GIANTS RIDGE— An exceptional performance by Ely junior Zoe Devine at the state Nordic ski meet held here this past Wednesday and Thursday helped the Ely ski team finish in ninth place in a field of 16 much larger schools.
It was windy and cold, with temperatures running just a few degrees above the state high school league’s cutoff of minus-4 degrees for Nordic skiers. But the temperatures didn’t seem to phase Ely skiers, who had been training under similar conditions for weeks.
Devine, who has been a regular in the state Nordic competition the past few years, finished in sixth place overall in a field of 111 of the best female Nordic skiers in the state, besting her overall sectional time in the pursuit by nearly a minute and a half. Devine took eighth in the classic competition on the first day of the tournament, with a time of 17:29.81, but used her freestyle strength to finish fifth the following day, with a time of 17:23.56.
“Her uphill stride technique may be the best in the entire field so this course really suits her,” said Head Coach Paula Anderson, referring to the hilly terrain at Giants Ridge. “Zoe had the race of her life Thursday.  She moved up two places but didn’t pass the girls ahead of her until the very last uphill.  Normally, no one passes on that uphill. It’s too difficult. It was truly impressive, and coaches were telling me all about it afterwards.”
Meanwhile, fellow junior Phoebe Helms finished in the middle of the pack, in 53rd place, with a combined pursuit time of 38:35.8. Sophomore Ava Skustad finished in 67th place with a pursuit time of 39:52.0.
On the boys side, a freak accident clearly impacted the final results for Ely’s top boy skier, senior Gabriel Pointer, who was hit by a downhill skier after Pointer had completed the opening day classic race. Pointer was sitting in 33rd place after opening day, but he finished 78th in the freestyle event after the skier’s impact injured his shoulder, leaving him in considerable pain. The pursit scores left Pointer in 56th place, with a combined time of 32:35.2, still the top finish among Ely boys and in the top five among Section 7 skiers competing at state.
Fellow Ely senior Jon Hakala wasn’t far behind, finishing in 60th overall with a time of 32:38.0.
In the girls sprint relay competition, Ely sprinters Gracie Pointer and Sydney Durkin finished in 11th place among the 24 teams in the competition. “That was a great result,” said Anderson.
For some of the first-time Ely skiers, the state meet is an entirely new experience and it can be intimidating, noted Anderson. “It’s very intense and you’re skiing with lots of really fast skiers, which can be a shocker the first time.”
Looking ahead to next season, the Ely girls should maintain, if not build, on the strength they demonstrated this year. While Ely’s Gracie Pointer is a senior who competed in her last race at the high school level, Devine and Helms should both be returning next year as seniors, while a promising crop of freshmen and sophomores should continue to improve.
The senior-heavy boys’ team, by contrast, will lose its top three racers, seniors Pointer and Hakala, along with Micah Larson, who narrowly missed his own trip to state, which should make the 2022-23 season a rebuilding year for the Ely boys.