- November 6, 2024
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Matanzas High School runner David Drumm has led the Pirates cross-country team to the state meet three years in a row.
David Drumm has been running for only three years, but he’s already made a footprint on the Matanzas record books.
As a freshman in 2008, Drumm was the No. 5 runner on the cross-country team, with a personal best of 17 minutes, 43 seconds. Then, in the spring of freshman year, in Drumm’s first track season, he qualified for the regional meet and placed ninth in the two-mile race with a time of 10 minutes, 27 seconds.
As a sophomore, Drumm became the team’s No. 2 runner, and set a personal best of 16 minutes, 44 seconds, shaving one minute off his fastest race.
In track the same school year, Drumm was the district champion in the 3,200-meter race with a time of 10 minutes, 9 seconds. Pirates coach James Wolfe said Drumm came into the race ranked fifth, making it quite an upset.
In Drumm’s most recent cross-country season, he established himself as the team’s No. 1 runner. He set a personal-best 16 minutes, 8 seconds in the region meet, and was the regional champion. Drumm was disappointed at the state meet, where he finished the race in 16 minutes, 48 seconds.
“I felt like I was pushing hard all race, but I came through the first mile slow and every mile after that was slow,” Drumm recalls.
Drumm hopes as his times decrease, his chances to run in college increase, potentially at Florida State University.
And as for a state championship in either cross country or track, he said: “It’d be tough, but I think I can contend for (a state championship) next year.”
Drumm said one thing he needs to work on is eating. Being a vegetarian, he said he has to work hard to get the protein he needs to fuel his body when trying to build mileage.
Wolfe said consistency is what makes Drumm a good, smart runner.
“David rarely misses anything,” Wolfe said. “Sometimes it’s just putting in miles and it’s hard to see the big picture during the summer. He does a really good job.”
PLAYER PROFILE
Name: David Drumm
Age: 16
Grade: Junior
School: Matanzas High School
Sports: Cross country and track
Number: 16 minutes, 8 seconds — school record in 5K race
