The Junior set the US HS 1 Mile Dual Meet Record on April 22

video of race by Katie Beroset

PHOTOS by Warren Kim

By Ricky Quintana

CHATTANOOGA, TN - “Low key”: that term is used by today’s high schoolers and college-age kids, and it would be an apt moniker for Andrew “Drew” Beroset (McCallie, Chattanooga, TN). Until recently, the junior had gone relatively unnoticed. In early April, he was so unnoticed that his performances hadn’t earned him an invitation to the Hoka Festival of Miles or the Brooks PR Invitational. So, he and McCallie head coach, Rodney Stoker, discussed putting in an effort that would warrant an invitation.

“ The main reason we did it was because I didn’t think my 4:05 indoor time was good enough for Hoka or Brooks. After Nike, we talked about a fast effort in one of the smaller races during the week, where they would take me through 800 and see how I felt,” Beroset said.

That discussion was never brought up again until mid-April.

It was then that Stoker started to see that Beroset would be ready for a fast time. How fast? Sub 4. Beroset had run an 800-meter and a 1,200-meter leg of the distance medley relay the week before a scheduled track and field meet against rival The Baylor School at The Baylor School’s home track.

“ He ran 3:01 for the 1,200-meter leg in the DMR, and it was slow early. With a little bit better rhythm and pacing, I thought he’d have a shot. The idea of breaking 4 came to fruition pretty quickly.”

So the day before the dual meet, Stoker texted Drew’s mother, Katie, that he thought the weather and conditions would allow for an attempt.

Unbeknownst to Drew, the day of the meet, Stoker greeted him with the news. It was two hours before the race.

“ When I showed up, he said, ‘You want to go after it today? '” said Beroset. 

“ He said, ‘Ok, coach, let’s go,’” said Stoker. “ That’s the thing about Drew. I could have said “Let’s run a 16 and come back and do a workout in the 32,” and he would say 'Yeah, coach, that sounds great.”

He just “chilled out” leading up to the race. He said he felt good. He would have his teammate, Luke Bowen, pace him through the 800 meters in 2:01 and see how it went.

“When I came through the 800 in 2:01, I felt good. I just needed to stay on it. I was aware of what I was doing. I needed to close in 57. The goal was sub 4, but honestly, I didn’t expect to run four flat. I got antsy and went for it,” said Beroset who spent post race throwing up. HOKA Festival of Miles was the only other race he has thrown up.

He didn’t get that sub four, but what he came away with was a 4:00.82 [4:02.22c], the fastest 1,600 meter/mile ever run in a dual meet in US high school history [confirmed by high school track and field historian, Jack Shepard of Track and Field News]. It was also the third fastest time in the country thus far and a personal best.

He received invitations to the Hoka Festival of Miles and the Brooks PR Invitational mile races. He was “low key” no more.

“ It was pretty impressive,” said Coach Stoker. “ He had to solo that last 800 meters, and it was a pretty good crowd. You could see that as he progressed, he began to believe he had a shot. That last 250, he was moving. He had to lap a few people, and one of my assistants said that he could have broken four minutes.”

“Honestly, coach believed more in me than I did in myself,” said Beroset.

He was thrust into the limelight, though his resume was not too shabby. His junior season has been PB laden and he has performed well against some of the nation’s best: there was the come from behind win at the NXR SE regional in 14:45.30; a second place finish, 4:10.13, to 4:02.84 miler, Caleb Ten Pas (Des Moines Christian, Urbandale, IA) and just ahead of this year’s 4:01.45 mile performer, Adbi Hassan (Northfield, Denver, CO) in the 118th Millrose Games 1 mile; and a run away win at The Circuit Chicago 2 mile in 8:46.85 that left the only US indoor sub four minute miler, Noah Bontrager (Westview, Topeka, IN), 2.91 second behind in 8:49.66. The margin of victory all came over the final 200 meters, which Beroset clocked 28.35.

Much of Beroset’s continued success has come on the heels of a move to McCallie, a college preparatory school in Chattanooga, TN. His mother had family in the area and began exploring the idea of a move to McCallie during Drew’s sophomore season. She proposed the idea to the family, they voted, and the decision was made to make the transition from Gulf Breeze, FL, to Chattanooga, TN. They moved to Chattanooga in August after a busy summer of high altitude training and the Nike Elite Kick Off event in Beaverton, OR.

At McCallie, the workouts have been different from what he was accustomed to. During cross country, the volume of his workouts increased, and his mileage was held at 55 miles per week. In track, the mileage has eased off a bit, and so have the intensity of his workouts. Instead of feeling exhausted after his track workouts, he doesn’t feel that way this season.

“ Last year, we went to the well a lot. After some workouts, I was dead tired. I was destroyed. I think it was because we didn’t do threshold. It was a lot faster stuff at race pace. I think it helped with my speed. At McCallie, we do a lot of volume. There is a lot of threshold work. We still do hard hills, hill sprints, 120s, 200s, and 400s, and fast stuff too, which is perfect for me because I think I need more threshold than I do speed.”

The strong base he built  over the fall and winter months has boosted his confidence and his fitness. In races now, he feels in control of his efforts and able to act over the latter part of races.

“Last year, at RunningLane, Hoka, and New Balance, I always came through the 800 in 2:01, a good pace, but I was always feeling really tired at that point. This year, when I came through 800 in 2:01, I felt way stronger, and I felt I could finish the race in sub 4. Usually in races last year, that third lap wasn’t very good because I was already dead.”

He feels fresher this year too with the added base and a day off from running, which he says he "definitely takes advantage of. It’s a reset.”

Stoker has worked with a lot of athletes and has brought a lot of experience to the table. He served as an assistant coach at the University of Tennessee for four years before moving to McCallie in 2016. He was named head track and field coach in December of 2024. In all, he has coached and been in the education business for 28 years. He’s seen a change in Drew’s development since the fall as he has grown accustomed to the training method McCallie uses.

“ In the fall, there were times he would say ‘ Man, that was hard. That was tough’. They weren’t crazy workouts, but for a young guy, it is. But when we changed gears, especially in racing, he can go to a deeper place which is pretty impressive. There’s a lot of people who have the genetic make-up and have good work capacity, but some people can’t go to that deep, dark place and go there over and over because it’s scary. He just has the ability to do that when it’s game time.”

He qualified for today's, Wednesday, May 20, Tennessee DII-2A state championships, which will be held at Tom Black Track on the campus of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville on . He’s qualified in three events with the following marks: 8:55.75 3,200m on Tuesday, May 5 with a 55 second last lap, and a 4:10.12 1,600 meter with a 2:03 last 800 meter, and an 800 meter, 1:53.31 which he only won over the final 100 meters over teammate, Matthew Gabbert, 1:53.90. At state, he’ll be looking to help his team win the state title, but will have to contend with Montgomery Bell Academy (Nashville, TN) and Christian Brothers (Memphis, TN). He may even add the 4 x 400 meter if his team is in a close battle for the team title.

From there, he’ll only have two days rest before he travels to RunningLane for the mile. Then, he’ll go to Hoka Festival of Miles for the one mile on June 4. That was the site of his sophomore personal best of 4:05.89, US # 7 Sophomore 1 mile All Time.

He’ll cap off the season with the Nike Outdoor Nationals and the USATF U20. He’ll run his first 5,000 meters on Thursday, June 19. On Friday, he’ll shift his attention to the 3,000-meter and take aim at the TN state record of 8:00.92 set in 2018 by Brodey Hasty (Brentwood, TN). Then he’ll run the NON mile on Sunday.

For Stoker, these are just building blocks for Beroset, who he sees has a lot more left for improvement.

“ Now, it’s just about being competitive. I think he really enjoys racing, and that’s something I don’t want him to ever lose because that’s the most important piece to all of this. He loves to line up. If he can keep this for this postseason and through next year, we’ll really try to set him up to do some fun things. He’s pretty excited about the next 12 months.”