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It didn’t take long for Northeast Range/Ely to show it’s a force to be reckoned with in high school girls golf.
NRE had five golfers in the top-15 and finished only behind Class AA power Rock Ridge at Tuesday’s season-opening event at Virginia.
Abby Koivisto, a two-time state meet participant, was fifth overall.
The strong debut for the girls came a day after the NRE boys opened their campaign at Eveleth and had a surprisingly strong showing, taking fifth among seven teams.
In Tuesday’s girls event, Koivisto carded a 45 over nine holes to take fifth, six strokes back of champion Kelby Anderson of International Falls.
But NRE was backed with impressive depth, as Maizy and Danica Sundblad tied for 10th with a 49 for the afternoon.
In 14th place was NRE’s Carena DeBeltz (53) with teammate Ruby Milton (56) right behind in 15th.
Cylvia DeBeltz took 20th (61). NRE was a solid second, 16 strokes behind Rock Ridge but a whopping 33 in front of third-place Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin.
In boys action, Ely senior Tommy Homer placed 17th with a 49 to lead his team.
Homer was part of an NRE quartet that was closely bunched together, as senior Ty Walker notched a 50 to tie for 21st, and classmate Robert Towley placed 26th with a 53.
Sophomore Lewis Powell followed at 57, good for 33rd place.
Rock Ridge dominated the meet, with Jace Kauppi winning with a 39, followed by teammate Travis Bird at 40.
