Cameron Greyson is a 9-year-old Lexington boy with an early interest in track. This year, he joined his first competitive track club and qualified for his third AAU Junior Olympic appearance.

Greyson began running competitively at 7 years old after watching his older brother run cross country.

“His first year in track and cross country, I mean, I’m not tooting his horn, but he dominated,”  Adriannah Greyson, Cameron’s mother, said. “The second year, he continued to keep making and hitting these milestones. That’s when we’re like, ‘Okay, boy has talent.’”

The sport quickly became a key part of Cameron’s childhood. The three years he has been running gave him new opportunities to make friends, get outside and learn skills that will benefit him in life moving forward.

Cameron said his favorite part of doing track is that “he gets to go outside in the fresh air and run.”

He first joined the Lexington Wildcats recreational team before moving to Team Blaze, a local club league team. Cameron also does workouts at Max Speed, a local indoor fitness training center.

Throughout his track and field journey, Cameron has learned a lot about sports and competition. Because of his birthday, Cameron often races up an age group, which he said feels unfair but doesn’t take away from his enjoyment of the sport. For him, it’s not about winning, even if he can be a little hard on himself when he fails to accomplish a goal.

Last weekend, for example, Cameron competed against 10-year-olds in the Junior Olympic 1500-meter race walk and finished 12th. Before the event, the athletes were taught new rules and techniques, which was a little overwhelming for Cameron.

“It was a lot of extra added pressure on the kids,” Adriannah said. “It didn’t work in his favor, but I mean, he still placed 12th in the United States. So, that’s still an accomplishment.”

Cameron is committed to bouncing back from his weekend performance and still has one more event to compete in this week, the 1500-meter run on Aug. 1.

“I’m going to come back and try to place better and get a medal,” Cameron said.

Cameron has already set some goals for his future on the track. He wants to keep improving his times as his journey progresses and eventually wants to represent his country as a member of Team USA.

“I want to go for both of my events. I want to go to Team USA,” Cameron said.

Cameron’s mom believes he has what it takes to be a star in the sport and thinks he can stay on his current trajectory.

“I see a lot of potential in him, and he really enjoys doing it. He’ll ask to go to practice. He’ll ask to work out. I’ve actually started offering to join him. We’ll go for a jog or something,” Adriannah said. “I just want to see him be happy with himself and try to hit his goals that he has. I’m just here for the cheering portion of it all. Anybody asks, I’ll show up with my cowbell, and I am screaming as much as I can.”

Outside of track, Cameron also played baseball and competed in sailing, which his family discovered after moving to Lexington from Ohio. He goes to school, practices and plays Fortnite with his friends on PlayStation 4. 

With a long future ahead of him, there is plenty of time for Cameron’s interests to evolve and change. But for now, track is still his main thing, and he loves doing it.

“It got competitive, so I went harder,” Cameron said. “Then, it just became my sport.”