Hopkins freshman Sydney Drevlow wins Girls Nordic State Tournament pursuit race

Hopkins freshman Sydney Drevlow found herself in a deficit situation on Thursday, Feb. 17, 2002, at the Minnesota State High School League’s Nordic Skiing State Meet at Giants Ridge.

Before the start of the 5K freestyle race, she stared at a 22-second deficit to Edina senior Maggie Wagner, a familiar foe who she had dueled all season. Wagner earned that head start by virtue of her victory on Wednesday afternoon in the 5K freestyle race.

But Drevlow slowly closed the gap throughout the freestyle and overtook Wagner on the final hill of the course to capture the pursuit championship in a time of 33:40.7. In 2021, Drevlow placed eighth in the pursuit event. She powered her way to the fastest time in the freestyle in a time of 16:45.55. Wagner, who crossed the finish line with a broken pole, had the seventh-fastest time in the freestyle, but still finished as the runner-up in 34:00.9.

Drevlow and Wagner race frequently against one another in the Lake Conference and the section events.

St. Paul Highland Park’s Molly Moening, the two-time defending pursuit champion, was third in 34:24.7. She was attempting to become just the third girls’ skier to win three consecutive Nordic Skiing titles.

When Drevlow crossed the finish line, she was busy in the finishing chute helping competitors that were drained and weary in the cold conditions.

St. Paul Highland Park won the team championship for the second time in three seasons. The Scots finished with 371 points, three more than runner-up Duluth East. Forest Lake, the team champion in 2021, was third with 346. Scoring for the Scots were Moening, freshman Hannah Koch, junior Chloe Koch and sophomore Stephanie Jones.

Duluth East’s Liesl Cope-Schaeffer and Rowan Bixler captured the relay crown which gave the Greyhounds 159 points toward the team title chase.