Sections next for Timberwolves
by Tom Coombe
With section competition looming, Ely’s high school cross country teams tuned up with solid showings at the Iron Range Conference meet.
The Ely boys finished second and the girls were fourth in their respective divisions Tuesday at Coleraine, and overall, five Wolves runners bagged top-10 individual finishes at Coleraine.
Ely’s second meet in five days came in advance of the Section 7A meet, which will be held over two days at Cloquet with the girls running Monday and the boys meet to follow Tuesday.
The postseason event, which was only recently added to a season abbreviated because of the COVID-19 pandemic, follows a regular season full of impressive outings for the Wolves.
That continued at the IRC event, where Zoe Devine recorded the highest overall Ely finish - taking second in a field of 47 varsity girls runners.
Phobe Helms was sixth overall, while the Ely boys had three top-10 finishers, with seniors Emmett Faltesek and Jasper Johnston third and fourth, respectively, and sophomore Jake Cochran ninth.
The Ely boys were seven points behind champion Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin in the team standings while the girls took fourth in a six-team field, trailing Hibbing, Virginia and International Falls.
Full results were as follows:
Boys Varsity
3. Faltesek, 17:04.2;
4. Johnston, 17:07.2;
9. Cochran, 18:00.7;
11. Gabriel Pointer, 18:02.4;
20. Joey Bianco, 18:54.1;
45. Leo Stalmer, 21:04.4;
47. Jon Hakala, 21:06.9;
Girls Varsity
2. Devine, 20:08.8;
6. Helms, 20:58.7;
29. Brynn Vollom, 23:25.8;
31. Sydney Durkin, 23:52.7;
32. Gracie Pointer, 24:00.8;
36. Laura Holmstrom, 24:30.8;
39. Julia Schwinghamer, 24:56.8;
Boys JV
17. Ben Cavalier, 22:04.1;
27. Riley Bishop, 35:17.8;
Girls JV
9. Elsie Vollom, 26:49.7;
11. Anna Dunn, 27:39.8;
20. Julie Stouffer, 30:44.4;
Boys Junior High
1. Otto Devine, 8:38.1;
3. Caid Chittum, 9;06.1
5. Jace Huntbatch, 9:09.2;
10. Jonathan Ruoho, 9:27.1;
12. Silas Solu, 9:38.1;
14. Liam Lacey, 9:43.5;
16. Nathan Hoffmeister, 9:54.2;
18. Tory Hughley, 10:07.2;
21. Eli Olson, 10:15.9;
29. Dylan Durkin, 10:39.2;
56. Milo McClelland, 13:28.1;
58. Zach Robbins, 14:26.1;
Girls Junior High
3. Claire Blauch, 11:01.2;
4. Ava Skustad, 11:04.9;
11. Molly Lindsay, 12:00.9
12. Addison Forsman, 12:01;
13. Kiarstin Eaton, 12:14.0
20. Grace LaTourell, 12:51.2;
21 Aila Harding, 13:10.9;
23. Alison Poppler 13:15.1
28. Isabelle Chick, 14:10.3;
29. Rena Johnston, 14:22.9
• The Wolves hosted Virginia and Mt. Iron-Buhl Oct. 2 in their only home meet of the season.
Johnson fueled a narrow Ely boys team win, taking second in 17:12 and trailing only Virginia’s Cameron Stocke.
Faltesek took fourth in 17:46, with Pointer (fifth, 17:52), Cochran (eighth, 18:24) and Bianco (13th, 19:01) all in the top-15.
The Ely girls were second, five points behind Virginia, with Devine placing third in 20:21, just behind Virginia’s Liz Nelson and Kate Nelson.
Helms wound up fifth (21:28) and Brynn Vollom took ninth (23:09). Next in the Ely lineup were Durkin (11th, 23:44), Gracie Pointer (12th, 23:58) and Schwinghamer (13th, 24:13).
Otto Devine led a clean sweep of the top-three spots in the junior high boys race, winning in 9:28. Chittum was six seconds back in 9:34 and Huntbatch completed the course in third (9:43). Ruoho (eighth, 10:06) and Wyatt Tedrick (ninth, 10:12) also made the top-10.
