top of page
< Back

UW freshman Sherry Drury goes 9th at Big Ten cross country

Sherry Drury, a Japanese running celebrity who left fame to train at UW, placed 9th at the 2026 Big Ten Championships as the Husky women finished 4th.

<h6>Seattle Fitness Magazine · 2 Nov 2026</h6><ul><li><strong>9th</strong>women&#x27;s finish</li><li><strong>17</strong>runners passed</li></ul><h2>Sherry Drury left celebrity behind in Japan</h2> <p><b>Sherry Drury placed 9th at the 2026 Big Ten Cross Country Championships on October 30.</b></p><p>She led the Washington women to 4th place with 115 points in Madison, Wisconsin. The freshman from Okayama, Japan became a national celebrity at 15 and spent three years trying to train without cameras. She found that in Seattle. The men finished 6th with 165 points. Junior Nicole Bissell placed 20th, and Theo Schucht 14th in the men&#x27;s 8K.</p> <h2>A course record at 15, then reporters at the door</h2> <p>At the All-Japan Inter-Prefectual Women&#x27;s Ekiden Championships in Kyoto in January 2023, Drury passed 17 runners and finished her 3-kilometer stage in a course-record 9 minutes, 2 seconds on national television. Weeks later she set another record at Okayama&#x27;s own ekiden. Reporters camped outside her home. They interviewed neighbors and tailed her on streets she had always run alone.</p><p>&quot;I was exhausted,&quot; she told the Seattle Times in October. &quot;I thought that if I couldn&#x27;t train with joy, I would quit track and field. I stopped training for two weeks. Through that experience, I noticed it was a little bit boring life without track and field.&quot;</p> <h2>Eighteen months of YouTube English to get here</h2> <p><b>Drury&#x27;s parents are English teachers, but she did not learn from them.</b></p><p>She turned to YouTube and spent roughly 18 months self-studying, then passed the UW entry exams after multiple attempts. Her signing was announced in November 2025.</p><p>Coach Maurica Powell made a one-day trip to Okayama in March 2025 to meet Drury and her family. Two people recognized her in the street that day; others asked for her autograph at lunch. &quot;She was driven to change her environment and come to a place where she wouldn&#x27;t be under so much scrutiny,&quot; Powell said.</p> <h2>The fame followed her as far as Kenya</h2> <p>Before settling on UW, Drury twice traveled to Kenya to train with Faith Kipyegon, a three-time Olympic gold medalist and the world-record holder in the 1,500 and mile, who also shared tips on managing stardom.</p><p>A six-minute video of Drury&#x27;s 1,500-meter win at the Japan-Korea-China Junior Exchange in August 2023 racked up a million views, and her family hired an attorney to release statements to tame the attention. She won gold at the 2024 Dubai U20 Asian Athletics Championship in the 1,500 meters, and corporate sponsorship offers followed. Powell sent Drury to Penn State for a comparison. Drury chose Seattle.</p> <h2>What she found at UW</h2> <p><b>&quot;Here, everyone looks like they&#x27;re enjoying their training every day,&quot; Drury said in her first interview in English.</b></p><p>&quot;I didn&#x27;t know it could be like that. When I was in Japan, I was studious in my track and field. I&#x27;m learning that people can enjoy every training, smile and have a positive mindset every day and have fun.&quot;</p><p>The October 30 race was her third collegiate cross-country start. She ran 20:08.8. Powell sees further room: &quot;She might undersell how talented she is. She has all the tools.&quot; The program&#x27;s next target is the NCAA Championships on November 21 in Terre Haute.</p>
Seattle Fitness Magazine · 2 Nov 2026
  • 9thwomen's finish
  • 17runners passed

Sherry Drury left celebrity behind in Japan

Sherry Drury placed 9th at the 2026 Big Ten Cross Country Championships on October 30.

She led the Washington women to 4th place with 115 points in Madison, Wisconsin. The freshman from Okayama, Japan became a national celebrity at 15 and spent three years trying to train without cameras. She found that in Seattle. The men finished 6th with 165 points. Junior Nicole Bissell placed 20th, and Theo Schucht 14th in the men's 8K.

A course record at 15, then reporters at the door

At the All-Japan Inter-Prefectual Women's Ekiden Championships in Kyoto in January 2023, Drury passed 17 runners and finished her 3-kilometer stage in a course-record 9 minutes, 2 seconds on national television. Weeks later she set another record at Okayama's own ekiden. Reporters camped outside her home. They interviewed neighbors and tailed her on streets she had always run alone.

"I was exhausted," she told the Seattle Times in October. "I thought that if I couldn't train with joy, I would quit track and field. I stopped training for two weeks. Through that experience, I noticed it was a little bit boring life without track and field."

Eighteen months of YouTube English to get here

Drury's parents are English teachers, but she did not learn from them.

She turned to YouTube and spent roughly 18 months self-studying, then passed the UW entry exams after multiple attempts. Her signing was announced in November 2025.

Coach Maurica Powell made a one-day trip to Okayama in March 2025 to meet Drury and her family. Two people recognized her in the street that day; others asked for her autograph at lunch. "She was driven to change her environment and come to a place where she wouldn't be under so much scrutiny," Powell said.

The fame followed her as far as Kenya

Before settling on UW, Drury twice traveled to Kenya to train with Faith Kipyegon, a three-time Olympic gold medalist and the world-record holder in the 1,500 and mile, who also shared tips on managing stardom.

A six-minute video of Drury's 1,500-meter win at the Japan-Korea-China Junior Exchange in August 2023 racked up a million views, and her family hired an attorney to release statements to tame the attention. She won gold at the 2024 Dubai U20 Asian Athletics Championship in the 1,500 meters, and corporate sponsorship offers followed. Powell sent Drury to Penn State for a comparison. Drury chose Seattle.

What she found at UW

"Here, everyone looks like they're enjoying their training every day," Drury said in her first interview in English.

"I didn't know it could be like that. When I was in Japan, I was studious in my track and field. I'm learning that people can enjoy every training, smile and have a positive mindset every day and have fun."

The October 30 race was her third collegiate cross-country start. She ran 20:08.8. Powell sees further room: "She might undersell how talented she is. She has all the tools." The program's next target is the NCAA Championships on November 21 in Terre Haute.

bottom of page