McCallie Claims Second Division II Track and Field State Title in Three Years

Throughout a rain-soaked, lightning-delayed TSSAA Division II Class AA state track and field championship on Wednesday at the University of Tennessee's Tom Black Track facility, McCallie coach Rodney Stoker was crunching numbers. 

If the Blue Tornado could score this many points in this event, score that many points in that event, would that be enough to win its second state title in three years?

As the long day progressed, rolling into the dark of night, Stoker felt good about his calculations. Still...

"I knew we were close," he said. "And we had events that figured to help us near the end, but MBA (Montgomery Bell Academy) is well coached and so strong that we knew it was going to go down to the wire."

In truth, it was over before the meet-ending 4x400 relay took to the track. McCallie won 133-115.5 over MBA for its second title in three years and first for Stoker as the solo head coach. 

"When you win one of these, you need everybody to contribute," Stoker said. "And we had that. There was Cooper Gentle '26 finishing fourth in the shot to get us points. There was Nelson Williams '26 finishing sixth in the discus to get us points. But the amazing thing about Nelson was he was supposed to fly to Boulder, Colorado, today to start workouts with the football team and stayed behind a day to help us win the state. Really special."

The expected stars all came up special for McCallie. Senior sprinter Andrew Smith repeated his 100-meter and 200-meter titles with times of 10.25 and 20.99, respectively. Senior De'Shun Tipton repeated in the long jump (23 feet, 3.5 inches), and just missed repeating in the triple jump, finishing second.

Then there was junior distance runner Andrew Beroset, who finished first in last fall's state cross country meet in leading the Blue Tornado to its sixth title in seven years on that stage, and followed that up on Wednesday by winning the 1600-meter (four minutes, 12.28 seconds) and finishing second in the 800 (1:50.39).

"This is pretty special, like nothing I've experienced before," said Beroset after scarfing down a victory meal of chocolate chip waffles at Waffle House. "To win a state title in cross country and track is pretty unbelievable."

There was also junior Elliott Haisten placing second in the long jump and third in the 110-meter hurdles with teammate Ian Jacobs finishing third in the 1600. McCallie's 4x200 relay team also finished first with a time of 1:28.07.

"Just really proud of the whole team and really happy to celebrate at Waffle House with all the people I care about," said Stoker.

Those people aren't just the athletes, of course. Longtime coach Mike Wood, officially retiring at the end of the school year, was there on Wednesday. Also there were coach John McCall '61 and Nelson Eiselstein '16. Along with Stoker, they've been the heart and soul of McCallie cross country and track and field for years, building a culture and tradition of hard work and excellence like possibly no other program in the state of Tennessee.

"I think we felt pretty confident all week," said Smith. "If we did our best, we knew we could win. But it's still crazy to win the 100 and 200 two years in a row. And now, sadly, it's over. I'll miss my teammates and coaches. I love these guys."

Tipton now exits McCallie with two state football titles won and two track championships won, having been a major contributor to both.

He celebrated with Waffle House's All-Star Breakfast on Wednesday night, ordering up scrambled eggs, sausage and bacon, grits, and a waffle.

"This one is certainly comparable to the state championship two years ago," said Tipton. "They're both really good teams. But they're all special. Winning a state championship always feels good, whatever the sport."