HIBBING— Ely freshman Molly Brophy took fifth in a field of 146 cross country runners here last Thursday as the Ely girls team finished sixth overall against 19 other competitors at the Hibbing Rotary Invitational meet.
Running at the Hibbing Municipal Golf Course, Ely junior Caid Chittum was Ely’s top boys finisher, taking 22nd with a time of 18:04.3. That helped the Timberwolves finish in ninth place in a field of 21 teams.
Brophy, who has steadily paced Ely’s girls team so far this season, finished in a time of 19:54.2, about a minute and a half off the pace of first place finisher Mia Hoffman, of Bemidji. She was one of only five runners in the competition to finish the 5K course in under 20 minutes.
Ely eighth-grader Mattie Lindsay had another strong performance as well, taking 41st with a time of 21:54.3. Senior Claire Blauch was not far behind with a time of 22:10.8.
On the boys side, junior Silas Solum finished behind Chittum in 44th place with a time of 18:34.3, while Brooks Brenny and Eli Olson finished 62nd and 63rd with times of 19:02.3 and 19:03 respectively.
The Wolves were scheduled to host their own meet this Thursday at the Ely Golf Course. They travel to the border to take on International Falls next Tuesday.