GIANTS RIDGE – Four Ely Timberwolves skiers are headed to state competition on the heels of strong qualifying runs at the 7A sectional meet at Giants Ridge on Wednesday.

“We had a great day,” Ely Head Coach Paula Anderson said. “We would have loved to have qualified a team or two, but we did qualify four individuals so that makes us very happy.”

Senior Jasper Johnston was the class of the boys field, winning first in the 4K classic (10:28) by a full 30 seconds, first in freestyle (10:10), and first overall (20:38). Junior Gabe Pointer scored seventh place finishes in the classic (11:35), freestyle (11:31) and overall (23:06).

“Jasper had a perfect day, he dominated both races, which was what he wanted to do,” Anderson said. “This will give him lots of confidence going into state. Gabriel had two very solid races and qualified as the fourth individual qualifier.”

Sophomore Zoe Devine captured first in the girls freestyle (12:36), took third in the classic (13:03), and finished third overall (25:39) to secure her spot in the state meet. Sophomore Phoebe Helms claimed the fifth individual qualifying spot by finishing 11th overall (27:46), taking ninth in freestyle (13:24) and 15th in classic (14:22).

“Zoe won the freestyle race which was really exciting,” Anderson said. “She held her overall place at third was happy with that. Phoebe really moved up in her skate race which was really fun to see.”

Both state competitions will be at Giants Ridge, with the girls skiing on Thursday, March 11 and the boys on Friday, March 12.