GIANTS RIDGE— A huge fourth-place finish in the boys sprint competition here on Thursday lifted the Ely boys team to eighth-place at the state Nordic ski meet on a bright but chilly day. Freshman Aksel Skustad and junior Silas Solum had finished first at the Feb. 7 sectional competition with a time of 14:48 in a race that requires each sprinter to complete two laps of the 1.2 km track.

But Skustad and Solum crushed that time at Thursday’s state competition, qualifying for the finals with a time of 13:07.88. And they left that mark in the dust in the final round, completing the hilly course in 12:15.03, just 20 seconds off the winning pace of 11:55.94, set by a team from Brainerd.

The sprint competition has come to play an oversized role in team rankings, so Ely’s strong showing in the event in a field of 24 teams helped to boost Ely’s team ranking among the 16 teams represented at the state meet. The team was lodged in 13^th place ahead of the sprint event, which left the team’s hopes riding on its two sprinters.

“We knew our sprint team was solid,” said Hohenstein. “But you never really know how other teams you haven't competed with will compare. We did ski against Brainerd earlier this season and they had a great sprint duo.  Our plan was to try and stick with them.”

It turns out they may have stuck a bit too close. “During the first handoff our skier inadvertently stepped into the path of the Brainerd team,” said Ely Head Coach Todd Hohenstein. “No contact was made, and all skiers stayed upright. Brainerd went on to win the heat and we came in second.” Yet, the error, which was inadvertent, appeared disastrous moments after the race when meet officials announced they were assessing Ely a 15-second penalty for obstructing the Brainerd racer, a decision that would have denied Ely its spot in the finals.

Hohenstein immediately appealed the decision and after some explanation and discussion, the officials opted to reverse the ruling, sending Ely to the final round based on the sprinters’ qualifying time.

The decision was the kind of break that Ely didn’t experience in the opening day of the meet, which focused on the pursuit competition. “We did have a couple issues during the morning [classic] race,” said Hohenstein. Both junior Dylan Durkin, who has consistently led Ely in meets this season, and freshman Oliver Hohenstein, who was frequently right behind Durkin in recent meets, fell in heavy traffic early in their race. Hohenstein noted that the state meet is populated with highly competitive racers and the track can sometimes get crowded. “Skis and poles can get tangled on an uphill or taking a sharp corner,” he said.

Durkin reportedly damaged the tip of one of his skis during the fall, which hampered his kick throughout the rest of the race. Despite the mishap, Durkin still topped the Ely field, but finished 52^nd overall with a time of 26:48.6. That was still more than a minute faster than Durkin’s combined time at the sectional competition, where he finished fourth overall.

Hohenstein, who finished sixth at sections came in 56^th at the state meet with a combined time of 26:58.6, a minute-ten-seconds faster than during the section competition, held on the same track at Giants Ridge.

While both racers recovered quickly from their falls, the incidents undoubtedly impacted their times. “A fall can cause you to lose a few places pretty quick,” noted Hohenstein and that impacts the point totals for the team.

Other Ely racers finished not far behind. Junior Eli Olson finished 58^th with a time of 27:04.2, while fellow junior Milo McClelland finished 72^nd with a time of 28:17.5. Freshman Caleb Larson finished 89^th in a time of 29:08.8.

In the girls sprint, Ely’s team of seniors Claire Blauch and Ava Skustad combined to finish 13^th in a field of 24 teams. Blauch and Skustad finished in fourth place in their qualifier with a time of 15:57.62, which wasn’t enough to move on to the finals. The pair had finished second in the sectional contest to qualify for state.

Coming in, Hohenstein said the boys team had set a goal to finish in the top half, which they were able to do. The relay points added to our pursuit races from yesterday put us in 8th place, which allowed us to reach our goal,” he said. “It is obviously very satisfying when stating a goal you have for a group, working very hard to achieve the goal, and finally making the goal reality.”