It’s probably too early yet in the season to draw any strong conclusions about what may come at the end of the season, but Ely’s Nordic Wolves are showing signs that yet again they’ll be a force to reckon with.
Paced by juniors Aksel Skustad and Oliver Hohenstein, the Ely boys placed second only to powerful Duluth East at Tuesday’s Grand Rapids Invitational.
The varsity girls were third in the team standings and were led by Mattie Lindsay, although JV skier Ivy Ohlhauser, a freshman, had the top overall time on the team.
Spectators enjoyed relatively mild conditions but the skiers faced a challenge, particularly with wax.
Nonetheless it was a strong outing, according to Ely Head Coach Todd Hohenstein.
“It went really well for the first classic race,” he said. “Getting ready for a very warm day, that was a bit more challenging.”
Yet the Wolves rose up to that challenge.
In the boys race, Skustad was second on the 4.5-kilometer course with a time of 10:37, about six seconds behind winner Owen Robertson of Brainerd.
Oliver Hohenstein was right behind in third at 10:39.1.
“It was great to see Aksel take second and then have Oliver right behind in third,” said Todd Hohenstein. “Those two have worked really hard in the off season and you never know going in who else has worked. Seeing those guys right up there with the best competition in northern Minnesota, with Brainerd’s team also being there, was great to see. I was really happy with their performance.”
Ely had a third top-10 race as Wyatt Devine placed ninth in 10:57.7.
Next up was Otto Devine (11:26) in 15th, with junior George Sponholz (11:55.6) in 23rd.
Blake Houde (27th, 12:13.5), Brooks Brenny (30th, 12:21.6) and Oren Solum (45th, 13:19.1) rounded out the varsity boys lineup.
In junior varsity action, Ely’s Grady Anderson (12:55.2) took sixth and Emory Hohenstein placed eighth (12:59.3).
The Ely girls were led by Lindsay, who took 15th in 14:27.5, while Molly Brophy was 24th (15:02.8).
Next up was June Nelson (15:26) in 30th while teammates Elsa Ellerbroek (35th), Aila Harding (36th) and Lucy Dunn (37th) were close behind, followed by teammates Izzy Macho (46th) and Alison Poppler (47th).
“A few of our girls were sick and have been battling back to get into skiing shape, but it was great to see Mattie in that 15th spot,” said Todd Hohenstein.
The performance of the day by an Ely girls skier may have come from Ohlhauser, who won the JV race with a time of 14:13.3, the best time overall of any Ely female.
“That was a nice surprise,” said Todd Hohenstein. “It was the same distance as the varsity and she was our top skier of the day. She impressed us with her classic ability, and we didn’t realize just how competitive she could have been at the varsity level.”
Ely freshmen stood out in the JV girls race, with Addison Kannas in second place (14:45.6), Cora Brecke in fourth (15:26.3), Siiri Nelson in eighth (15:47) and Madeline Johnson 10th (16:35).
“We’re going to be super conservative and let those younger girls see some success at the junior varsity level,” said Todd Hohenstein. “It’s nice that they ski the same distance and then we can compare times directly and still be able to be on top of the podium at the end of the day.”
In the junior high girls race, Ely’s Beck Sponholz took third while Lucy Luthens placed seventh.
Both Ely teams are set to take part in the Cook County Invitational on Saturday.
