The athletics season might be winding down but hurdler James Hunt has set himself lofty aspirations for the future.
On the back of his recent standout performance at the New Zealand Track and Field Championships held in Auckland, the 17-year-old is showing no signs of slowing down.
Hunt won the men's under-20 400m hurdles as well as gaining bronze in the 110m hurdles and 4x400m relay representing the Waikato Bay of Plenty team.
Now a year 13 student at St Paul's Collegiate, Hunt hopes to qualify for the IAAF World Youth Championships and knows he has plenty of work ahead of him.
"Well, there is junior worlds coming up next year, even though I'm a bit off the qualification [time] and everything but I'd like to give that my best go.
"Try and get somewhere down around there and see if I can do it. That would be probably the No 1 goal at the moment."
After a successful season in 2012 with several victories at different track meets, Hunt had to make the transition into the men's under-20 age group.
He admitted it had been difficult to adapt to the changes after what he had been comfortable with in the other age grades.
"It was pretty hard because in under-18s it's 300m hurdles instead of 400m hurdles, so it's a pretty big jump up.
"It took quite a bit more training and then the hurdles are higher for the 110m and 400m so it took a lot of getting used to." Hunt said.
The step up has meant the standard of competition is greater for Hunt as he finds himself competing against the country's elite runners, including Auckland's Joshua Hawkins - a silver medallist in the 110m hurdles at the IAAF World Youth Championships in 2011.
Though Hunt feels the task of competing against experienced runners can be intimidating, he relishes the opportunity to race against the best.
His success on the track also saw him named in the Rio 2016 development squad, a development team for New Zealand's 2016 Olympics contingent.
The chance to attend these squad camps have been a positive for the young hurdler.
He says they have given him the opportunity to seek advice from coaches and other competitors.
"I've met a lot of people through that. A few new coaches have given me some pointers and especially other hurdlers in New Zealand.
"Just from talking to them, I've picked up on stuff that I can improve. It's real good."
Hunt is preparing for the upcoming rugby season when he will play in St Paul's first XV.
He views playing rugby as a way to break up the routine of athletics training.
"I sort of like to have the change [playing rugby] in between.
"If I was doing athletics all year - because I train six, seven times a week - it would be a bit much."
But he will be hoping to stay clear of injuries in the lead-up to the national secondary schools athletics championships at the end of the year.
