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12/08/2016 11:00 PMLooking at how much Andrew Meredith has accomplished thus far in his running career, it’s hard to believe that he only recently grew to love the sport. Although he started running cross country in the 6th grade, Andrew initially did it simply for the enjoyment of being with his friends. By the time he arrived Haddam-Killingworth High School, Andrew thought he would give up running and continue to focus on baseball—a sport that he’d always loved. Still, Andrew decided to go out for the Cougars’ cross country squad as a freshman and it proved a great decision.
“In middle school, I didn’t like running and I didn’t like racing, but it was fun to be with my friends,” says Andrew, who’s now a junior. “I wasn’t planning on doing cross country, but my dad convinced me to give it a try. I experienced a little success and fell in love with it from there.”
Andrew’s initial experience in cross country led to changes in the other seasons. Andrew had wrestled in middle school and planned to keep playing baseball in high school, but his coach Matt Diglio encouraged Andrew to continue running with HK’s indoor and outdoor track teams.
“When I began to experience some success and the team environment at the high school level, it was something I really wanted to do, and I didn’t get the same feeling from the other sports,” Andrew says. “Coach told me I had a chance to be really good and convinced me to do indoor. He’s meant a lot to me in terms of building character and as a runner and has been really supportive of my development.”
Coach Diglio has not only been impressed by Andrew’s accomplishments on the course, but also with his dedication to the sport and his team. Diglio notes that Andrew was the Cougars’ top runner for the majority of the 2016 season.
“He had a breakout season last year as a sophomore and this year took the next step in his progression as a runner,” says Diglio. “Andrew has quickly become a running enthusiast and student of the sport, along with many of his teammates. He is very goal driven and sets lofty goals for himself both on and off the track. Andrew is very coachable and always willing to put in the extra work to improve himself as a runner, but at the same time, he always puts the team goals in front of his own personal achievements.”
Once Andrew joined the indoor track squad, Coach Richard Dupuis encouraged his involvement in the sport. Dupuis also coaches outdoor track at HK and convinced Andrew to continue running in the spring. Andrew’s main events are the 1,600 and the 3,200 and his personal-best times are 4:30 and 9:40, respectively. Heading into his junior year on the track, Andrew has his sights set on getting his name in the HK record books and will have to trim about 10 seconds of his top marks to get there in each event.
“Coach Dupuis would tell me stories about the school record holders in the distance events to inspire me,” says Andrew. “He has pushed me to keep going to see if I could be among the best in school history.”
Moving back to cross country, HK had a dream season this fall that saw the team post an undefeated record, win the Shoreline Conference title for the third-straight year, claim the Class SS state championship for the second-consecutive campaign, and then place 10th at the State Open. Andrew’s contributions toward the Cougars’ success featured him placing third at both the Shoreline and Class SS meets to earn All-Conference and All-State honors, after which he finished 12th at the State Open. By virtue of his performance at the Open, Andrew qualified for the New England Championship in Rhode Island, where he set a personal-record time by competing the 5K course in 16:08.34. His 30th-place finish is the best in program history for the regional meet.
“My No. 1 goal for the whole year was getting to go to New Englands and getting a PR was what I really hoped for,” says Andrew. “As a team, we accomplished a lot of goals we set out to and I came on strong at the end of the year. I’ve always been able to compete alongside my closest friends, so getting to hoist a state championship trophy was a lot of fun, and getting to hang out and train with them every day is great.”
Andrew is already thinking about what he hopes to get out of his junior year on the track; he wants to qualify for New Englands and nationals as an individual. Andrew ran at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals in North Carolina as a member of HK’s 4x800 and distance medley relay teams in his sophomore year and says he was “very lucky” to have that experience. Those relays also set school records.
Even when Andrew isn’t running, the sport is never far from his mind as Andrew and several of his teammates are members of a running club at HK that discusses the sport. He’s also hoping to do some road races with his parents and sister, who have started running, as well.
Andrew, who takes Advanced Placement and honors courses, has set goals beyond high school and would ultimately like to run at the Division I level in college, while studying something in the engineering or science field. Andrew feels thankful that his father and his coaches encouraged him to continue running during times when he considered giving it up.
“It was a great decision to give it a shot because being involved in cross country has opened up so much to me in terms of being able to compete at a high level,” says Andrew. “I get to be a part of a family and have something to look forward to every day after school. I just feel a sense of belonging to something—something outside of school to really go after.”