Distance and hurdles events were the strong suit for a young Ely Timberwolves track team in their 2026 debut.
Freshman Toivo Forsman had a runner-up finish in the 110 hurdles while eighth grader Elliot Eastham placed in two hurdles events, while the Wolves showed strength in the four-by-800 relay and the 800 and 1,600 runs during a season-opening high school boys track meet at Crosby-Ironton High School.
Ely placed eighth as a team at the April 10 meet, kicking off a new season with a long road trip.
Forsman led the way with a personal-best time of 20.36 seconds in the 110 hurdles, taking second overall.
And after advancing to sections as a seventh-grader, Eastham started this year at the varsity level by placing fourth in the 110 (20.99) and eighth in the 400 (55.47).
The Wolves also grabbed a third-place finish in the four-by-800 relay, with juniors Oliver Hohenstein and Brooks Brenny teaming with sophomores Wyatt Devine and Blake Houde to take third in 9:05.17.
Hohenstein also took fifth in the 800 (2:15.26) and Houde wound up sixth in the 1,600 (5:02.04).
In field events, Aksel Skustad paced the Wolves and finished sixth in the high jump (4-10).
Other Ely finishers were:
• 100 dash - 24. Summit Smith, 13.13; 29. Frank Udovich, 13.64; 30. Jack Rintala, 13.86; 36. Chase Kvistad, 14.26;
• 200 dash - 21. John Schiltz, 28.23; 22. Noah Axlesson, 28.29; 26. Chase Kvistad, 29.63; 28. Liam Kurnava, 30.78;
• 400 dash - 13. Brenny, 1:00.55; 19. Kurnava, 1:07.47;
• 800 run - 9. Grady Anderson, 2:25.41;
• 1,600 run - 8. Anderson, 5:15.58; 9. Oren Solum, 5:22.5; • Four-by-100 relay - 5. Rintala, Axlesson, Schiltz, Smith, 52.86;
• Four-by-400 relay - 6. Devine, Hohenstein, Brenny, Schiltz, 4:06.17;
• Shot Put - 17. Emmett Boes, 27-8.25; 20. Oscar Shock, 27-0; 21. Emory Hohenstein, 26-11.5;
• Discus - 16. Boes, 73-3; 21. Shock, 65-11; 22. Hohenstein, 64-0; 30. Eastham, 84-5;
• Long Jump - 18. Forsman, 14-9; 26. Udovich, 138; 28. Ellerbroek, 13-0; 30. Ridings, 12-3;
• Triple Jump - 8. Eastham, 29-5.
