Competing in a field of over one thousand JV and Varsity runners, the Pella High cross country teams performed well against large-school competition at Saturday’s Des Moines Roosevelt Invitational.  

Held at the Iowa State University cross country course in Ames, the Dutch were one of – if not the smallest schools in attendance, yet still battled their way to finish in the middle of the pack in their respective team standings.  

After two first-place finishes to open the season, the Pella boys finished 13th out of 25 teams; led by an 8th place finish from Zach Buchheit and a strong performance from Evan Jones – who finished 21st.  

On the girls’ side, Dallas Center-Grimes was the only other school of comparable size, and the Lady Dutch claimed a 16th place finish in the team standings out of 27 teams.  Despite slightly injuring her ankle at the start of the race, Gabi Meirick was still able to pace the Pella girls, finishing 43rd.  Hannah Martin was the next closest finisher, taking 83rd place.