KOC & 5Star Preps 2025 Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year — Evan Beeler, Farragut

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BY DAVE LINK

Farragut graduate Evan Beeler knew the pressure was on May 22 during the closing events of the 2025 Class AAA state track and field meet in Murfreesboro.

And so did his teammates on Farragut’s 4×400 relay team before their race started.

Winning it would give Farragut its first state team championship in boys track and field since 2007.

“We’re all pretty seasoned athletes,” Beeler recalls. “We all wanted to win. We already had the desire to win. Every time we stepped on the track for the 4×400, regardless of the race, we wanted to do our best.”

Noah Eaker ran the first leg of Farragut’s relay and Lucas Spadafora the second leg. Beeler ran the third leg. And Chase McAvoy ran the anchor leg.

Then the gun went off.

“That first leg, Noah got out well, and the competition was really stiff,” Beeler said. “He handed it to Lucas. They both ran really good splits, I think. Lucas might’ve gotten it in sixth, and then when I got it, I think I was fifth.

“I just did my best, and by the time we handed it to Chase, our anchor, he was in first place, so he put down the anchor really well and kept that lead. It was awesome to watch. It was cool.”

Farragut won the race in 3 minutes, 20.50 seconds, giving the Admirals the overall state team championship by getting 10 points in the race.

Whitehaven was second in the race (3:21.03, eight points) and Brentwood was third (3:21.12, six points).

The Admirals won the state team championship with 65 points.

Earlier in the day, Beeler, the 5Star Preps Boys’ Athlete of the Year, won the 800-meter run and the 1,600-meter run, boosting Farragut’s team score by 20 points.

But it came down to Beeler and his 4×400 relay teammates.

“Having that pressure, we were like ‘We have to win this to win state,’” Beeler said. “I think we’d tasted a little bit of that at KIL in an earlier race, and we did win that race, but we didn’t win that meet. I think just having that ability to know when the pressure’s on we can handle it helped a lot.”

In his first final of the day (Event 23), Beeler won the 1,600-meter run in 4:16.93 ahead of Independence’s Asher Oates (4:18.98) and Hardin Valley Academy’s Gabe Allen (4:20.13).

It was a back-and-forth race between Beeler and Oates, and Beeler made his winning push at the start of the fourth and final lap.

“I wasn’t leading it the whole way,” Beeler said. “I had planned to, but basically my plan was just to kind of get out and take control and set the tempo, which I think I was able to do alright.

“I was racing with Asher Oates from Independence, and everyone wanted to win. He took the race from me for a bit, but I just kind of stuck on him, and I was content with the pace that he was going (before making the winning move).”

It was Beeler’s first state championship title, but with two more events to run, there was too much work ahead to celebrate.

Beeler had an hour or so before the start of the 800-meter final (Event 31).

“I had a lot of confidence,” he said of going into the 800. “I felt good. I was just a little worried. I felt a little more tired than I normally do after that 1600.

“I guess it might have been a little hotter that day, maybe the nerves before it started. There was just a lot more pressure than normal. I think I had the same amount of confidence, but it was just, I really wanted it. I wanted to win.”

And he did.

Beeler won the 800-meter race in 1:53.29, ahead of Oak Ridge’s Mason Greenhalgh (1:54.51) and Karns’ Rylan Moser-Bryan (1:56.48).

“It was the same deal with the 800,” Beeler said. “I got out a little bit slower. I think I started that race in fourth, but my plan was to win, and I got in position heading into the second lap and started moving. Mason (Greenhalgh) put up a lot of fight, but I got him around the 200, 150 (meters) to go.”

There was no cool-down time between Beeler’s running the 800-meters and the 4×400 relay.

Although he was feeling some fatigue from his previous races, Beeler was ready to go. A state team championship was on the line. Plenty of adrenalin.

“The 4×400 is just one lap for me,” Beeler said. “It’s a lot less intimidating to me than the mile. I’m really competitive when it comes to the 800 and the 400, so no matter what I’ve done already, I’m just going to put out my best.”

Beeler will take that mindset to the collegiate level. His hopes of running for Brigham Young University did not work out, so his new plan is to run for Indian Hills Community College in Iowa.

“I’m really excited,” he said.

Beeler is coming off a tough finish in the New Balance Nationals on June 22 at the University of Pennsylvania, where he ran the 800-meters.

“This was a lot different than the racing I’d been doing here,” he said. “The competition is stiff. I did well, all things considered.

“I was in the championship heat, and pretty much from the get-go, I kind of got boxed in and spent most of the rest of the race getting pushed around, trying to find my way out. I got spiked pretty bad. It was rough.”

Beeler took a little time off after nationals before starting training again July 7. He has no more meets this summer and leaves for Iowa in late August.

In future training, Beeler can be inspired by what the Admirals accomplished in the spring.

“It was amazing,” he said. “It was cool to be able to see our team develop throughout the season and get to where we were finishing sectionals and coming up to state and were like, ‘Wow, we can actually win this.’ Things just fell right into place. Everyone did their part, and it was just awesome.”