Page 10 Edina Falls Sports Preview • Thursday, September 3, 2026 current. mnsun. com
Junior class provides incredible running assets
JOHN SHERMAN john. sherman @ apgecm. com
( SUN PHOTO BY JOHN SHERMAN)
Edina High’ s girls cross country captains for 2026 are, from left to right: Savannah Kamp, Amandine Dangles and Maren Ohe.
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Matt Gabrielson, head coach of the Edina High girls cross country team, has already won four state championships – and five if you count the Hornets’ dominance during a COVID-19-shortened season.
He has another special team this year and is counting on a deep junior class to compete for state Class AAA honors.
Those juniors are led by Lyla Drayna, an All-Lake Conference runner since her seventh-grade season. Drayna is a unique runner in that her dominance began so early.
“ Lyla brings great positivity with her every day,” coach Gabrielson said.“ She is definitely one of the best athletes we’ ve ever had in the program. And on top of that, she is a solid person from a great family.”
Along with Drayna, Edina’ s junior class includes four other runners with previous state meet experience – Kate Hanson, Gillian Moser, Eva Jain and captain Maren Ohe. A sixth junior has been added to the mix for 2026. Star track distance runner Evelyn Hoppe is on board now.
Other runners to watch in the Hornet camp are ninth-grader Genevieve Maclachlan along with returning runners Amandine Dangles and Savannah Kamp.
“ Our turnout for cross country remains in the 110-120 range,” coach Gabrielson noted.“ We
( SUN PHOTO BY JOHN SHERMAN)
Junior Lyla Drayna of the Edina High girls cross country team is pursuing her fifth consecutive berth in the State Class AAA Meet.
have had a little bit of a dip in numbers ever since the COVID-19 season. Our senior class is small, but we a big junior class and a large number of eighth-graders.”
With underclass runners in key spots, coach Gabrielson is banking on this approach:“ Focus on the process and what it takes to be successful along the way. And stay in the moment.”
Ohe and the other junior captain, Kamp, are in leadership roles along with senior captain Dangles.
“ One of the things I like most about our team is that we have a lot of multisport athletes,” coach Gabrielson said.“ As usual, the Lake Conference is strong. St. Michael-Albertville is the team to beat. You can never count Wayzata out and Minnetonka has one of the best runners in the state, Evie Malec.”
Edina’ s captains are excited to see what the season will bring.
“ I love this team,” Kamp said.“ It is a cool opportunity to be one of the captains.”
“ We have a lot of potential,” Dangles said.“ We need to stick together and work hard every day.”
Ohe comes from one of the elite athletic families in Edina. Her older brothers, Torger and Sander, were on Edina’ s state championship boys cross country team in 2024.
Torger won a state individual boys golf title and Sander was a finalist for Minnesota’ s Mr. Golf Award last spring.
“ I don’ t play golf,” Maren said.“ I am focused on running and want to push myself every day.”