A pair of juniors, Sydney Drevlow of Hopkins and Robert Mechura of Roseville, were running with the night Saturday at the 58th annual Metro Invite Cross-Country Meet.
The tradition-rich meet stands apart as a rare cross-country race under the lights. A dozen rented, generator-powered lighting units illuminated the 5,000-meter varsity course and, as Hopkins track and field coach Nick Lovas said, "gave a Friday Night Lights atmosphere to the running community."
Lovas, who also coaches the Hopkins North/West middle school cross-country program, enjoyed seeing a range of runners ages 8 to 18 taking part in the seven races offered by co-hosts Eden Prairie High School and TC Running Company.
Saturday's meet, held at Flying Cloud Fields, marked a departure after years at Round Lake Park in Eden Prairie. Drevlow and Mechura agreed the meet's best attributes were the cool of the evening, a lack of wind and an abundance of cheering spectators. The varsity race format meant runners made two or three laps past supportive parents, siblings on blankets and various food trucks. A few planes at nearby Flying Cloud Airport took off into the night sky.
Drevlow won the girls race with a time of 17 minutes, 39.1 seconds. Mechura, running his first 5K race of the season, finished in 15:04.02 to win the boys race.
"It's a good benchmark," said Mechura, ranked second in the Class 3A boys cross-country coaches poll last week. "It was close to my goal, but I also know this was a flat course."
Drevlow used the event to tinker with her race distribution.
"I wanted to see in this race if I could be on pace through the first mile because usually I'm about 10 to 15 seconds faster than what I should be," said Drevlow, ranked first in the Class 3A girls cross-country coaches poll last week. "I was able to hold back this time."
