Menninga Claims Second Medalist Honor This Week, Pella Christian Boys Golf 3rd at Oskaloosa Invitational

For the second time in two days, Eliot Menninga captured medalist honors for the Pella Christian boys golf team, who placed 3rd at the Oskaloosa Invitational Tuesday afternoon.

Battling another windy day at Edmundson Golf Course in Oskaloosa, the Eagles posted a team score of 319 to finish behind Washington and the host Indians. Menninga led the entire field of 89 varsity golfers, shooting an even par round of 70 to secure the medalist honor. Isaiah Breems and Landon Fransman shot an 81 and 82 respectively, putting them in 19th and 25th place.  Deacon Branderhorst rounded out the Eagles scoring with an 86, while Cooper Spronk and Carter Brand finished out the PC varsity squad by shooting an 89 and a 91.

The Eagles will compete in their third meet of the week on Saturday, taking on Pine Knolls Golf Course for the Knoxville Invite.

Eagles Boys and Girls Tennis Down Dallas Center-Grimes

The Pella Christian boys and girls tennis teams each picked up an 8-3 win over Dallas Center-Grimes Tuesday afternoon.

The Eagle boys were knotted up at 3-3 with the Mustangs after singles action in Grimes, but rallied to sweep doubles play to improve to 3-5 overall and 2-4 in the Little Hawkeye Conference. Nabbing the singles victories for Pella Christian were Aaron Meinders at #1 (6-2, 6-1), Shaun Bos at #2 (7-6, 6-1), and Evan Tschetter #6 (6-1, 6-3). The five doubles wins for the Eagles came from Meinders and Bos at #1 (6-0, 6-4), Rob Schreur and Rhett Terpstra at #2 (6-3, 6-4), Kirby Van Wyngarden and Zeb Kanis at #3 (7-6, 6-3), Tschetter and Josiah Vos at #4 (6-2, 4-6, 1-0), and Andrew DeVries and Jonathan Van Gorp at #5 (7-5, 6-3).

Back on Eagle Lane, the Pella Christian girls won four matches in both singles and doubles play to improve to 4-3 overall and 2-3 in conference action. The Eagles singles victories came from Reagan DeVries at #2 (6-3, 6-0), Ava Breems at #4 (6-2, 6-1), Lexi Branderhorst at #5 (6-3, 6-2), and Addie Van Arendonk at #6 (6-2, 6-2). Pella Christian’s doubles wins came from Rachel Lanferman and Branderhorst at #2 (6-3, 4-6, 1-0), Leah Mulder and Breems at #3 (7-5, 6-3), Renae Van Wyk and Breece Gibson at #4 (6-1, 6-2), and Kate Braafhart and Lauren Winn at #5 (6-2, 6-4).

The Eagles girls tennis team returns to the court today for a make-up match with Indianola at 1 pm, while the boys squad is off until hosting Chariton on Tuesday, April 30th.

Pella Christian Boys Track and Field Wins Rocket Relays, Girls Track and Field 3rd at Charger Relays 

The Pella Christian boys track and field team won their first meet of the season Tuesday night at Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont’s Rocket Relays, while the girls track and field team finished third in Class AA at Chariton’s Charger Relays.

Seven event wins helped propel the Eagle boys to the team title at Eddyville, as they posted a score of 126. Winning individual events for the PC boys was Noah Nunnikhoven in the 400 meter hurdles (59.62), Sawyer Meinders in the 1600 meter run (4:47.38) and Trevor Veenstra in both the discus (166’ 07”) and the shot put (58’ 10”). Adding to the Eagles victories on the night were the sprint medley relay team of Nunnikhoven, Tysen De Vries, Johnson Morgan, and Brecken Ritzert (1:39.83); the 4×200 meter relay team of Nunnikhoven, Caleb Volk, De Vries, and Logan Nunnikhoven (1:38.22); and the 4×800 meter relay team of Elias Keegan, Ely Cadwell, Eli Hoksbergen, and Meinders (8:46.65).

Competing among two classes at Chariton, the Pella Christian girls won two individual events and five relays en route to their third place finish. Rachel Kacmarynski claimed both individual event wins for the Eagles, winning the 100 meter dash (12.48) and the long jump (15’ 10.5”). Pella Christian’s relay wins came from the sprint medley relay team of Amaia Agre, Meredith Van Wyk, Kacmarynski, and Bailey Vos (1:51.84); the 4×200 meter relay team of Amelia Boender, McKayla Nikkel, Josie Settles, and Agre (1:53.67); the 4×100 meter shuttle hurdle team of Chloe Huisman, Ani Bell, Chloe Nikkel, and Isabella Denner (1:15.35); and the 4×400 meter relay team of Kacmarynski, Van Wyk, Maisy Meinders, and Vos (4:04.75); and the 4×800 meter relay team of Meinders, Greta Vos, Emma De Boef, and Nora Lamb (11:15.79).

Find full results from the Rocket Relays here and from the Charger Relays here. The Eagles track and field teams will compete in the Tulip Time Relays hosted by Pella on Eagle Lane Thursday, and those that qualified for the Drake Relays will compete in Des Moines Thursday through Saturday.

Eagles Soccer Teams Fall to Indianola Tuesday

The Pella Christian girls soccer team’s senior day was spoiled by a 4-3 double overtime loss to Indianola Tuesday night, while the boys squad fell 3-1 to the Indians on the road.

After falling behind the Indians in the early part of the first half, the Eagle girls tied the game back up at 1-1, when Esther Ford scored on a Lexi Terpstra assist. Playing against the wind, Pella Christian gave up two goals in the final six minutes of the first half to fall behind 3-1 at the intermission. The Eagles responded early out of the break, as Ford scored her second goal of the night 40 seconds into the second half and Lexi Terpstra re-tied the game in the 52nd minute on a breakaway. The 3-3 score held through the end of regulation and the first ten minute overtime period, resulting in double overtime. Just a minute into the second overtime, Indianola found the net for the golden goal and dropped Pella Christian to 5-4 overall and 1-2 in Little Hawkeye Conference play.

The Eagle boys nearly played a clean opening 40 minutes of action Tuesday night, but Indianola found the back of the net in the 38th minute to grab a 1-0 lead heading into halftime. The Indians added on in the 50th minute, scoring off a rebound on a penalty kick to push the advantage to 2-0. The Eagles answered in the 51st minute, when Theo Hugen’s pass from midfield connected with Ethan Van Arendonk, who beat the goalie to pull PC back within one. That was as close as Pella Christian got the rest of the way, as Indianola added the final tally in the 65th minute to drop the Eagles to 3-5 overall and 0-3 in conference play.

The boys soccer team is back in action Thursday with a 5 pm contest at Sigourney, while the girls team is off until hosting a triangular against Columbus and Burlington Notre Dame Saturday morning.