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A pair of top-10 finishes, both by young runners, lifted Ely’s high school girls cross country team to its best finish of the season.
Sophomore Molly Brophy was fourth and freshman Mattie Lindsay placed seventh as the Timberwolves took fourth among 10 teams at Tuesday’s Paul Bauer Invitational at Grand Rapids.
The Ely boys, once again led by senior Caid Chittum, were fifth in a 13-team field.
Brophy, who won the Section 7A title as a freshman, wound up fourth among 91 girls in less-than-ideal running conditions, as temperatures topped the 80-degree mark. Her time was 21:07.02, about 37 seconds behind winner Olivia Pascuzzi of Chisholm.
Lindsay continued a strong freshman year, taking seventh in 21:39.1.
Eighth-grader Isabella Macho also cemented her status in Ely’s varsity lineup, taking third among the Wolves and 28th overall in 23:38.6.
Rounding out the Ely line up were Elsa Ellerbroek (47th, 25:22.1), Anna Ziegenmeyer (50th, 25:33.2), Lillie O’Neill (59th, 26:07.6), and Anna Dunn (66th, 26:41.1).
Moose Lake-Willow River dominated the team standings with Duluth East in second, while the Wolves were seven points behind section rival South Ridge, which took third.
Among the boys, Chittum glided to a 12th-place finish in 18:16.3, with fellow senior Silas Solum taking 22nd in 18:43.1).
Everyone was chasing Grand Rapids junior Brenden Sylvester, who topped a field of 108 with a time of 17:03.1.
The Wolves showed depth and had five other runners in the top half of the varsity boys contingent, with junior Otto Devine and sophomore Brooks Brenny tying for 31st in 19:03.1.
Not far behind was sophomore Mason Kurnava (38th, 19:12.4)while sophomore Oliver Hohenstein placed 41st (19:14.2) and senior Eli Olson (19:53.1) took 50th.
Ely took fifth as a team, behind champion Cloquet, big-school power and host Grand Rapids and two Section 7A rivals - South Ridge and Greenway/Nashwauk- Keewatin.
The Wolves had a fourthplace finish in individual junior varsity competition - turned in by Milo McClelland with a time of 20:26.1.
Two Wolves placed in the top-10 in junior high action, with Wyatt Devine fourth in the 3,200 meter boys race (10:41.1) and Katy Brophy eighth in the girls event (13:19.1).
Other results included: Boys JV
15. Dylan Durkin, 21:37.1; 21. Trenton Bishop, 22:13.2; 32. Mason Molden, 23:01.05; Girls JV
15. Lucy Dunn, 27:02.1; 16. Brandy Strange, 27:26.5; 36. Aila Harding, 31:09.1; 42. Ella Littler, 32:51.1; Boys Junior High (3,200 meters) 10. Grant Chittum, 11:29.2; 18. Blake Houde, 11:50.6; 23. Eli Littler, 12:05.1; 36. Oren Solum, 12:49.9; 57. Henry Fetterer, 13:17.4; 67. Caleb Ebert, 13:38.2; 70. Lia m Ku r nava, 13:49.4; 82. Bodin Devine, 14:28.1; Girls Junior High (2,500 meters) 43. Moxie Lindsay, 15:28.1; 45. Sally Dunn, 15:29.3; 77. Kelsie O’Neil, 21:20.6.
