Drevlow makes final push - with team goals

Senior co-captain Sydney Drevlow can’t believe that her high school cross country career is nearing an end.

As a seventh-grade prodigy she broke into the varsity lineup for the Hopkins Royals and ended up as the fastest 5K runner. She followed up as an All-Lake Conference Nordic skier and track runner that same year.

Drevlow will graduate this spring with a collection of state gold, silver and bronze medals in her three sports. She has already won two gold medals in state track along with a gold medal in Nordic skiing.

After placing third in the Lake Conference Girls Cross Country Meet Oct. 10 at Gale Woods Farm in Minnetrista, Drevlow took a few minutes to talk about the season so far and her legacy in the Hopkins athletic program.

“I ran more miles than usual this summer,” she said. “Our team workouts are similar to other years, but we do more cross training this year.”

Drevlow and senior co-captain Daphne Grobstein have been Hopkins’ pace setters almost from the time they burst onto the scene as seventh-graders.

“It has been so much fun running with Daphne,” Drevlow said. “We both like running and we have been through all of the ups and downs together for six years.”

Drevlow ran a steady pace in the Lake meet, finishing behind champion Maddie Gullickson of Wayzata and runner-up Lila Golomb, Wayzata’s other leader. Gullickson finished in 18:10.6 and Golomb ran 18:24.3. Drevlow pushed at the end to hold off a challenge from Minnetonka’s Avery Marasco-Johnson to win by a small margin - 18:40.4 to 18:42.5.

“My individual goals [for the rest of the season] are about the same as usual,” Drevlow said. “But I am focusing more on team goals. The team is very young and it is fun to see the girls go back and forth [in their finish order].”

Drevlow is hoping the Royals can qualify for state as a team out of Section 6AAA. Only two teams will advance, and one is sure to be Lake Conference champion Wayzata, the defending state champion.

At the conference meet, Drevlow was Hopkins’ lone all-conference finisher. Sophomore Anya Schmeichel was 19th in 19:30.3 and eighth-grader Chloe Voyen placed 20th in 19:40.1. Junior Sam Fuller joined the under-20:00 ranks with her time of 19:52.8.

Minnetonka

In the Lake meet, Minntonka had two runners in the top five. Marasco-Johnson, the senior captain, ran well to take fourth place. Sophomore Evie Malec was right behind her in fifth. As expected, both ran under 19 minutes on the 5K Gale Woods Farm course.

Skipper senior Meredith Gilles ran 22nd in conference in 19:40.5.

Minnetonka is looking to move its other runners close to the three pack leaders. There is a good chance Minnetonka will advance to state out of Section 2AAA. Marasco-Johnson and Malec are already multi-year state qualifiers.

Olivia Muehlstedt, Marah Klein, Margaret Nielsen and Alex Dragseth lead the supporting cast.

Eden Prairie

The bright spot for Eden Prairie in the Lake Conference Meet was Katrina Metzger’s 17th-place finish in 19:34.0. Marleigh Remington was next for the Eagles in 41st place while teammates Kensley McQuillan, Lillian Beutz and Sydney Bond took places 48-49-50.

Lake team scores

Wayzata 30, St. Michael-Albertville 71, Hopkins 84, Minnetonka 101, Edina 105, Eden Prairie 175, Buffalo 190.