REGIONAL — Ely sophomore Violet Udovich delivered one of the most outstanding individual performances at the Minnesota Class A state track and field meet at St. Michael-Albertville High School last week, winning two state championships, finishing second in another event, and helping lead the Timberwolves girls to a runner-up finish in the team standings.
Udovich accounted for 34 of Ely’s 39 points as the Wolves finished second , just behind team champion Hills-Beaver Creek with 43. Benson/KMS placed third with 32.
And Udovich didn’t simply win races. She rewrote portions of the Class A record book in the process.
Competing against one of the state’s top sprint fields, Udovich placed second in the 100-meter dash on Friday in 11.74 seconds. The time broke the previous Class A record of 11.84, but Hills-Beaver Creek junior Brynn Bakken went even faster, winning in an all-time Class A record 11.69.
The showdown between the two standout sprinters continued later in the day in the 200, where the roles reversed.
Udovich surged to the state championship in 23.89, breaking both the Class A record of 24.44 for the current school classification system and the previous all-time historic Class A mark of 23.91. Bakken finished second in 23.96 as both runners again went under the former class record.
Udovich capped her extraordinary meet with another dominant performance in the 400, winning in 54.94 to break the Class A record of 55.67.
All three of Udovich’s finals performances were personal bests.
While Udovich supplied the headline performances, the Wolves also received key contributions elsewhere to secure the state runner-up trophy.
Junior Lydia Shultz placed sixth in the high jump at 5 feet, 4 inches to score four points, while junior Kaylin Visser added another point with a ninth-place finish in the discus at 120 feet, 5 inches.
Junior Isabella Macho placed 16th in the 300-meter hurdles preliminaries in 53.78 and did not advance to the finals.
The Ely boys were represented as well, with the 4x800 relay team of Otto Devine, Wyatt Devine, Blake Houde, and Oliver Hohenstein turning in a season-best time of 8:27.81 to finish 14th at state.
With every Ely girls state qualifier expected to return next season, the Wolves appear well positioned to remain among the top Class A programs in the state, and Head Coach Jill Ellerbroek is hoping the Wolves will do even better next year.
“We had three girls advance to state both last year and this year — Lydia Shultz, Kaylin Visser, and Violet Udovich — and this year was even more fun because it was shared with even more of our athletes, with the boys 4x800 team, Otto and Wyatt Devine, Blake Houde, Oliver Hohenstein, alternates, and with the addition of Isabella Macho in the 300m hurdles,” Ellerbroek said. “I hope we have more athletes advance next year so that we can share the state experience with more of the team.”
Ellerbroek also put a cap on what was a strong campaign for Wolves girls track.
“Ely had a really great track season — our athletes experienced a lot of success and personal bests,” she said. “The overall cheering and support for teammates has been overwhelming this season. Our seniors — Addison Forsman, Elsa Ellerbroek, Alyssa Ice — were fantastic, kind mentors. They stepped up whenever there was a need. Not to mention our senior managers Alison Poppler, Alia Harding, and exchange student Mano Dumesnil, my assistants, timers, gophers, and teachers when I needed an extra hand. They will all be greatly missed next season.”