Summer vacation comes to an early end this week for high school athletes not only in Ely but across the state.
Monday marks the official start of fall sports practice for Minnesota’s high school teams.
The workouts begin in preparation for contests at the end of the month as high school volleyball, football, boys and girls cross country and girls swimming begin.
The seasons are starting in Ely with plenty of anticipation and high hopes.
That’s particularly so for the Timberwolves’ volleyball team, which is coming off three consecutive trips to the state tournament, including a state Class A consolation championship in 2023.
Ely dominated local competition, repeated as Section 7A champions and finished 28-5.
The Wolves figure to enter the 2025 campaign with as much depth and firepower as anyone in Section 7A, although an injury to junior hitter Audrey Kallberg could take its toll.
Senior Sadie Rechichi and juniors Gretta Lowe, Lydia Shultz, Charlotte Hegman and Amelia Penke are all back and all played regularly during the Wolves’ playoff run.
Megan Wognum returns for her fifth season as head coach and she expects more than 50 players in grades 7-12 as workouts begin in preparation for an Aug. 25 debut at Deer River. The first home contest is the following evening, Aug. 26, against Greenway.
Ely’s football team also starts practice Monday and the Wolves begin the fifth year of a cooperative agreement with Northeast Range. Vermilion Country School of Tower is also part of the co-op.
As a result, the Wolves are not only classified as an 11-man team but will be in Class AA for the playoffs.
The bulk of Ely’s regular season schedule, however, is against Class A teams.
Ely opens Aug. 29 with a home game against Barnum.
Led by fifth-year head coach Louie Gerzin, the team went 1-8 a year ago with a loss to Braham in the Section 7A playoffs.
Numbers will again be an issue for the Wolves, but overall turnout for the program is stronger than it has been, with roughly 30 players in grades 9-12 and another 20 seventh and eighth graders.
Ely fields both boys and girls cross country teams, and the Timberwolves begin preparations for the 2025 campaign this week under the tutelage of Jayne Dusich, the Bemidji State University Athletic Hall of Famer who has led the program since its inception in the mid-1990s.
Both Ely teams should be in the running in Section 7A and both teams return state meet participants.
Molly Brophy and Mattie Lindsay both qualified for state last year and they are back to pace the Ely girls team.
The Ely boys are led by Brooks Brenny and Mason Kurnava, the team’s top finishers in last year’s 7A meet.
Ely’s cross country season begins with an Aug. 27 meet at Virginia.
Those who participate in girls swimming require additional dedication - and time - given a cooperative agreement hosted by Northeast Range.
Cheri DeBeltz coaches the Northeast Range/Ely program, which has been dominated largely by Ely swimmers the last few seasons.
Via DeBeltz, Tuuli Koivisto, Sabrah Hart and Alyssa Ice form the returning nucleus for the Nighthawks, who go to work Monday in the pool at Babbitt.
The swimming season debut is Thursday, Aug. 21, the date of the Rock Ridge Relays.
