Sports

Ely’s high school girls track team knew that it would take an extraordinary performance to advance one or more of its athletes to the state meet.<BR><BR>But an extraordinary performance was exactly what the Timberwolves got out of their 3,200 meter relay team, which shaved over 20 seconds off its season-best time, finished second overall at the June 4 Section 7AA meet in Duluth and qualified for state competition by time standard.<BR><BR>Seniors Julie Anderson and Raychal Zupancich, junior Jenna Klein and ninth-grader Casey Sovil formed the relay team, which led for three-fourths of the race but fell to second in the final leg, completing the course in 9:49.22.<BR><BR>“To better our time by almost 22 seconds was just phenomenal,” said Ely Head Coach Todd Hohenstein. “We thought going into the section meet that basically we had to take first to go to state.

Ely’s high school baseball team got no favors when the Minnesota State High School League realigned teams for the 2004 season.<BR><BR>With eight starters back, including standout pitchers Josh Weckman and Tim Scott, the Timberwolves had every reason to believe they’d contend for the Section 7A crown this spring.<BR><BR>But once the season rolled around there was just one problem: Ely was no longer in 7A.<BR><BR>Instead of being lumped in with the area’s smallest schools, and local rivals such as Nashwauk-Keewatin, Cherry and Babbitt-Embarrass-Soudan-Tower, the Wolves found themselves in the middle enrollment division in the state’s three-class system for high school baseball.<BR><BR>Ely was bumped up to Class AA, joining some of the area’s heaviest baseball hitters - Esko and Hermantown to name two - and some schools with enrollment twice as large - Proctor, Virginia and Mora to name three.<BR><BR>That made the Wolves’ ques

Ely’s Katie Spangler finished in the middle of the pack at last week’s Section 7A high school girls golf meet.<BR><BR>The ninth grader, making her second straight section appearance, shot an 18-hole 109 during Tuesday’s event at Giants Ridge.<BR><BR>That was good enough for 22nd in a field of 44 golfers.<BR><BR>“She finished right in the middle, which is kind of where she should have been,” said Ely Head Coach Rob Simonich. “She would have liked to have done better, but she did well.

Esko pitcher John Geving’s fastball was clocked at an impressive 83 miles per hour when he took part in a Seattle Mariners tryout camp held May 29 at Ely’s Veterans Memorial Field.<BR><BR>Last Thursday, members of Ely’s high school baseball team got a firsthand look at an arm that impressed professional scouts.<BR><BR>The Esko ace fired a three-hitter and outdueled the Timberwolves’ Josh Weckman in a dandy Section 7AA playoff matchup at Hinckley.<BR><BR>Geving and the Eskomos won 2-1 when Esko (20-3) pushed across a run in the bottom of the seventh.<BR><BR>Alan Schmidt’s two-out single brought home Ryan Hall with the winning run and ended Ely’s season.<BR><BR>“It was a great high school baseball game between two very good pitchers,” said Ely Head Coach Frank Ivancich. “It was tough to lose, but we played our hearts out and have nothing to be ashamed of.

Steve Milkovich and Mike Krunkkala earned section meet appearances in four events each and led Ely’s high school boys track team to a solid second-place showing at Wednesday’s subsection meet in Hibbing.<BR><BR>Milkovich won the 110 meter hurdles and finished second in three other events, while Krunkkala took first in the 200 dash, fourth in the long jump and was part of two winning relays as the Timberwolves piled up 140 points and finished second in a field of 11 teams.<BR><BR>But perhaps more impressive than the team standing is the slew of athletes the Wolves will send on to the Section 7A meet, set for this Friday at Duluth.<BR><BR>Ely has section qualifiers in 12 different events, and in all the Wolves have 13 athletes who will either participate in the section event or be there as an alternate, much to the pleasure of head coach Darren Visser.<BR><BR>“I thought as a team we did oustanding,” said Visser.

Strong relays have anchored Ely’s high school girls track team all season long and that strength showed at Wednesday’s subsection meet.<BR><BR>Ely won the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meter relays and placed second in the 400 relay, earning section meet appearances in all four events and going on to a third-place team finish in the 10-team event at Hibbing.<BR><BR>The Wolves also came home with two individual subsection champions - senior Julie Anderson and ninth-grader Carolyn Freeman.<BR><BR>Anderson was first in the 3,200 run, while Freeman broke away from the pack in the 300 hurdles.<BR><BR>Anderson, Freeman, the relays and several other Wolves all qualified for the Section 7A competition, which is set for Friday at Duluth.<BR><BR>“We had a really good subsection meet,” said Ely Head Coach Todd Hohenstein.

With a conference championship already in tow, Ely’s high school baseball team begins its quest for postseason glory this week.<BR><BR>The Timberwolves take on Duluth Marshall Wednesday (5 p.m.) at Grand Rapids, kicking off the Section 7AA tournament.<BR><BR>Ely heads into the playoffs on the heels of the program’s first Arrowhead Conference title in three years.<BR><BR>Wednesday, the Wolves downed Cook 10-6 to wrap up the league title and a perfect 7-0 mark in conference play.<BR><BR>The following night, Ely downed area rival Nashwauk-Keewatin 9-6, ending the regular season with a three-game winning streak and a 15-4 overall record.<BR><BR>The Wolves, who also defeated International Falls last week, may be peaking at exactly the right time.<BR><BR>Senior Josh Weckman picked up his seventh win on the mound in Monday’s 3-1 decision at International Falls, while junior lefty Tim Scott had one of his best outings o

If last Tuesday’s meet at Deer River is any indication, look out for the Ely Timberwolves’ relay teams when the subsection girls track meet is held this week.<BR><BR>The relays continue to anchor Ely’s success this spring.<BR><BR>The Timberwolves picked up a third-place finish at Deer River, among eight schools in the event, largely on the strength of two first-place relay teams and another that took second.<BR><BR>Senior Julie Anderson also maintained her dominance of the 3,200 meter run, taking the Deer River race with ease.<BR><BR>The performance helped Ely gear up for the subsection competition, which is slated for Wednesday at Hibbing.<BR><BR>Ely heads into the event on the heels of some strong relay showings.<BR><BR>The 3,200 meter quartet of Julie Anderson, Raychal Zupancich, Casey Sovil and Jenna Klein won going away, finishing first in 10:14.5 and topping the next-closest team by over two minutes.<BR

Ely’s high school boys track team couldn’t have had a much better tune-up for subsection competition.<BR><BR>On a beautiful spring afternoon Tuesday at Deer River, the Timberwolves put together a performance that could be aptly described by head coach Darren Visser as a thing of a beauty.<BR><BR>Behind two first-place finishes by sophomore standout Steve Milkovich, two winning relays and individual victories by Adam Shultz and Mike Krunkkala, Ely ran away with the team title at the Deer River Invitational.<BR><BR>The Timberwolves collected 176 points and topped the eight-team field, and perhaps more importantly gathered some momentum heading into the subsection meet, set for this Wednesday at Hibbing.<BR><BR>“I was very pleased,” said Visser. “It was a nice way to head into subsections. Deer River for some reason has always been a place where we’ve done well.

For at least one day, Ely will be the hotbed of some of the top amateur baseball talent in the upper Midwest.<BR><BR>That day would be this Saturday, when the Seattle Mariners hold a one-day tryout camp at Veterans Memorial Field.<BR><BR>Elyite Paul Starkovich is directing the camp and has lined up top prospects from high school and college baseball programs in Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota.<BR><BR>Starkovich, who played in the Kansas City Royals and Baltimore Orioles organizations during a seven-year professional career, joined the Mariners this year as a Midwest scout.<BR><BR>He will be joined by other officials from the Mariners scouting department as they assess talent for possible selection in next month’s major league amateur draft.<BR><BR>Starkovich and the Mariners have invited nearly 30 prospects, from leading area high school talent including Josh Mathson of Babbitt-Embarrass-Soudan-Tower to top regional c