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Ely skiers continue to dominate

Boys top field in Two Harbors and Duluth; girls take first and second

Keith Vandervort
Posted 1/15/20

TWO HARBORS – Ely skiers continue to dominate in regional competition. On Tuesday, the Ely boys took first while the Ely girls finished in second place at a classic ski competition in Two …

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Ely skiers continue to dominate

Boys top field in Two Harbors and Duluth; girls take first and second

Posted

TWO HARBORS – Ely skiers continue to dominate in regional competition. On Tuesday, the Ely boys took first while the Ely girls finished in second place at a classic ski competition in Two Harbors, continuing a streak of strong performances in recent days. Both the Ely boys and girls teams finished in the top spot over the weekend at the Marshall Sprints relay races in Duluth.
At Two Harbors, the Ely boys edged Cloquet-Esko-Carlton for the top spot. Standout skier Jasper Johnston led the way with a first place individual finish with a time of 19:58.5 in the 5K classic-style race. Gabriel Pointer finished in fifth place with a time of 21:24.1, followed by Ethan Bremner, in seventh place, at 22:05.2. Nate Nettifee was right behind in eighth place, with a time of 22:14.2, while Jon Hakala finished tenth at 22:27.4.  Other Ely racers include Micah Larson, 15th, at 23:13.0, and Adam Williamson, 47th, at 28:54.7.
Zoe Devine paced the Ely girls team with a time of 24:21.4 for a fifth-place finish. Other Ely girls racers, with place and time included, Phoebe Helms, 9th, 24:57.5, Kalyssa Eilrich, 15th, 25:38.1, Juia Schwinghamer, 16th, 25:39.8, Ana Bercher, 23rd, 26:28.8, Gracie Pointer, 34th, 27:28.7, and Cora Olson, 36th, 27:42.1.
“Today was fun,” said Ely Nordic Ski Coach Paula Anderson. “It’s a very different meet in that it’s old school, a single lane through the woods, making it difficult to pass. They had four inches of snow in the night so it was VERY soft.  Boys won and girls were second to Mesabi East.” The Giants were missing their fourth skier, while Ely’s Brooke Pasmick was out due to illness, which likely affected the final outcome on the girls side.  “It might be a tight contest at Sections,” said Anderson. “It will probably come down to a couple of points for second place.”
In Duluth on Saturday, both the Ely boys and girls topped the field in a 1.2K sprint relay event.
The Ely boys swept first-place finishes in all three classes of sprint relay freestyle races. Jon Hakala and Ethan Bremner won the Class C race with a time of 18:52.8. Nate Nettifee won the Class B race with a time of 18:03.3. Jasper Johnson and Raif Olson won the Class A race with a time of 18:45.1.
For the girls, Ely’s Kalyssa Eilrich and Julia Schwinghamer took first place in the Class C race with a time of 21:38.9. Cedar Ohlhauser and Ana Bercher finished in second with a time 22:24.6. Phoebe Helms and Brooke Pasmick finished second in Class B race with a time of 21:25.2. Cora Olson and Zoe Devine finished in fourth place, with a time 21:22.3, in the Class A competition.
In the Mixed Class varsity sprint relay freestyle race, the Ely team of Micah Larson and Sydney Durkin finished fourth with a time of 23:06.9. Marshall School was first in that race with a time of 20:45.1.
“Individually the boys are getting faster each week which is good,” said Anderson. “The closer they can finish to Jasper the better— closing that gap a little will be the key to success later on in the season. The girls were solid… we have depth but we are still young.” 
The Timberwolves will travel to Cook County on Saturday.

nordic skiing