 | | | Tyler Hunt at the award ceremony in Kansas. Photo provided | | | | | | Soft-spoken runner Tyler Hunt doesn't have to say much in a conversation. Because it sure seems like he'd much rather do his talking on the track.
The Stanley Middle School student returned from Kansas like a mini Michael Phelps, draped with three gold medals (two individual and one team) and multiple All-America honors.
From July 24-30, the meet in Lawrence, Kansas saw Hunt and the rest of the Diablo Valley Track team compete with nearly 10,000 athletes ranging from ages 7 to 18 years old.
Hunt was crowned individually as the National Champion in the boys 11-12 division 800 meters and 1500 meters, and was a part of the team of four that took the 3200-meter relay.
This all from a kid who says himself that he "wasn't really into sports," before he started running track.
And now he's at the Junior Olympics. Setting personal bests in the two events he competed in alone.
"Coach Harlan [Lopez] always gives us a plan, and he said for the 800 every one is going to go out really fast, but by the second lap they'll fade," Hunt said.
He hung around the middle of the pack for his first lap, clocking in at 1:03.25. But his two-lap split was the best of any of his competitors, allowing him to finish in first a clear three seconds before the second place finisher.
In the 1500 meters, Hunt was competing in a heat with 17 other runners and with the congested field, the competition was much stiffer.
So much so that the Stanley Middle School runner only finished 0.03 of a second ahead of second-place finisher Ethan Vander Meer.
The third medal came with the help of teammates Kai Rednour-Bruckman, Tyler Bergren, Trevor Rogers, Alexander Lodewick and Beck Murphy.
With all those accolades it's clear the kid spends a lot of time running. So what does he do when he isn't training for track and field?
Well Tyler Hunt is also an avid soccer fan and player. So even when he's off the track, he's still keeping himself in shape.
And that's a good thing, because his goals for the next year and beyond could be considered lofty.
First off, the young runner wants to set the top mark at Stanley in the 800 before he graduates, and with a personal record already lingering at the 2:10 mark it seems hard to believe he won't do it.
Especially when you consider that his best time in the event is only 10 seconds off from putting him in the top 10 in the event.
So you have to think that setting the mark at Stanley would only be the first goal marked off his check list, with many more to follow.
But the humble runner shies away from more grandiose aspirations when pressed with the bigger picture.
"It's a bit too far down the line," Hunt says with a smile, when asked if he has thought about breaking records down the line in high school.
But with roughly six years time before he walks across the stage as a graduate at Acalanes High School, his mother Sharon's alma mater, it would seem like there would be very little that could stop Hunt from shaving off the 19 seconds it would take to set the top mark at Acalanes should he choose to continue to chase it.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA