“There’s always next year.” That phrase is near and dear to the forever optimistic sports fan, but for the Pella Christian cross country teams, that phrase serves as more of a goal.

After competing with a lot of youth and inexperience on both the girls and boys teams, the Eagles are excited about what the future holds for their program. Head coach Jocelyn Meinders said this year served as a real learning experience for a number of her athletes.

“They worked hard this season and improved a lot. Their confidence in who they were as runners improved a lot, and yes, they have a lot of inexperience and a lot of youth, but almost all of them are coming back [next season],” said Meinders.

“The guys’ team in particular should be very competitive next year with their summer training and their learning of how to get ready for the season. I told the girls that they need to recruit a few more people to run. There’s a lot of talent on that team, just not a lot of depth. I’m excited to see how they all do next year, now that they do know how to do the summer training and know how to run.”

The Pella Christian’s girls team got a surprising surge this year out of Marina Shannon – who was a late addition to the team in the fall – while the boys were paced by freshman Jacob Lensing for much of the season; so things look bright for the Eagles for next year.