Olson, Solum lead Ely boys

Eli Olson and Silas Solum are two of the key returning athletes on Ely’s high school boys track team, and both got off to strong starts as the 2024 season began in Chisholm Olson placed third in the triple jump while Solum was third in the 800 run at the April 11 Chisholm Early Bird.

The matching third-place showings by the Ely juniors were the Wolves’ top finishes overall on the day, and a young Ely team took eighth overall in the team standings.

Olson was a section finalist a year ago in the triple jump and he served notice that he’ll be a contender again with a leap of 38 feet, four inches. Fellow junior Tory Hughley (32-6) took ninth in the same event.

Solum is one of the area’s top mid-distance runners and he placed third with a personal-bet time of 2:12.8.

The Wolves’ next-best finish was turned in by the team’s top returning senior Leo Stalmer.

Stalmer specializes in the hurdles and took fourth in the 300 at 47.20.

The Wolves also had a fourth-place relay finish, highlighted by their youth.

Milo McClelland, a junior, teamed up with eighth-grader Wyatt Devine and freshmen Brooks Brenny and Oliver Hohenstein to finish fourth in the four-by-800 relay with a time of 9:33.69.

In the four-by-200 relay, McClelland combined with classmates Wyatt Mattson, Dylan Durkin and Hughley to place seventh in 1:45.24.

Ely also scored in several other field events with Mc-Clelland placing fifth (28-4( in the shot put, Mattson sixth in the discus (91-9) and seventh- place finishes by Olson (17-7) and Durkin (5-4) in the long and high jumps, respectively.

Ely’s four-by-100 relay of Caleb Larson, Mattson, Hughley and Jack Rintala was 10th (52.79), while Rowan Smith was 10th in the shot put (27-5) and Durkin took 10th in the long jump (16-7.5).

Hughley and Ely’s Mason Kurnava (27-5.5) were ninth and 10th, respectively in the triple jump.