Brilliant Bulli runner Ryan Gregson is confident of a strong showing in the junior men's race at the 37th IAAF World Cross Country Championships at Amman, Jordan, on March 28.Gregson left for Jordan last Saturday with an array of excellent track form to his credit.So much so that Athletics Australia named the 18-year-old as the Steve Moneghetti Emerging Athlete of the Year at the national track and field championships in Brisbane last Sunday. His coach Ian Hatfield was named the Junior Coach of the Year.Last month Gregson received the Illawarra Academy of Sport's highest honour, the 2008 Tobin Family Award, as the academy's most outstanding athlete in that year.Since recovering from a stress fracture of his right fibula sustained last November, Gregson has surpassed even his own lofty expectations in both cross country and track competition.He made a successful return to competitive running early last month, winning the under 20, 8km event in the World Cross Country Trials at Stromlo Forest Park in the ACT, in a personal best time of 23min57sec - to become an automatic selection for the championships in Jordan.Gregson then set a new Australian 1500m under 20 record of 3:37.24, finishing third in elite open company at the Sydney Track Classic on February 28 behind Bahrain's Yusuf Saad Kamel (3:36.72) and fellow Australian Collis Birmingham (3:37.01).He broke the Australian under 20 record of 3:39.67 set by Mike Hillardt in 1977.He then set a personal best time of 13:56.83 in the 5000m at the IAAF World Athletics Tour meet at Melbourne Olympic Park on March 5, bettering his own PB by 4sec, when he finished eighth behind a field containing some outstanding elite open athletes.Gregson's final hit-out before going to Jordan was a 3000m race in Christchurch, New Zealand, last Friday night when he set another new Australian under 20 record of 7:57.45 in winning the race.Gregson has been more than satisfied with his performances over a variety of distances both at cross country and on the track in the past five weeks."It's been a surprise but it's kind of happened exactly as I'd hoped, or as I wished I guess," he said. "But I didn't really think it would be this good. I didn't think I'd be running this fast. It's definitely been a pleasant surprise."His win in the 3km race in New Zealand on March 13 was his most recent form indicator and he was pleased with how things panned out.Gregson is also happy with the sequence of world cross country trials, 1500m, 5000m and 3000m on the track, leading into the junior world cross country."I think it's good. I didn't run probably as well as expected in the 5km, but then again that was only five days to back up after my 1500."I backed up well in the 3km so I think I should be pretty good for the 8km cross country. It's a bit different to the track 5km. The track 5km is very monotonous and tedious."Gregson said the world cross country course would be four lots of 2km laps with a few undulations."At world cross country level it's never too hilly, like, the cross country course down at Nowra is the hilliest cross country course in the world. Nothing ever is close to that (at worlds) because they need to do it so the crowd can see (the race)."Gregson's goal against hot international competition is to finish in the top 10.