The Golden Hawks swept the “small school” meet championships at the Pella Dutch Cross Country Invite on Saturday. The Mid-Prairie girls had six runners in the top 10, including a first-place finish from Danielle Hostetler. 

The Golden Hawk boys were led by a runner-up finish from Emmett Swartzentruber and a fifth-place race from his fellow sophomore, Jayse Yoder. 

The race was held on the Central College Cross Country Course, which is hosting a 2A state-qualifying meet again this year. 

“I really liked it,” Swarztentruber said. “I've always said it's one of my favorite courses, just because it's challenging.”

Pella Christian senior Kaden VanWyngarden won the small school boys race, finishing first out of 62 with a time of 17:05. Swartzentruber’s finish of 17:25 was a new career best. 

“I was in a tight pack,” he said about the start. “I was just trying to take it easier up the hills, and then go really hard down the hills to regain whatever I lost, and just stay ahead of the pack. I was really happy with my finish.”

It was Yoder’s first time finishing second among the Golden Hawk varsity runners. He finished the 5K course in 18:16.

“I felt like I pushed myself pretty hard today and it was a 10-second PR, so I was really happy about that.”

There were 225 runners on the course, including seven 3A teams in the large school division. 

“There was a ton of people at the start, it was super crowded,” Yoder said. “We were pushing and shoving each other the whole time. One time we even kind of went into the woods a little bit. But it definitely made it a lot more fun and made me run a lot faster.”

Seniors Nathan Wallington, Blake Creed, and sophomore Preston Yutzy all finished under 19 minutes in the top 10 as well. 

“They ran this (course) smart,” Mid-Prairie coach Mark Hostetler said. “After Emmett, I was trying to get the next four to run together, and to hit two-mile at 11:35. And they were close to it. 

“I told them I don't care what they do after that, but you’ve just got to learn to get to the point where you need to be at that time. And they did a pretty good job.” 

Senior Jordan Stock, junior Daniel Rodgers, and freshman Jesse Stultz also finished in the top 20. 

“Overall, I was really pleased with the progress from last week,” Hostetler said. “Their times are slower than what they're capable of running, but some of it's just learning how to run. You know, some of them were running two to three minutes slower last year.  So, to move up and be able to keep that pace, mentally, is sometimes hard. And they're working on learning. I think today we made a lot of progress.”

Danielle Hostetler finished first in the small school scoring with a time of 19:12. Overall, she finished second to ADM senior Geneva Timmerman with a winning time of 18:16. No one else ran under 20 minutes. 

Golden Hawk juniors Abby Fleming and Phoebe Shetler finished third and fourth with time of 21:20 and 21:48. Greta Sieren won a battle for fifth place by one second with a time of 22:28.  Annika Poll rounded out the scoring with a seventh-place finish of 22:51.

‘Today, I felt a whole lot better than any of the previous times I’ve run here just because it's breezy and I feel like I was well prepared for today,’ Poll said. “I was faster than last year, which is good, but nowhere near where I'd like to be by the end of the season.”

Sophomore Ivy Reschly was also a top-10 finisher, while sophomore Dess Poll and senior Amara Jones took 14th and 15th. 

“They ran well,” Hostetler said. “Abby and especially Phoebe and Greta moved up a lot. Annika didn't do too bad, and Ivy Reschly had a really good race. Amara Jones picked it up and moved up even though she's been injured for quite a while. Overall, I thought they improved a lot from last race.”

1. Danielle Hostetler 19:12
3. Abby Fleming 21:20
4. Phoebe Shetler 21:48
5. Greta Sieren 22:28
7. Annika Poll 22:51
10. Ivy Reschly 23:07
14. Dessa Poll 23:43
15. Amara Jones 23:54
21. Tabitha Evans 24:23
38. Hannah Rodgers 27:46
39. Kali Miller 28:31
42. Alaina Safly 31:46

2. Emmett Swartzentruber 17:25
5. Jayse Yoder 18:16
8. Nathan Wallington 18:42
9. Blake Creed 18:44
10. Preston Yutzy 18:44
16. Jordan Stock 19:25
19. Daniel Rodgers 19:57
20. Jesse Stultz 20:04
24. Thomas Flynn 20:13
26. Jacob Donaldson 20:32
27. Luke Brokaw 20:33
32. Andrew Stultz 20:58
33. Mose Yoder 20:59
35. Kaden Meader 21:24
38. Sawyer Hough 21:48
49. Adrian Sanchez 24:26
54. Alex Costillo 26:48
57. Owen Zirchelbach 27:56
62. Evan Reschly 33:47