EVELETH— Ely senior Gabe Pointer led the Timberwolves’ cross-country squad to a first-place finish last Thursday in Eveleth, with plenty of help from the rest of the team, all of whom finished in the top 20. Meanwhile, the Ely girls runners took fourth in the competition among seven girls teams.
Pointer took fourth place overall in the eight-team field on the boys side, with a time of 19:38.2, followed closely by junior Jake Cochran, who finished in sixth place with a time of 19:54.8. Eighth-grader Otto Devine took eighth place (20:21.4), while freshman Caid Chittum (20:33.4) finished in tenth. Also finishing in the top 20 were sophomore Leo Stalmer (13th-21:01.5), senior Jon Hakala (14th- 21:08.3), and freshman Silas Solum (19th-21:30.6). Combined, Ely finished with a total elapsed time of 1:41:29.1, topping second place South Ridge by 1:29.
“Gabriel, Jake, Jon, Leo and Ben are running pretty good right now,” said Ely Head Coach Jayne Dusich. “The rest of the team are younger and have only run the 5K races this season so are learning as they are racing. Caid, Otto and Jake have been a good surprise.”
For the girls, junior Zoe Devine was the top Ely finisher, taking third overall with a time of 22:10.7.
Fellow junior Phoebe Helms took sixth with a time of 22:52.9, while freshman Anna Dunn finished in 24th place at 26:17.5 and Gracie Pointer finished in 25th place at 26:26.5. Other Ely finishers included junior Sydney Durkins (33rd- 28:55.1), junior Juliet Stouffer (41st-34:12.7) and sophomore Kiarston Eaton (42nd- 35:04.9).
“Zoe moved up quite a bit in the last mile,” said Dusich. “Phoebe looked really good as Anna and Gracie kept pushing each other.”