Big things are expected of rising young Oak Flats runner Macleay Kesby.
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The 16-year-old has already delivered in spades, recently crowned Australian Junior Champion in the 2000 metre steeplechase, after winning the event in Adelaide on April 17.
The talented teen beat home some runners who were almost two years older than him, with the victory earning the youngster family and friends call Macca, a spot in the Australian team for next month's Oceania Athletics Championships in Fiji.
The Corpus Christi High School student's success in Adelaide was a long time coming, with Macca placing third and second in the two previous years before breaking through for gold last month.
Macca turns 17 in November and has been running competitively for just over six years.
His father Dean Kesby said his son was not afraid of all the hard work needed to get to the top.
"He trains predominantly at Blackbutt with his coaching crew which is Vicky and Pat McPhillips. He trains Mondays and Wednesdays with them," Kesby said.
"He has done a few sessions with Jessica Hull for the last 12 months, which has been really cool, then he's got gym work that he does on average, probably Tuesday and Thursday.
"Then on a Sunday morning he does a long run of anywhere between 12 and 16 kilometres."
Macleay said he has loved running ever since taking part in primary school cross country events.
"I did quite well and enjoyed it as well," he said.
"Soon I was doing quite well regularly and decided to get some coaching to see how far I could go.
"I now enjoy the steeplechase, which is quite a taxing event. It's a very hard event. My running buddies see it and think it is easy and they go and try it but find out it's actually quite challenging.
"I seem to do well, which motivates me to train specifically for the steeplechase.
"I do achieve pretty highly in the other events I run, the 800m, 1500m and three kms, but the steeplechase is where I hit the top three positions pretty much every single time."
Macleay is hoping to use the Oceania Athletics Championships as a springboard to possibly representing Australia at a Commonwealth and Olympic Games.
"100 per cent I'd love to represent Australia at an Olympics or Commonwealth Games but I know I have some work to do," he said.
"I'd say I won't hit my peak until I'm about 18 and hopefully maintain that for the next few years at least.
"I'm just concentrating on the Oceania Championships at the moment. I'm keen to see how I go. It should be fun."
The Oceania Athletics Under-18 Area Championships will be held in Fiji from June 1-9.
Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
