All of the hard work and hundreds of miles logged in the summer and in practices this fall have put the Pella cross country teams exactly where they wanted to be this week, as the Dutch make their final preparations for this weekend’s State Cross Country Meet.

Pella head coach Doug Cutler says after weeks of pushing the team hard and running plenty of meets on tired legs, his athletes are tapering down their workouts to allow their muscles to heal and be at full strength by Saturday.

The Pella boys are the early favorite to win another State Title, while the Lady Dutch are certainly in on the discussion to challenge for the No. 1 spot in the team standings, following a strong performance in the Regional meet last Thursday.