It takes the average person 28-37 minutes to run a 5k. For sophomore Eva Drumm it takes a little over 24 minutes, and she is just getting started. Recently she was tagged in MileSplit PA’s article “Tomorrow’s Today: The Top 500 Sophomore Girls”. 

“My goal time is to be in low 23 minutes or 22 minutes by Districts,” Drumm said

Drumm began running Cross Country at Bishop Guilfoyle in seventh grade and has been improving ever  since. Last year Drumm ran junior varsity, but this year she secured a varsity spot and has shaved a substantial amount of time off her 5k. Previous to running, she was involved in basketball. When she transferred to Altoona last year, she began liking running a lot more.

“I like the big school, and it is very diverse here. There’s a lot of people to make friends with,” Drumm said.

Most recently, the high school Cross Country team traveled to California University of Pennsylvania for the TSTCA Cross Country Championship Meet. Although this is the course Drumm dreads the most, she got a time of 25.17 minutes and placed 151st out of 225 in the girls’ AAA race. 

“Cal-U sucks because it’s just a really extended hill and there’s all different kinds of hills,”  Drumm said.

Outside of Cross Country, Drumm enjoys listening to music and hanging out with friends. She likes any music besides country and would consider herself extraverted and outgoing because of her affinity for talking to others. This year Drumm is on Mountain Echo staff where she has written and taken photos primarily about school sports including “Cross country team to kick off season”, “Erin Dodson volleyball game ends in victory” and “Wilber runs through junior year”. She also has been working on designing the yearbook. 

“My favorite thing is learning new things about what’s going on in school and interviewing people, and my favorite class is probably the yearbook because I like the design portion of it,” Drumm said.

Although she is an avid writer, she plans to go to college for radiology, and she is not wasting any time. She is set to go on a tour of Indiana University of Pennsylvania. When in college, she is undecided if she wants to run. 

“It depends on where I’m at. If I’m a senior and I’m good at running and I’m running low times, I think I would probably run in college,” Drumm said. 

On Oct. 29, Drumm and the high school Cross Country team will travel to Big Valley to race at Districts which will determine who goes to States. Drumm is excited because she got her personal record for the 2021-2022 season at Districts. Drumm’s next race is at Logan Elementary School on Oct. 24 for the annual Blair County Day.