CHARITON — Ending the regular season on a strong note, Pella Christian’s cross country teams competed in Thursday’s Chariton Invitational.
“This is a smaller meet with smaller schools. It was a perfect night for running — nice, cool weather, no wind, on a beautiful course,” said Jocelyn Meinders, Eagle head coach.
“The kids ran very well. They felt good, and they gave it their all. This is a great meet to end the regular season on before we move into the state qualifying meet.”
The Eagle boys finished second with 49 points to Davis County with 23 points. Chariton was third with 99 points. Pella Christian’s girls were third, scoring 83 points. Davis County won the girls’ title also with 26 points, followed by Centervile with 77 points.
Jacob Lensing captured the second-place medal in the boys’ varsity 5K race in 17 minutes, 12 seconds. Grant Dunsbergen was sixth in 18:09. Jonathan Beltman edged out teammate Scott Haveman at the finish line, going 10th and 11th in 18:36 and 18:37.
Max Shannon placed 20th in 19:28. Samuel Dahm was 24th in 19:41. Jackson Schelhaas finished 25th in 19:55. Meinders said Shannon and Schelhaas ran in a race for the first time this season.
Leading the Eagle girls was Marina Shannon, claiming the seventh-place medal in the 4K race with a time of 17:10. Morgan Anderson placed 12th in 17:59. Andrea Carballo finished 17th in 18:20, followed by Damaris Worthington in 20th at 19:16 and Abby Van Soelen in 27th at 20:19.
Pella Christian’s girls were without Chloe Dembski for the second meet in a row because of an injury. Meinders said Dembski plans to run in next week’s state qualifier.
Brianna Van Donselaar was 10th in 23:45 and Danielle Nardini was 12th in 23:59 in the girls’ junior varsity race.
Gabriel Soler led the Pella Christian boys’ junior varsity to second place, finishing sixth in 20:10. Sam Lensing was 10th in 20:58, followed by Zach Shen in 13th at 22:05, Kelvin Ouyang in 14th at 22:25, David Dykstra in 15th in 22:46 and Alek Vink in 16th at 22:48.
Pella Christian's middle school teams won their respective divisions. The middle school runners ran a 1.9-mile race.
Lindsay Breon was the individual winner of the girls’ race in 15:21 with teammate Claire Milligan in second at 15:49. Jacque Lensing was fourth in 16:33, followed by Josie TeGrotenhuis in fifth at 16:35, Abby Te Grotenhuis in eighth at 18:38 and Hannah Dykstra in 18th at 28:07.
Nathan VerMeer won by “a significant margin” in the boys’ race. He ran the course in 13:16. Noah Van Maanen was fourth in 14:22, followed by Lucas Bandstra in sixth at 14:32, Martin Landazurri in seventh at 14:45, Michael Munoz in 22nd at 17:01 and Sam Carmichael in 23rd at 17:49.