MOUNT Evelyn’s athletes of the future are booming and Yarra Hills Secondary College’s Shaun McMillan is leading the charge.
The 13-year-old recently took out a gold medal in shot-put at the state championship finals for his personal best throw of 13 metres. He also got a bronze in discus.
Shaun initially competed in the eastern zone, which saw him win golds in discus and shot-put and silvers for high jump and javelin.
The self-confessed sporting buff said while he was hoping to get gold in high jump as well, he was pleased just to place.
“I was hoping to get a gold in high jump because I’m pretty good at that but any medals at eastern zone are really good so I’m really proud of myself just for getting a medal,” he said.
Shaun has been taking part in athletics for seven years, initially starting with shot put and discus before branching out to sprinting and other disciplines.
“I started sprinting and now I have the record in my club for the 100m sprint,” he said.
He now trains three nights a week in athletics, but spends most of his other nights training in football and dancing.
He said he hoped to become a football player in the future.
“I thought about the Olympics but I want to become an AFL footballer – recently I got into the under-14 boys Victorian football team,” he said.
“I’ve always been a sporty person so I want to make sport a career.”
