VIRGINIA — Throughout her stellar varsity career, most of the Arrowhead region’s girls cross country runners have had to get used to looking at the back of Molly Brophy’s jersey, as the Ely junior has qualified for the state meet every year since she started competing in 2021.
That was the same view all but two runners had in last week’s season-opening Rock Ridge Invitational at the Virginia Public Golf Course, where Brophy finished third in the competition. Brophy’s time of 20:43 was just12.4 seconds behind the winning time posted by Chisholm sophomore Olivia Pascuzzi, and a mere three seconds behind second-place finisher Elaina Jackson, a Grand Rapids junior.
While no other Ely runners placed in the top third of the 69-runner field, Brophy’s performance helped to boost the team to a fourth-place finish in the nine-team event.

Boys
The Ely boys had fewer entrants than the girls, but two Wolves scored top-ten finishes. Aksel Skustad came in fifth with a time of 19:54.9, and Grant Chittum was close behind in sixth with a time of 20:02.7. Ely did not field enough runners to compete in the team standings.
The Wolves were scheduled to compete on Thursday in a meet at Coleraine.

North Woods runners
compete at Pincushion
North Woods cross country runners got the season off to a solid start last Thursday in the North Shore Challenge at Pincushion Mountain.
Running as part of the South Ridge Panthers squad, freshman Kahlil Lightfeather-Spears and senior Lincoln Antikainen demonstrated why Grizzlies’ runners have been so integral to the Panthers’ recent success. The pair were the top two finishers for the Panthers boys, with Lightfeather-Spears placing tenth with a time of 18:06.4 and Antikainen finishing 16th with a time of 18:52.7. No other South Ridge runner finished within the top third of the 55-man field as the Panthers took third among five teams.

Girls
Sophomore Zoey Burckhardt was the highest-placing Grizzlies runner and second Panther to cross the line in the girls’ race, finishing 18th with a time of 22.41.1. The Panthers managed to place fifth overall in the team standings.