The Pella Christian and PCM boys and girls cross country teams took the top two spots in their respective races at Thursday’s State Qualifying Meet at Central College, punching their tickets to the State Meet in Fort Dodge next week.

The Class 2A #3 Eagle girls won the meet with a team score of 59, and #6 boys claimed the top spot in their race with a team score of 52, marking the first time in school history that both teams won the State Qualifying Meet in the same year. The 2A #4 Mustang girls were just behind the Eagles in the standings, taking second place with a team score of 61, while the #11 boys had a team score of 60 to upset #7 Red Oak by one point for second place.

The Pella Christian boys were led by two top-five finishes, with Sawyer Meinders taking third place (16:57.04) and Griffin Stoltz not far behind in fourth (17:01.58). Completing the team scoring for the Eagle boys was Will Vanden Bosch in 14th (17:33.12), Dean De Ronde in 15th (17:35.73), and Joel Pogany in 16th (17:39.05). Bailey Vos led the way for the Pella Christian girls with a third place finish (19:49.73), while Keliah Schiebout finished in 11th (20:42.63). Rounding out the team scoring for the Eagle girls was Tessa Van Zee in 13th (21:02.39), Julia Smalcs in 15th (21:09.81), and Hayley Rens in 18th (21:29.23). Smalcs, who missed the State Meet last year as a junior due to an injury, says that she is looking forward to her first appearance on the course at Fort Dodge.

“I think something I’ve learned from my teammates is definitely just not getting too worked up before the race, and just taking a deep breath and really locking in. And one thing I’m excited for is the very flat course, because hopefully there’s some PRs in my future, because this course wasn’t exactly the flattest so that’s probably what I’m most excited for.”

The PCM girls were led by Abi Teeter’s sixth place finish (20:20.23), while Ali Hilsabeck was just one spot back in seventh (20:20.77) and Lila Milani finished in 12th (20:54.53). Rounding out the team scoring for the Mustang girls was Annie Ford in 16th (21:18.31) and Paiten Rumbaugh in 21st (21:43.18). The PCM boys were led by Kash Fisher in seventh place (17:23.18), followed by three additional top-15 finishes from Owen Osterhaus in ninth (17:24.46), Coby DeRaad in tenth (17:26.98), and Brenden Lahart in 11th (17:27.09). Coach Eric Osterhaus says qualifying both teams for state is a great accomplishment but he believes his team has bigger goals.

“Before getting to the state meet might have been the goal, now the goal is higher than that. We are looking to podium and they are going to give it their all to podium. The boys are looking to go top five and they are going to give it their all to finish top five. We’re not just going to show up to the state meet, we want to show up and compete.”

Find full results from the Pella Christian State Qualifying meet here. The 2025 Class 2A State Cross Country Meet will be held next Friday at 10:30 am at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge. Hear from members of Pella Christian’s State Qualifying cross country teams on Today’s Lely Radio Sports Page and hear from members of PCM’s State Qualifying cross country teams on Tuesday’s edition of Today’s Lely Radio Sports Page.