Brophy wins 7A CC title
Molly Brophy leads the pack in a home cross country meet this year.
Ely freshman first in girls race; Chittum moves on to state in boys
by Tom Coombe
After placing second a year ago, Molly Brophy climbed to the top of Section 7A.
The Ely freshman is the section champion in girls cross country, after placing first in a field of nearly 100 runners Thursday afternoon in Coleraine.
Brophy and junior Caid Chittum of the Ely boys team both punched their tickets to next weekend’s state meet in Minneapolis, with Brophy winning the 7A girls title an Chittum taking fifth among the boys.
Both Ely teams had high finishes but fell short of qualifying for state on a cool, damp day at the Eagle Ridge course.
The Ely boys wound up third in 7A and the girls placed fourth.
Brophy, however, added to an already impressive season and bagged her third straight trip to state.
She crossed the finish line first in 19:12.9, beating Olivia Pascuzzi of Chisholm with nearly 10 seconds to spare.
Next-highest for the Wolves was eighth-grader Mattie Lindsay in 21:02.5 while Claire Blauch (21st, 21:19.3) and Elsa Ellerbroek (36th, 22:05.6) were next in the Ely lineup.
Also running for the Wolves were Anna Dunn (54th, 23:03.5), Grace LaTourell (62nd, 23:38.2) and Kiarstin Eaton (65th, 24:00.8).
Chittum matched his fifth place finish from last year’s 7A boys race, completing the 5K course in 17:03.8, only a second out of fourth place.
He earned another trip to the state competition, slated for Saturday, Nov. 4 at the University of Minnesota.
Ely’s Silas Solum was 25th in 18:04.5, while teammates Brooks Brenny (29th, 18:18.3) and Eli Olson (35th, 18:42.4) were next.
Rounding out the Wolves’ contingent were Milo McClelland (39th, 18:48.4), Leo Stalmer (51st, 19:16.9) and Mason Kurnava (60th, 19:39.5).
