FSK’s Watkins leaves lasting legacy on, off field
Drew Watkins is certainly a familiar face around Francis Scott Key High School.
You really can’t miss her — she’s everywhere.
Six days after competing with the Eagles’ girls basketball team for a state championship, she was on the lacrosse field, scoring five goals in a season-opening win.
There’s little downtime for FSK’s three-sport star, but that’s what’s brought her to the point where she’s a Division I college recruit — committed to play lacrosse at Campbell University — and in position to accomplish a rare feat.
After capturing first-team All-County honors in field hockey in the fall and basketball in the winter, Watkins now turns her attention to the lacrosse field, where she is a player of the year contender.
She would join a rare club of athletes that has earned what some call the “triple crown”: being named first-team All-County by the Carroll County Times in three sports during the same school year.
The Campbell University commit is off to a great start in 2024. Watkins has tallied 10 goals, four assists and more than 30 draw controls through three games.
But Watkins’ legacy is more than just on-the-field accomplishments. Watkins is just as impressive off the field or court. She has positively affected many as the face of a small but tight-knit FSK community.
“If I could have 100 Drews, I’d be all set.” FSK athletic director Ryan Kimble said after Watkins led the basketball program to its first regional championship in 26 years on its way to the Class 2A state championship game. “She’s the perfect leader and just an all-around great kid.”
You couldn’t fault a player for wanting to take some time off following an emotional roller
coaster that comes with a long playoff run. But only days after the state championship loss, Watkins was at lacrosse practice. Her mere presence served as an energy and morale boost for the teammates who supported her basketball run, all while longing for the moment their leader returned for the season.
“The instant she came back, the team mood was elevated.” FSK girls lacrosse coach Shannon Stull said. “Drew just got right to it. She was leading drills, going around coaching up our young players after a mistake, our team was whole again.”
Her years of playing have left her with a strong knowledge of the game that not only puts her in position to succeed, but is used to help get the team to play its best.
Soon after she rejoined the lacrosse team, Watkins noticed an issue with its defensive approach. She went straight to Stull with an idea. Moments later, Watkins was front and center, explaining to her young teammates a new way and rallying the team together.
“She’s really found her voice throughout these last four years,” Drew’s mother and FSK’s girls soccer coach, Teresa, said. “Her being able to find that voice not only gives her some additional confidence but helps with bringing the team together and helping the team stay on the same page.”
Leadership runs in the family. Drew calls her older sister and current Mount St. Mary’s goalie Ashlyn, “the most vocal leader I’ve ever seen,” and someone she tries to emulate when it comes to being a leader for her teams.
Whether it’s setting up a new defense, or giving up a good shot for herself to set up a teammate for a better one, Watkins’ play on the field mirrors the person she is off of it.
“She’s just always been an evenkeel kid who always looked out for others,” Teresa said. “Then on the field, she becomes this great competitor.”
“She carries herself appropriately,” her father, Matt, added. “She doesn’t get too full of herself, as parents it makes us really proud to hear the respect others have for her.”
Drew had a productive junior season, scoring over 20 goals, but she admits it was a stressful year because of her college recruitment process. At her toughest moments she leaned on her family and teammates.
“It means a lot,” she said. “Knowing that you have that support behind you, it gets you through tough times or bad games.”
With her senior season at FSK underway, Drew looks to lead her team through a daunting schedule in one of the toughest girls lacrosse conferences in Maryland.
“Our goal here is to have fun and compete,” she said. “We mainly just want to win, have fun, fight hard and show that we are much better than what we were in the past.”
Regardless of how Watkins’ final high school season plays out, her coach believes her imprint will remain on the program for years to come.
“She’s not only like a great athlete, but a very selfless person and for that, she’s going to leave a legacy,” Stull said. “We have freshmen on our team now that four years later will be impacted by the fact that they interacted with a person like Drew Watkins.”