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This week marks a sure sign that summer is heading into its home stretch.
In many ways, summer vacation ends Monday for athletes in Ely and around the state as it marks the official start of fall sports practices.
The workouts begin in preparation for contests at the end of the month as high school volleyball, football, boys and girls cross country and girls swimming begin.
The seasons are starting in Ely with plenty of anticipation and high hopes.
That’s particularly so for the Timberwolves’ volleyball team, which is coming off back-to-back trips to the state tournament, including a state Class A consolation championship in 2023.
Ely dominated local competition, repeated as Section 7A champions and finished 28-6 while bringing home state hardware.
The Wolves figure to enter the 2024 campaign with as much depth and firepower as anyone in Section 7A, and their talented nucleus includes three powerful hitters who last year regularly reached double digits in kills: seniors Lilli Rechichi and Clare Thomas and sophomore Audrey Kallberg.
Junior Sadie Rechichi and sophomores Charlotte Hegman and Amelia Penke are also back and all played regularly during the Wolves’ playoff run.
Megan Wognum returns for her fourth season as head coach and she expects more than 50 players in grades 7-12 as workouts begin in preparation for an Aug. 26 season-opener - at home - against Deer River.
Ely’s football team also starts practice Monday and the Wolves begin the fourth year of a cooperative agreement with Northeast Range.
As a result of the cooperative, the Wolves are classified as an 11man team, and the Wolves have a full 11-man schedule in 2024.
Ely, led by fourth-year head coach Louie Gerzin, went 1-8 a year ago with a loss to Mille Lacs in the Section 7A playoffs.
Brady Eaton, Garrett Rohr and Alex Merriman are among the returning seniors for the Wolves, who once again figure to battle a numbers game.
But overall turnout for the program is stronger than it has been, with roughly 25 players in grades 9-12 and another 20 seventh and eighth graders.
The football team travels to International Falls for an Aug. 30 season debut while the first home contest is slated for Sept. 6, against East Central.
Ely fields both boys and girls cross country teams, and the Timberwolves begin preparations for the 2024 campaign this week under the tutelage of Jayne Dusich, the Bemidji State University Athletic Hall of Famer who has led the program since its inception in the mid-1990s.
Both Ely teams should be in the running in Section 7A and both teams return state meet participants.
Molly Brophy qualified for state last year and she’s back for her sophomore campaign to pace the Ely girls team.
The Ely boys are led by a 2023 state meet participant - senior and three-sport standout Caid Chittum.
Ely’s cross country season begins with an Aug. 28 meet at Virginia.
Those who participate in girls swimming require additional dedication - and time - given a cooperative agreement hosted by Northeast Range.
Cheri DeBeltz coaches the Northeast Range/Ely program, which has been dominated largely by Ely swimmers the last few seasons.
Anna Larson, Tuuli Koivisto, Via DeBeltz, Sabrah Hart and Alyssa Ice form the returning nucleus for the Nighthawks, who go to work Monday in the pool at Babbitt.
The swimming season debut is Thursday, Aug. 22, for the Rock Ridge Relays.
