The Pella High Lady Dutch cross country team started the year being ranked the number one squad in Class 3A. What followed was something you might see in an episode of “Twilight Zone,” according to head cross country coach, Doug Cutler.
“Our season as a whole for the girls, was very much like a cross country race,” Cutler said. “We started off a little bit slow, maybe a little tentative, so results early in the season weren’t spectacular. We were finishing fifth and sixth place in a lot of meets, which was fine. We were running well, but maybe not at the elite level that other people thought we were going to.”
The girls would finish the season with a second place finish at the Little Hawkeye Conference meet to Grinnell by ten points, but would follow it up with a spectacular performance at the state qualifying meet at Central and leapfrog Grinnell by that same ten point margin to advance to the state meet, where the Lady Dutch would finish with a seventh place finish. Coach Cutler also told KNIA/KRLS Sports that though they finished seventh, they were up against some very good competition, and a lot of the girls set personal bests in Fort Dodge.

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