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Durkin has hand in three firsts; Wolves cruise at Deer River
Ely’s high school boys track team showed strength across the board in a season opening victory.
In all, the Timberwolves had eight first-place finishes, with senior Dylan Durkin having a hand in three as Ely topped six other teams to win the WarEagle Varsity Invite.
Ely piled up 180 points, easily outdistancing second- place Deer River/Northland/ Hill City and the rest of the field.
Durkin, one of the boys’ top returning athletes, sprinted to victory in the 200 dash and later teamed with Eli Olson, Silas Solum and Aksel Skustad to win the four-by-400 relay. He also tied for first in the high jump.
“I thought we had some really good performances,” said Ely Head Coach Will Helms. “Dylan had a really nice day, winning the 200 in a really good time. He had a good high jump and can do even better. And then guys like Silas (Solum) were scoring all over the place. We have a lot of strength from our seniors. This team is really strong in mid-distances, 400 and 800 meters, and I think we showed that in the longer relays.
The Wolves also showed strength in distance events, with sophomore Oliver Hohenstein winning the 1,600 run and freshman Wyatt Devine atop the field in the 3,200 run.
It was Otto Devine, a junior, who won the 300 hurdles, while senior Eli Olson won the triple jump and was second in the long jump.
Otto Devine teamed with Brooks Brenny, Milo Mc-Clelland and Oliver Hohenstein to win the four-by-800 relay and Ely senior Wyatt Mattson was the runner-up in both the shot put and discus.
“Wyatt had two personal bests in throws, and he almost broke 100 in the discus,” said Helms. “He looked really good and we’re very happy with that.”
The meet was the first for the Wolves after a couple of false starts and the team was eager to show its stuff.
“It was five weeks without a meet,” said Helms. “And that’s tough on boys. They really like to compete.”
Helms said another highlight was the four-by-400 relay, where Ely finished one-two.
“That’s how we finished the meet,” said Helms. “It was fun to have eight Ely guys racing. It was a celebration of the day.”
The Wolves are back in action Monday at International Falls, with the annual Doc Savage Invitational in Hibbing to follow on Saturday, May 3.
Ely placed as follows:
• 100 dash - 10. Jack Rintala, 13.3; 11. Brady Strange, 14.4; 12. Max Cochran, 15.0;
• 200 dash - 1. Durkin, 24.1; 10. Skustad, 27.9; 14. Strange, 30.2;
• 400 dash - 5. Skustad, 1:02.7; 7. Noah Axlesson, 1:07.7;
• 800 run - 2. Solum, 2:11.6; 4. Olson, 2:18.7; 6. Brenny, 2:26.7;
• 1,600 run - 1. Hohenstein, 5:17.6; 4. Oren Solum, 5:32; 6. Grady Anderson, 6:13; • 3,200 run - 1. Wyatt Devine, 11:19.3; 3. Blake Houde, 11:29.1; 5. Mason Kurnava, 11:39.5;
• 300 hurdles - 1. Otto Devine, 51.6;
• Four-by-100 relay 2. Rintala, Mattson, Tory Hughley, Silas Solum, 517;
• Four-by-200 relay 2. Mattson, McClelland, Durkin, Hughley, 1:42.2;
• Four-by- 400 relay - 1. Olson, Solum, Skustad, Durkin, 4:13.7; 2. Otto Devine, Brenny, Noah Anderson, McClelland;
• Four-by-800 relay- 1. Otto Devine, McClelland, Brenny, Hohenstein, 9:28.9;
• Shot put - 2. Mattson, 36-3.5; 7. Hughley, 30-1; 14. Emmett Boes, 23-8; 15. Cochran, 22-10.5;
• Discus - 2. Mattson, 994; 5. McClelland, 84-0.5; 11. Boes, 65-2; 12. Rintala, 63-1; 13. Cochran, 59-9;
• High jump - 1. Durkin, 5-4;
• Long jump - 2. Olson, 16-11;
• Triple jump - 1. Olson, 36-4; 2. Silas Solum, 34-1; 3. Hughley, 31-4.
