Girls take second at state ski meet
The only thing better would have been a state championship.But the Ely Nordic Wolves will take second-best after a spectacular performance at the state high school meet Feb. 19 at Giants Ridge.The Ely girls returned home with the second-place trophy in the single-class meet, topping several large-school foes from the Twin Cities and finishing behind champion and area rival Grand Rapids.Ely amassed 730 points, 28 behind the champion Thunderhawks, who sealed the win by taking two of the top-three spots in the classical race, the second of two five-kilometer jaunts held on a chilly (the races were delayed an hour because of windchill readings well below zero) day.The Wolves shined in the classical race as well, with senior Jenna Klein taking fifth in 19:03 and teammates Carolyn Freeman (14th, 19:33), Kelly Chaudoin (20th, 19:51), Ellen Anderson (23rd, 19:57) and Ali Schulze (24th, 19:59) following behind.But Grand Rapids built a commanding lead during the freestyle race and the Wolves had to settle for a strong second.It was Ely’s second top-three finish in as many years. The Wolves moved up one spot this year, after taking third in the 2004 state event.And the girls weren’t the only Ely team to put together a solid day.The Ely boys were represented at state by qualifiers Adam Shultz, Willy Vosburgh and Nick Peterson.Shultz, a junior, shook off a 43rd-place finish in the freestyle and came back with a vengeance in his specialty race, the classical.He passed skier after skier along the course and glided home with a 10th-place finish in 16:33.Vosburgh was 21st in the freestyle (16:13) and 42nd in classical (17:27) en route to a 31st-place overall finish in pursuit (33:40). Shultz wound up 21st in pursuit (33:19).Peterson completed only in the classical and took 66th (17:59).The day started for the girls team with a freestyle race that was pushed back an hour.After the state start, Klein was Ely’s first finisher through the gate with an 11th-place showing of 18:46.Chaudoin (16th, 19:03) and Anderson (20th, 19:11) also cracked the top-20 while Freeman kicked off a big day with a 27th-place ski of 19:27.Other Ely finishers were Sovil (35th, 19:46), Taryn Cunningham (61st, 20:22) and Schulze (86th, 21:09).Combining the classical and freestyle times, Klein took seventh overall in pursuit in 37:49, with Chaudoin (14th, 38:54), Freeman (16th, 39:00) and Anderson (18th, 39:08) all landing in the top-20.Sovil placed 34th in 39:56 and Cunningham was 73rd in 42:39
