NORTHFIELD - The Ely boys cross country team brought home a 12th-place finish in the state Class A cross country meet held here last Saturday. Senior runner Luke Olson finished in seventh place overall, with a personal best time of 16:04.5.
“We had a good meet,” said Coach Jayne Dusich. “We are happy with 12th place as a team but we here hoping for tenth or better. They all would have had to run great like they did at sections.”
An Iron Range runner, Geno Uhrbom, of Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin took first place as an individual in the boys Class A competition, with a time of 15:27.6.
Ely boys runners, with place and time, included:
Emmett Faltesek, 88th, 17:23.4.
Jasper Johnston, 101st, 17:31.7.
Gabriel Pointer, 127th, 17:54.9.
Dylan Fenske, 158th, 18:55.7.
Ethan Bremner, 163rd, 19:12.2.
Harry Simons, 170th, 19:49.7.
“Luke and Jasper had their best times ever,” Dusich said. “Since this was Luke’s fifth state race, he knew how to run it and where he needed to be to place in the top 10.”
Dusich said knowing where to position yourself can make a difference. “Emmett said he felt he could have run faster but got caught in the middle and it gets really crowded when you get onto the trails, as it is hard to pass runners as did Dylan and Gabriel. Ethan ran better than he did at sections and felt good. Harry ran about the same as at sections and was happy about his race.”
Dusich is already looking forward to next season. “Competing at the state meet was good experience for Emmett, Jasper, Gabriel and Harry,” she said. “Hopefully next year they will improve their times and with some younger boys moving up they could go again as a team. But they need to run in the summer.”
Both the Ely girls and boys cross country teams were honored with the State Gold Academic Award, having a GPA (grade point average) of 3.75 and above. “Luke was All-State, placing in the top 25, and he got the All-State Academic Award which is placing in the top 15 at Sections with a GPA of 3.5 or above,” Dusich added.