They now share the same coach and even the same house, and Illawarra athlete Kevin Batt is reaping the rewards as he literally runs in the footsteps of Bulli middle-distance dynamo Ryan Gregson.
Last week Batt won the Australian under 20 years 5000m championship at Homebush Bay, with the victory earning him selection in the Australian team for the World Junior Track and Field Championships in Canada in July.
Along the way he will compete at the World Junior Cross Country Championships at Bydgoszcz, Poland, later this month.
A huge factor in Batt's success has been the 19-year-old's move from Gosford to the Illawarra where he lives with the Gregson family and trains with Ryan - last year's national 5000m champion - under the guidance of Athletics Australia junior coach of the year Ian Hatfield.
Batt said training with Gregson, living with his family and being a member of Hatfield's squad had resulted in a marked improvement in his running, highlighted by his selection for two world junior championships.
"I'm stoked to be able to make two Australian teams," he said.
"A year ago I wouldn't have even thought about it, living on the Central Coast. So much has happened within the past six months largely due to living with Ryan and his family at Bulli and training with Ian Hatfield.
"There's a good network going on down here and I've been able to get the results - two Australian teams as a junior. Not much more you can ask for."
Batt warmed up well for the World Junior Cross Country Championships with a commanding performance in the national 5000m final, easily winning in a time of 14:34.63 and securing automatic world junior track selection.
"It was a championship race so it's not usually fast because if you lead it's a lot harder," Batt said.
"So the first 4km all I wanted to do was to try to do it as easy as I could and try to win as convincing as I could. So I sat for 4km then the last two laps I went hard - the last lap was under 60sec.
"I ended up being able to win by 8sec which was pretty convincing, which was good. It's not near my PB (personal best) or anything. It was more of a tactical race, but I know the last two laps were quicker than I've ever done before. Bit of a burner, which was good - what you've got to do."
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