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Ely skiers take first, second

Keith Vandervort
Posted 12/11/19

DULUTH– It may be a new season, but Ely athletes were right back at the front of the pack as the Nordic ski season got underway under chilly conditions on Tuesday. The Ely boys claimed the top spot …

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Ely skiers take first, second

Posted

DULUTH– It may be a new season, but Ely athletes were right back at the front of the pack as the Nordic ski season got underway under chilly conditions on Tuesday. The Ely boys claimed the top spot at the Proctor/Hermantown Freestyle Invite at the Snowflake Nordic Center in Duluth, while the girls team finished in second.

Jasper Johnston paced the Ely boys in the four-kilometer race with a time of 15:08.2 for second-place overall. He was right on the heels of Grand Rapids skier Sam Stertz who finished first in 14:58.6. Cloquet’s Benjamin Bauer was third with a time of 15:37.5.

The Timberwolves’ Gabriel Pointer was fourth, 16:35.6, followed closely by Raif Olson, 16:45.4, for fifth place.

“We try not to focus on early season results as they aren’t predictive and their purpose is to just get back into race mode,” said Ely Nordic Coach Paula Anderson. “Ely skiers aren’t race ready yet and some of the other skiers are.”

Other Ely finishers including place and time, were: Ethan Bremner, 7th, 17:09.0; Jon Hakala, 11th, 17:51.0; Nate Nettifee, 15th, 18:25.7; and Micah Larson, 20, 19:10.8

The Timberwolves boys finished with 386 points, followed by Grand Rapids with 368 points and Cloquet-Esko-Carlton with 363 points for the top three finishes. Dukuth East, Mesabi East, Proctor/Hermantown and Marshall School also competed.

In the varsity girls 4K race, Zoe Devine paced the Timberwolves with a time of 21:24.9 for 7th place, followed by Julia Schwinghamer, 21:39.6, in 8th place. Duluth East’s Clara Kramer led all girls racers with a time of 19:20.3.

Other Ely girls racers, with place and time, included: Cora Olson, 12th, 21:49.0; Phoebe Helms, 15th, 22:03.3; Ana Bercher, 24th, 24:00.2; Kalyssa Eilrich, 27th, 24:37.4; Gracie Pointer, 35th, 28:10.5; and Abigail Thompson, 36th, 28:49.8.

The Timberwolves girls team scored 360 points for second place, behind Duluth East with 390 points. “We weren’t full strength with the girls, but I don’t think we would have beat East even if we had been,” said Anderson.

The Timberwolves will compete Saturday, Dec. 14, at Grand Rapids, and Thursday, Dec. 19 at the Cloquet Invite. Ely hosts a time trials meet at Giants Ridge on Saturday, Dec. 28.

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