marsh (#5 Class A, Lincoln SW), Piper Peterson (#6 Lincoln SW), Bella Miron (#11 Lincoln SW), Katelyn Sanne (#12 Millard West), Sadie Osher (#14 Millard West), and Gracie Suppes (#15 Papillion-La Vista) bring strong resumes to the field.

IATC Individual Rankings  |  Nebraska Rankings (Prep Running Nerd)

Course & Records

The Central College cross country course is one of Iowa’s best-known layouts, built for fast times with firm footing and spectator-friendly loops.

• Boys record: 15:04 by Juan Gonzalez of Fremont (2023), now running for Oregon.

• Girls record: 17:17 by Marissa Ferebee of Pella (2024) — though she’ll be at Griak this weekend, her mark will be the target for this year’s field.

Schedule

10:10 a.m. – JV Girls
10:45 a.m. – JV Boys
11:20 a.m. – Varsity Girls
11:50 a.m. – Varsity Boys
12:15 p.m. – Awards Ceremony

Note: JV awards will be split — top 10 ninth- and tenth-graders receive 9/10 medals, while top 10 juniors and seniors receive JV medals. Varsity races medal the top 20 finishers.

TOP 10 PELLA CENTRAL COURSE TIMES

Girls

Boys

2024 VARSITY TEAM RESULTS

Girls

1. Pella 36, 2. Lincoln S W (Ne) 85, 3. Iowa City High 112, 4. Waukee Northwest 128, 5. Waukee 156, 6. Indianola 186, 7. Liberty (Mo) 196,  8. D M Christian 235, 9. Linn-Mar 244, 10. C R Prairie 258, 11. Norwalk 285, 12. Southeast Polk 290, 13. Alta-Aurelia 321, 14. Gardner Edgerton (Ks) 365, 15. Marshalltown 466

Boys

1. C R Prairie 103, 2. Fremont (Ne) 124, 3. Norwalk 151, 4. Liberty (Mo) 153, 5. Waukee Northwest 167, 6. Iowa City High 191, 7. Waukee 201, 8. Ankeny Centennial 202, 9. Marshalltown 224, 10.* Papillion-La V S (Ne) 228, 11.* Pella 228, 12. D M Christian 229, 13. Gardner Edgerton (Ks) 244, 14. Lincoln S W (Ne) 269, 15. Dallas Center-Grimes 293, 16. Omaha Central (Ne) 496, 17. Sioux City East 535, 18. Alta-Aurelia 575

2024 JV TEAM RESULTS

Girls

1. Pella 40, 2. Waukee Northwest 52, 3. Iowa City High 61, 4. Waukee 86, 5. Dowling Catholic 118, 6. Davis County 186, 7. Gardner Edgerton (Ks) 204, 8. Indianola 260, 9. C R Prairie 272, 10. Norwalk 284, 11. Linn-Mar 312, 12. Fremont (Ne) 353, 13. Marshalltown 435

Boys

1. Dowling Catholic 52, 2. Iowa City High 58, 3. Fremont (Ne) 127, 4. Waukee Northwest 136, 5. Waukee 141, 6. Gardner Edgerton (Ks) 150, 7. Pella 201, 8. Dallas Center-Grimes 203, 9. Liberty (Mo) 233, 10. Norwalk 264, 11. C R Prairie 277, 12. Indianola 321, 13. D M Roosevelt 394, 14. Davis County 417, 15. Notre Dame/W Burlingt 470, 16. Marshalltown 500