AURORA – Ely eighth-grader Kaylin Visser stunned observers at the Iron Range Conference varsity championship meet here on Tuesday, as she captured first place in the discus with a throw that topped her previous record by nearly 50 feet.
Visser’s throw of 130’4” topped her previous best of approximately 83 feet and proved the top finish for the Ely varsity girls track team during the day’s competition against several larger schools.
Ely team members scored a number of other high finishes, including a second-place finish for eighth-grader Molly Brophy in both the 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter races, setting a personal best of 12:30 in the 3,200. Rock Ridge’s Nora Stark took first in the 1,600, while Lola Champlin of Greenway-Nashwauk-Keewatin (GNK) took first in the 3,200.
Ely’s 4x400 relay team of seniors Lilly Tedrick, Madeline Perry and Audrey Thomas, and anchored by junior Grace LaTourell, ran to a third-place finish in their contest, behind first place Rock Ridge and second place Mesabi East.
In the 4x800 relay, Senior Phoebe Helms, junior Claire Blauch, sophomore Anna Dunn and senior Madeline Perry crossed the finish in third place just behind first place Rock Ridge and second place GNK.
In shot put, Ely senior Natasha Fulkrod’s 27’2” throw brought home a fourth-place finish for the Wolves.
LaTourell posted other top-10 finishes for Ely, with a fourth-place finish in the 400m dash and a sixth place finish in the 200m dash.
The team is next headed to the Taconite Invite at Mesabi East on Friday, May 19. They’ll compete in North Subsections at Mesabi East on May 25 at 10 a.m.