Runners prep for section meet

Two formidable obstacles are on the Ely Timberwolves’ path to a third consecutive Section 7A high school girls cross country championship.Both International Falls and Esko have scored victories over the Timberwolves this fall, and Ely has wins over its top section rivals as well.At the Wolves’ regular season finale - the Oct. 6 Hibbing Invitational - they were sandwiched between their two section foes.Running without their second-best competitor, junior Jenn Zupancich, Ely placed second among eight Class A teams.International Falls won the team title with 55 points. Ely was next at 64 and Esko right behind with 68.Those three teams appear to be the class of 7A and will likely battle it out for the section title and 7A’s two berths in the state meet at Northfield, when the 7A competition is held Oct. 27 at Cloquet.“It’s probably going to be who has a good day and who has all of their healthy runners,” said Ely Head Coach Jayne Dusich.At Hibbing, the Wolves were shorthanded without the presence of Zupancich, who has a pair of second-place individual finishes under her belt this fall.Junior Casey Sovil continued to shine for the Wolves, taking second place with a time of 16 minutes, 39 seconds in the 4,000-meter race, behind only individual winner Abby Nelson of Esko (15:52).Carolyn Freeman, another in Ely’s talented pack of juniors, just missed a top-10 showing and took 11th overall in 17:0-2.Junior Amelia Donars (15th, 17:20) and Eighth-grader Sarah Anderson (18th, 17:43) also cracked the top-20, adding to the Ely depth.“I think if Jenn was running we probably would have won,” said Dusich.Other Ely runners in the varsity race were Zoe Lampman (27th, 18:33), Mary Bruels (42nd, 19:49) and Sarah Markwardt (45th, 19:58).Junior high runners Glenn Hartman-Mattson and Taylor Skelton entered junior varsity competition for the first time and gave the Wolves a one-two finish in that race.Hartman-Mattson, in eighth grade, won in 18:29 and Skelton was the runner-up in 19:09.In the junior high girls race, seventh-grader Jennifer Hakala placed fourth in the 1,600 meter race, completing the course in 14:17. Ely eighth-grader Moriah Barker placed eighth (14:41).The Ely boys had their final action of the year in Hibbing.Junior Travis Cunningham wound up an impressive season with an eighth-place run of 18:10 on the 5,000-meter course. Sophomore Jay Wilmunen placed 73rd (22:14).