It was a strong Saturday of competition for the fall sports teams of Pella High School.

The Dutch girls cross country team flexed their muscle as the top-ranked 3A school, dominating the field of teams at the Cedar Rapids Prairie Invitational. Defending state individual champion Marissa Ferebee blazed through the course in one of the fastest 5Ks ever recorded in Iowa to start a season at 17:23.9. The time also places her among the top 10 nationally after the first weekend of competition. Teammate Elsie Brenneman also showed off a major time drop from her freshman debut last fall; the 10th grader placed 3rd individually with a time of 18:14.9 — breaking Ferebee’s sophomore school record of 18:38 from last year’s state meet. Ruth Dunham placed 4th individually (19:46.9), Mara Schiebout made her varsity debut on her 18th birthday in impressive fashion, placing 6th (19:54.2), and fellow senior Reagan Snieder ran 20:02.4 to place 7th.

Pella’s boys won the Orange Division and placed 4th overall in a field behind three preseason-ranked Class 4A teams. Defending Individual State Champion Canaan Dunham resumed his rivalry with three-time Track and Field Individual Champion Quentin Nauman, and it was the Western Dubuque standout who won round one with a time of 15:15, and Dunham crossing at 15:25.5 — just seven seconds off of his 2023 state meet pace. Mason Gaulke placed 26th, Noah Schuknecht was 30th, Devon Browne placed 32nd, and Jonah Ebersole was the 5th score across the line at 38th. Both Pella Cross Country teams host their annual home meet at Central College on Saturday.

In Bondurant, the #11 in 4A Pella volleyball team had a solid day among the deep Skip Anderson Tournament field, with a 5-1 record overall. The Dutch fell to No. 1 in Class 2A Denver (18-21, 18-21), and defeated Red Oak (21-18, 21-14), North Polk (21-15, 21-14), Gilbert (21-18, 15-21, 15-3), Bondurant-Farrar (21-14, 21-9), and Pella Christian (21-19, 21-19).

Head Coach Joel Allman says, “I thought we showed some resiliency and toughness throughout the day. We got ourselves in a couple holes in some matches when we weren’t playing well, but came together as a group to win the set. I’m not sure we would have done that a couple weeks ago so I’m happy with our progress in that facet of the game.”

Pella is off until they are back in tournament action on Saturday at Glenwood.