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Bruels wins section title

Heading into her final three dives at the Section 7A meet last Saturday at Grand Rapids, Kelly Bruels had all but wrapped up a spot in the state meet.But the Ely sophomore had a little bit more yet to accomplish.“She just nailed those last three dives,” said Ely Head Coach Nancy Smrekar. “They were just perfect.”The fantastic finish made Bruels a section champion.Bruels raced up 319.70 points in the 7A competition, winning the section crown and leading the 7A contingent into the state meet, which begins Monday at Minneapolis.After a strong regular season, Bruels put everything together in the section meet, moving into first place during the semifinal round and building an 11-point lead.With fellow sophomore Mia Overly of Eveleth-Gilbert close behind, Bruels dazzled in the finals, extending her lead, finishing with a 22-point advantage, and giving the Wolves their first section champ since Alison Schiefelbein won the diving event and set a section record in 1997.Bruels watched graduated teammate Candice Smrekar dive at state a year ago, and she gets her own chance to shine starting Monday, when preliminaries begin at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.Practicing at the Ely pool earlier this week, Bruels said she was both nervous and excited about the trip south. She took up diving four years ago after competing in gymnastics before that.“It gives you a graceful feeling,” Bruels said of diving. “It’s fun when you can control your moves like that in midair.”Bruels will be part of a field of 32 divers contending for a berth in Wednesday’s state finals.Overall, Ely had a solid section meet with 141 points, good for a seventh-place finish and ahead of Chisholm, Babbitt-Embarrass-Soudan-Tower and Greenway.The Wolves’ highest individual finisher in a swimming event was junior Audrey Kothe, who placed third in the 500 yard freestyle, one spot away from qualifying for state.Kothe took third with a finals time of 6:02.92.Ely senior Betsy Guck earned two section championship appearances and a section medal.Guck was fifth in the 200 individual medley in 2:34.59. She also placed eighth in the 100 butterfly (1:10.03).It was Guck, Laura Schulze, Amber Adams and Nicole Charles who formed a seventh-place 400 freestyle relay unit (4:11.06).The Wolves’ 200 medley foursome also was seventh, with Guck, Schulze, Maren Gotchnik and Emily Weisinger forming the relay.Ely also had several consolation heat berths.Kothe placed 10th in the 200 freestyle (2:17.43), while Schulze wound up 16th in the 200 individual medley (2:44.68).In the 50 freestyle, Weisinger sprinted to a 14th-place finish of 28.47 seconds.Schulze added a 15th-place finish in the 100 backstroke (1:13.32) and Gotchnik placed 16th in the 100 breaststroke (1:23.16).• Bruels will be joined at the state meet by another local competitor.BEST’s Lizzy Carpenter advanced in two events. The sophomore is the 7A champion in the 500 freestyle (5:46.07) and she took second in the 200 freestyle (2:06.55).

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