GIANTS RIDGE- The Ely boys Nordic ski team laid claim to being the best in the Arrowhead on Wednesday by winning the Section 7 regional meet at Giants Ridge and qualifying for next week’s state meet.

Dylan Durkin remains a skier on fire as he won the pursuit title over August Capps of Duluth East. Durkin had the fastest run in the first heat with a time of 15:23 and placed second in the second heat with a time of 15:19 to take the overall title with a combined time of 30:42.

The Wolves took four of the top seven spots, with Aksel Skustad placing third, Wyatt Devine coming in sixth, and Otto Devine finished seventh. Skustad was the winner of the second heat with a time of 15:16.9 and had an overall time of 31.11.9. The combined time for Wyatt Devine was 31:56, and Otto Devine finished in 32:30. Ely’s fifth skier, Milo McClellan, place 13th with a time of 33:50.

The Wolves edged Duluth East by a single point, 233-232, in pursuit. Other teams in the competition in order of finish included CEC, Grand Rapids, Two Harbors, Mora, Cook County, Proctor-Hermantown, and Mesabi East.

The Wolves’ Oliver Hohenstein and Eli Olson teamed up to win the relay race with a time of 14:01, 26 seconds ahead of runner-up Duluth East.

Adding the pursuit and relay scores, Ely extended its winning margin to 392-388 over Duluth East.

Dunn qualifies
While the Ely girls finished fifth in the team standings, the Wolves’ Anna Dunn cashed a ticket to the state meet with a tenth-place finish in pursuit, the third individual qualifier in the competition.

Dunn was again a steady performer, placing ninth on the first run and tenth on the second with an overall time of 38.46.

The state meet will be held at Giants Ridge next Wednesday and Thursday.