GIANTS RIDGE- The Ely boys Nordic ski team capped a season of increasingly strong performances with a second-place finish at the state ski meet held here last Wednesday and Thursday.
Ranked fifth in a preseason coaches’ poll, the Wolves came on like gangbusters as the season progressed, dominating the Marshall Sprints on Jan. 17, winning the Ely and Duluth East invitationals and claiming the Section 7 championship.
“I think the preseason rankings were pretty accurate to where we were coming into the season,” said Ely Head Coach Todd Hohenstein. “The boys worked hard in the summer and had made some big gains in their overall strength. They were a top five team in December. The first couple meets of the year though, Duluth East was getting the best of us – their top three boys were faster than any of our boys. As coaches we were wondering what are we missing? Our conversation just led us back to having confidence in our long-term plan. What wasn’t calculated was how much the team would bond together over the season. There was an expectation to work hard at practice and no one wanted to be left behind. Each time someone found a new level of effort, it brought the rest of the team up. They climbed the ladder of success together.”
Oliver Hohenstein and Eli Olson set the tone for the Wolves on Wednesday with a stellar performance in the team sprint, their time of 13:40.54 just two-tenths of a second behind winner St. Paul Central.
“The challenge with the relay format is that it can feel like the team is being divided,” Hohenstein said. “It was a challenging process to select who would be on the sprint relay team. Earlier in the season, Eli came up to me after practice one day and said, ‘I will ski in whatever role that is best for our team.’ We never felt like the team split after the decision was made who would ski the relay. Everyone took on their role and performed to their best ability and the outcome was more than we expected. We asked Oliver and Eli to set the tone for the whole team by skiing their best on Wednesday and they did.”
In the final tally, the points earned by Hohenstein and Olson for their second-place finish proved to be pivotal, boosting the Wolves past Mounds Park Academy for second place overall.
In the pursuit competition, sectional champion Dylan Durkin crossed the line in eighth place to top the Ely contingent. Durkin had a time of 15:06.1 in freestyle and 14:44.7 in classic for a combined time of 29:50.1, almost a minute faster than his sectional win.
“Dylan did have a great end of the season push,” Hohenstein said. “He gained a great deal of confidence during the Marshall Sprints race in mid-January where he was able to pull off the individual win. Dylan just kept challenging himself to stay on top and that brought the rest of the team along. That meet was a breakthrough event for the team as well. That was the day that the coaching staff smiled and said things are coming together.
“Our home meet was another high point when our boys took the top four places. One of our top sophomore skiers, Aksel Skustad finished second and had a phenomenal day, along with Eli Olson finishing third. It’s hard to overstate the importance of the way these guys have helped each other reach new performance levels.”
Skustad placed 19th in the state meet pursuit with a combined time of 30:34.3, Wyatt Devine came in 39th with a total time of 31:44.5, Otto Devine slotted in at 48th with a time of 32:22, and Milo McClelland finished 76th with a time of 33:55.5, with all but McClelland improving on their sectional times.
With 359 total points, Ely finished just 11 points behind state champion Wayzata and 14 points higher than third-place Mounds Park Academy. Mounds Park won the pursuit competition, but finished far back in team sprint, placing 16th.
Hohenstein also had high praise for senior Anna Dunn, who qualified individually for the state pursuit competition. Dunn finished in the middle of the pack in 65th place with a combined time of 39:36.3
“Anna started the season with the goal of qualifying for the state meet and she reached that goal,” Hohenstein said. “It took a great deal of effort and persistence to make that happen. She skied well and was happy with her performance. The girls team also met many of their team goals. Success as a team is not always measured by the times on a results page. I am very proud of what our girls team set out to accomplish this season and they have much to celebrate as well.”