Pella Invitational Recap

Perfection in the Girl’s race

There isn’t any other way to describe the girls’ 5k race! The girls’ race featured outstanding talent from central Iowa, but the Pella Dutch girls stole the spotlight. The girls’ team’s first seven placed first through seventh, giving them the perfect score 15. The closest competitor, fourth-ranked Gilbert, scored 91. The Dutch were led again by outstanding Junior Marissa Ferebee, who once again dipped under 18 minutes, finishing in 7:32.6, a mere four seconds from the course record set by Paityn Noe at the 2022 Heartland classic meet. Sophomore Elsie Brenneman continued her climb to stardom, completing the course in 18:08.4. The remainder of the talented Dutch ladies who were scored finished as follows: Ruth Dunham, 19:06.8; Lizzy Vande Voort, 19:14; Raegan Snieder 19:19.7; Mara Schiebout 19:19.9; Carleigh Altwine 20:00.3. The team averaged an all-time low of 18:40.

Notes from the Girl’s race:

• Pella girls earned 10 of the 15 medals
• Thirteen Pella girls achieved the lettering time of 22:30 or faster.
• The top six girls ran the fastest times for Pella girls on the Central Course.

Full Pella Girls Results

Significant Strides for the Boys

The boys’ team knew they had a big battle ahead of them, with top-ranked and defending champion Gilbert coming to town. They took on the challenge and ran some of the season and all-time bests to make it a good race. The end score was a nine-point difference, with Gilbert scoring 23 and Pella scoring 32.

Junior Canaan Dunham was once again the front-runner. He ran his all-time best time of 15:16.7, earning a 15-second victory over the stellar Gilbert Sophomore Logan Bleich (15:31.1.) Sophomore Mason Gaulke was the next Dutch in running an all-time best of 16:28.6. Noah Shucknecht was just six seconds behind Gaulke and crossed the line in 16:34.7. The surprise of the day was the Browne twins, Devon and Kaiden, running right next to each other. Devon finished in 16:43.7 and Kaiden in 16:44.4. The progression of these two seniors this year will play a significant role in the team’s success. Senior Aren Hellbusch also broke the 17-minute mark, finishing the 5K in 16:49.5. Freshman Jonah Eberosole rounded out the Dutch pushers, running 17:28.1. The boy’s team averaged 16:21, which is the fastest average for a boys Dutch team on the central course.

Notes from the boy’s race:

• Nine boys ran faster than the lettering time of 18:30
• Six boys eclipsed the 17:00 mark.

Full Pella Boys Results