The No. 5 in Class 3A Pella boys cross country team has their eyes on a special Halloween day in Fort Dodge after building early-season confidence on their home course.

After an opening quad meet win on August 29th and an overall stronger performance in a runner-up to Norwalk at the Central Invitational, early season times show the promise the 2020 could hold, despite an incredibly deep Class 3A field.

Two-Time All-State Junior Josiah Wittenberg feels the overall depth of this year’s team is exciting, but understands there is a lot of hard work, good health, and a bit of luck needed to put together strong races at both state qualifying and at the state meet in Fort Dodge–if they even happen, so he’s focused on enjoying the moment and hoping they can put it all together in October.

“With this season, we really don’t know what to expect, so I think we need to focus on the moment and really enjoy these times we have together right now because as far as we know we many not be running in a week or two weeks,” he says. “It’s good for us to focus on and compare to see where we’re lining up with the other teams, but as long as we’re putting our best foot forward and enjoying the moments that we have together, we should be happy with the results.”

Wittenberg is No. 6 among 3A individual runners, and teammate Tony Schmitz is 22nd. Several 3A teams have multiple top 30 ranked runners, including three each from No. 1 overall DCG and No. 2 Center Point-Urbana, and two from No. 3 Wahlert and No. 4 North Polk, who was hot on the heels of Pella in a 3rd place finish at the Central Invitational this past week.

The next two weeks remain training heavy for the Pella boys and girls before they pick up competition on Tuesday, September 22nd at Newton. Hear from the ranked Pella boys cross country team on tonight’s Radio Sports Page at 6 p.m. on 92.1 KRLS.