This is a title and placing many people rarely see for themselves.
If they're lucky, they may gain this title a few times in their lifetime.
But for Ben Jowsey, this title is a well known accolade for the athlete.
In 2007, he qualified for the Otago under-15 athletics where he was first in both the 400m and 800m events and set an Otago record for the 400m.
From there, he went to the the Pacific School Games in Canberra, where he came 13th in the 400m and ninth in the 800m.
Ben said this was his "greatest achievement" because he was competing against boys his age from all over the southern hemisphere.
After this success, he decided to focus on 800m events, and in 2010 he competed in the South Island Athletics Championships, gaining second place.
He then qualified for the nationals and competed in the under-16 men's 800m and came an impressive fourth.
Ben has a personal best of 50.7sec in the 400m and 115.25sec in the 800m.
On February 13 this year, Ben was invited for the third year in a row to compete in the Time Buster race in the Octagon.
This is where six girls and six boys are handpicked to try and complete one lap, 250m, around the Octagon within 10 chimes of the Municipal Chambers clock.
Ben came first with a time of 35.49sec.
This follows a close second last year and a third in 2009.
Recently, he competed in the New Zealand Track and Field National Championships in Dunedin, where he ran in the first leg of the Otago under-19 men's 4x400m relay team, which gained seventh place.
He was also a member of the Otago under-19 men's 4x100m relay team which gained a fifth place, and gained fourth place in the men's under-19 800m.
Ben said his achievements could be partly credited to Brent Ward, the top national sprint coach, his family and his club, Hill City.
By Sean Cook
Year 12
Kaikorai Valley College
