Girls punch tickets to 7A

by Tom Coombe
Photos courtesy of Micah Larson
Four third-place finishes were the highlights of a solid subsection meet for Ely’s high school girls track team.
While the Wolves finished fifth overall on a sunny Wednesday at Aurora, they punched a whopping 11 tickets to the June 10 Section 7A Meet at Cloquet.
That includes nine individual slots and two relays, with junior Annikka Mattson and sophomore Zoe Devine qualifying in three events each.
“The girls had a great day with several personal bests,” said head coach Eliza Vistica. “Many girls moved up several spots from where they were seeded to qualify for sections.”
Mattson sprinted to a third-place finish in the 400 meter dash (1:05.21), while Devine placed third in the 3,200 run in 12:56.18.
Junior Ande Visser qualified for sections by taking third in the discus (96-1), and
Ely advanced a four-by-800 relay team that took third in 10:45.8.
Participants were Devine, Phoebe Helms, Sarah Visser and Gracie Pointer.
Mattson also advanced with a fourth-place run in the 400 (1:05.21), and she joined Devine, Sarah Visser and Madison Rohr on a fourth-place four-by-400 relay unit (4:44.32).
Helms wound up fifth in the 3,200 (13:51.8) and moves on, while Pointer earned a 7A berth in the 800 by taking fifth in 1:49.59.
Junior Kellen Thomas moves on in two field events after finishing fourth in the discus (88-9) and sixth in the shot put (28-5).
Rohr rounded out Ely’s 7A qualifying contingent with a sixth in the 400 (1:09.33).