Drew Hunter Speaks! National Record Holder On Edward Cheserek

MileSplit caught up with Drew Hunter immediately after he ran 7:59.33 for 3K to break the National High School Record previously held by Edward Cheserek. Hunter will join the now 10-time NCAA champion at the University of Oregon next year. Watch the interview above or read the edited transcript below for Drew's post-race thoughts.

You just took five seconds off the previous National 3,000-meter record set by Edward Cheserek, who you'll be joining at Oregon next year. How do you feel about following in his footsteps?

It's who I look up to. I wanted to train with the best guys in college and Ed has one more year left and I want to learn as much as I can from him. It's really cool knowing what type of athlete he is now and looking up to him and being able to train with him next year. It's great for Oregon and I'm really looking forward to going to school there.

What else is on the table for you before you're done with your high school career? Do you have any big goals still outstanding?

I want to keep getting in these races, there's something special about running with people I look up to and are faster than me. It gets the best out of me. Coming into this race, I wasn't expecting anything, there's Olympians here and guys who have run 7:30s in the 3K. I came into this wanting to have fun and see what I had. I put myself in position and I fell off a little bit but I broke eight. I wasn't expecting that, I thought I could in a perfect race but it happened and I'm really happy.

Have you started thinking about plans for the summer - World Juniors or prepping for cross country?

I'm really big about taking it one day at a time and seeing how I'm doing. I'll talk to Coach Powell next year and I know he wants me to run well in the summer and also in the fall. I'll be talking to him and he'll be figuring out... what's the end goal for me and what's best for me as an athlete.



Edited for brevity.

2016 Camel City Elite results and coverage