Pella Christian cross country runners Bailey Vos and Sawyer Meinders ended their high school careers as four-time participants at the Class 2A State Meet in Fort Dodge this past Friday.

For Bailey, this year’s race at State marked the third time in her career running with Eagles as a team, while also running as an individual as a sophomore. In her four races in Fort Dodge, Vos earned a pair of second-team All-State honors with 17th place finishes as a freshman and junior, while also taking 30th as a sophomore. In addition to just running at State every year of her high school career, Bailey also broke the school record for the fastest 5K time in program history, completing the course in Fort Dodge in 19:36.4. Vos said that having experienced State as part of a team and as an individual helped her as she stepped into a leadership role.

“I think having been able to run up at State as an individual versus being able to run with a team has made a huge impact on how I value and view the team, and I love this team this year. They’re some of my best friends, and so even when we have hard days and terrible races, it’s just really fun to know that I have these girls that are around me and supporting me during the race, encouraging me, and I know they’ve got my back. And that really means so much and totally changes how I view the sport of cross country.”

Helping guide the boys team back to State for the fifth consecutive season, Meinders was a key contributor to the Eagles consistent success. As a freshman, Sawyer took 82nd place to finish as Pella Christian’s number four runner in a seventh place team finish. Meinders made a big jump the following year, shaving over a minute off his time from the previous year to take 42nd as a sophomore. In his junior season, Sawyer continued to see progress, earning All-State honors with a 12th place finish. Meinders said he is grateful for his time running with the Eagles, and that he believes more big things are still to come for the program.

“It’s just great to know we have a good program and that we have a great team. I just feel honored to be part of this team and to be able to just use our talents effectively for the glory of God. I think we’re definitely gonna take a big step forward soon in this program as well.”

In their final races for Pella Christian, Bailey took 75th with a time of 21:42.8, while Meinders finished the course in 18:18.0 to finish in 104th place.