Six firsts for girls
Some high school athletes are tremendous competitors.Others are out just for a good time.But a few Ely Timberwolves have rolled competition and fun into one package, with more than impressive results.Jen Zupancich, Casey Sovil and Carolyn Freeman all had a hand in three first-place finishes - with Zupancich recording two individual wins - at the subsection high school girls track meet.Zupancich picked up wins in both the 200 and 400 meter dashes for the Wolves, while Sovil (800 run) and Freeman (300 hurdles) reached the winner’s circle one time apiece.All three were on the Wolves’ first-place 1,600 relay foursome, and both Sovil and Freeman were part of a first-place 3,200 relay team.They joined teammates Jenna Klein, Ali Schulze and Barb Klun in qualifying for the section meet, which was held Friday at Duluth.Zupancich has been on a collision course with the section’s best athletes all season long, while both Sovil and Freeman have had big years for the Wolves.They put everything together at the subsection meet, thanks in part, according to head coach Todd Hohenstein, to an easy-going approach.“We’re trying to stay loose and the girls are having a lot of fun,” said Hohenstein. “They’re running and having a good time, and it’s great that a lot of them equate having a good time with working hard and getting better. We’ve had a pretty good progression, and hopefully we’ll go down to the section and run the best times we have all year.”Zupancich, a sophomore, edged out Eveleth-Gilbert’s Stacey Peterson to win both races. She took the 200 in 26.6 seconds and added a win in the 400 by breaking the one-minute mark (59.63 seconds).Freeman ran away with a win in the 300 hurdles (49.16 seconds) and Sovil was the class of the field in the 800, gliding to victory in 2:31.Zupancich, Freeman, Sovil and Schulze gave Ely a dominant first-place finish in the 1,600 relay. They ran in 4:19.20, beating their next-closest foe by eight seconds. Their margin of victory would have been even greater had it not been for a dropped baton heading into the final lap.Freeman, Sovil, Klein and Schulze combined for an even more impressive victory in the 3,200 relay. They won in 10:09, outpacing the second-place unit from Eveleth-Gilbert by more than 40 seconds.Klein also advanced to sections in individual competition, taking third in the 800 in 5:44.Schulze took third in the 400 (1:02.58) and Barb Klun is a first-time section qualifier. She placed fourth in the 800 (2:41).Ely took fourth in the team standings with 95 points. Team scores were: Two Harbors, 161; Eveleth-Gilb., 117; Virginia, 107; Ely, 95; BEST, 58; Mesabi East, 46; Cotton, 33; Silver Bay-Cook County, 23; Cook-Orr, 11.
