GIANTS RIDGE— A slew of Ely skiers were competing in the state Nordic competition on Wednesday as the Timberjay went to press. More racing is scheduled for Thursday and the Timberjay will report on the results once they’re available.
The Ely girls were competing at state as a team, thanks to their strong second-place finish at the Section 7 ski meet held last Wednesday, Feb. 9. Ely seniors Gabe Pointer and Jon Hakala qualified as individuals in the boys competition.
The results continue Ely’s long history of excellence in Nordic ski competition, despite being one of the smallest schools in the state to field a team.
Ely junior standout Zoe Devine finished third overall in the combined classic and skate competition, with an overall time of 36:16. That was just 23 seconds behind first-place finisher Lily Brown, of Duluth East, and was a full 50 seconds faster than the fourth-place finisher in the competition. Fellow junior Phoebe Helms was not far behind, in ninth place, with a combined time of 38:32.
“Phoebe ramped it up and ended up putting together two of the best races of her career,” said Ely Head Coach Paula Anderson. “She knew she was on the cusp for qualifying individually and was pretty nervous about it knowing that the number of individuals was reduced by two this year.  In the end it didn’t matter since the team qualified, but if it had mattered her finish would have qualified her as an individual as well.”
Ely sophomore Ava Skustad had a big day as well, finishing in 12th place with a time of 39:53.  
Gracie Pointer and Sydney Durkin finished in fourth place in the spring relays. “They did a fantastic job and their results really made a difference,” said Anderson.
The scoring in Nordic competition has been evolving in recent years and has become increasingly complicated, with placing determined by a combination of scoring in the pursuit competition (which combines the classic and skate times) combined with sprint relays, which now determine 40 percent of a team’s score.
The new scoring is likely one reason that the boys team missed the qualifying cut for state. The Ely squad posted exceptional times in the classic contest, with Ely senior Micah Larson finishing second with a time of 16:51. “Micah popped a stellar classic race, he was quite surprised to finish second,” said Anderson. “He definitely had a target on his back in the second race and it ended up being really difficult.”
Fellow Ely seniors Gabriel Pointer and Jon Hakala posted strong classic times as well, with Pointer finishing third in the 45-racer field with a time of 17:03, while Hakala finished seventh with a time of 17:21.
In the pursuit, Pointer finished fourth overall, with a combined time of 33:18, while Hakala was close behind in eighth place with a time of 34:08. Larson finished in 12th place with a combined time of 35:09, which put him just short of qualifying for state.
In the sprint relays, up-and-coming Ely skiers Otto Devine, an eighth-grader, and Silas Solum, a freshman, finished fifth with a combined time of 17:14.