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Milkovich leads Ely on the track

Ely’s high school boys track team starts the 2005 season with good reason for optimism.The Timberwolves return their top two point-scorers from a year ago, including one of the state’s top triple jumpers in junior Steve Milkovich.And even with Milkovich slowed and fellow high scorer Mike Krunkkala sidelined by injuries, Ely had a strong showing in its first meet, placing third at an April 7 event at Virginia.“I was very pleased,” said Ely Head Coach Darren Visser. “We were running without Mike Krunkkala and without Milkovich being at full strength. It was a great meet for us to get to know what everybody can do. We’ve got a bunch of new guys and we need to see where they’re going to fit.”There’s no doubt that Milkovich, who won the long jump at Virginia with a leap of 20 feet, will be a force to contend with.He advanced to the State Class A meet in the triple jump last year, placing fourth overall. He missed the entire basketball season due to injury and is slowly working his way back to top form in track.Krunkkala, a senior, picked up points in several events in 2004 and was part of Ely’s section qualifying 800 relay quartet. Adam Shultz also returns. He was fourth in both the 800 and 1,600 runs at Virginia and has section meet experience as part of Ely’s 1,600 relay last year.“Looking at things I think we’re going to be OK,” said Visser, who is assisted by Will Helms and Keith Turner. “A lot of these new guys really came through and some of our younger guys stepped up. We’re definitely going to compete at meets.”Ely picked up a victory in the 3,200 relay at the opening meet, with Jay Wilmunen, Peter Donars, Gary Vogt and Alec Osthoff forming the winning combination in 11:48. The 1,600 relay was also victorious, with Shultz, Jesse Hancock, Luke Spangler and Matt Hall teaming to win in 3:48.9.The rest of the Ely scorers included:• 110 hurdles - 4. Spangler, 20.0;• 100 dash - 3. Milkovich, 12.4• 800 relay - 2. Spangler, Brooks Pfeifer, Jeremy Boedeker, Hall, 1:48.2;• 400 relay - 3. Eric Park, Mike Skelton, Aaron Badillo, Mike Heiman, 53.5;• 1,600 run - 3. Hancock, 5:04;• 400 run - 2. Boedeker, 58.8; 3. Hall, 58.9; 5. David Mills, 59.9;• 300 hurdles - 3. Pfeifer, 47.4;• 800 run - 4. Shultz, 2:22; 5. Hancock, 2:24;• 200 dash - 2. Boedeker, 26.7;• 3,200 run - 3. Wilmunen, 14:13;• Discus - 4. Spangler, 92-0;• Triple jump - 2. Hancock, 35-1.Shultz won the track team’s annual Hidden Valley run Monday afternoon, winning the race in 21:24.The rest of the top-10 included Travis Cunningham, 21:28; John Eininger, 24:08; Spangler, 24:38; Jenna Klein, 24:41; Ali Schulze, 24:43; Amelia Donars, 24:58; Hall, 25:18; Jay Wilmunen, 25:20; Ellen Anderson, 25:39.All of the 24 boys out for track as well as about seven of the girls team members took part in the run.• The boys have road meets this week at Nashwauk (Tuesday) and Virginia (Thursday). Both begin at 4:30 p.m.

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