The Pella girls found out yesterday that six additional events earned state meet berths based on their performances at Friday’s Regional meet and will now officially have 11 events competing at this week’s State Track and Field meet.

The additional events that did not place in the top two at the Regional meet , but did get in based on their times, include Maddy Davis in the 800, Victoria Kleven in the 1500, as well as their 4×100, 4×200, distance medley and shuttle hurdle relays. They join the five events that already had automatically qualified which include Nadine Van Zomeren in the 400, Marielle Gaiser in the 400 hurdles and their 4×400, 4×800 and sprint medley relay teams.

Pella coach Dak Rasmussen spoke very highly of Van Zomeren, who is just a freshman and will be part of three events at state. Rasmussen also highlighted the performance of Gaiser who he says has embraced the 400 hurdles, which is one of the hardest events in track, and gives her all every time she competes. He says they feel confident both have great chances of earning medals. The Pella boys also will be very well represented at state as they qualified 15 events. Both have high hopes of earning top five team finishes in Class 3A. The Co-Ed State Track and Field starts Thursday and concludes Saturday at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.