Vidal Macchia is the ace of William Floyd High School.<\/p>\n
The towering 10th grader and little brother of BYU runner and Olympic hopeful Zariel Macchia has carved out his own lane to success, not only on the track, but on the tennis court as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love both sports a lot \u2014 especially tennis because it\u2019s much more of a chess match,\u201d he told The Post at tennis practice Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like running because it\u2019s all about pushing yourself as hard as you can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Macchia is 4-1 with a racket this spring. While he only runs scholastically in the fall and winter, the 6-foot-1, 17-year-old will also be competing independently at the New Balance Nationals in Philadelphia this June.<\/p>\n
Steeplechase is his strongest event, as the humble star posted the nation\u2019s best time at the 2024 Nike Outdoor Nationals as an eighth grader \u2014 6:19.79 over 2000 meters \u2014 and again recently qualified nationally with a 6:06.9 finish.<\/p>\n
All love\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s no surprise where he gets his penchant for both sports, as running was a family legacy even a generation before Zariel, who graduated from Floyd last year after setting several Long Island and local records.<\/p>\n
Their mom and dad, Peter and Alex, met while on Columbia University\u2019s track team, and Peter also introduced Vidal to tennis at an early age, which he quickly fell for.<\/p>\n
Regarding track, that was all his big sis, who needed a training partner as she found her stride in the sport when Vidal was a middle schooler.<\/p>\n
Vidal Macchia hits a forehand during a practice at William Floyd High School on April 8, 2026. Macchia, 17, is a standout steeplechase track and tennis athlete. Elizabeth Sagarin for CA Post<\/p>\n
She proudly pushed Vidal beyond his limits, all under the guise that it would make her a better athlete.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs any older sister would probably do, it was fun to mess with him every once in a while,\u201d Zariel confessed with a laugh.<\/p>\n
Her dad tells it slightly differently, however, saying, \u201cShe wanted to run him into the ground and thought it was hilarious.\u201d<\/p>\n
What started as a light joke and a friendly sibling rivalry actually awakened the beast inside Vidal, and made everyone around him realize he was also the real deal.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s probably the toughest runner that I\u2019ve run with,\u201d she said, adding that Vidal \u201cwould be toast for weeks\u201d after rising to the occasion time and time again.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s the most innocent and wholehearted person, and I don\u2019t know if he realizes that,\u201d added Zariel, who likened her little brother to the caliber of partners she has as a Division-I athlete.<\/p>\n
The two have become inseparable and constantly check in on one another\u2019s successes, from Suffolk County to Utah.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always fun to talk to her,\u201d Vidal said. \u201cShe\u2019s always excited about whatever I\u2019m doing, and it\u2019s pretty cool to hear what she\u2019s doing in college now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vidal Macchia poses with his father, Peter, at William Floyd High School Wednesday, April 8, 2026. Elizabeth Sagarin for CA Post<\/p>\n
Vidal was also inspired by how much fun Zariel had with cross-country in high school and was excited about his own opportunity to travel around the nation for different events.<\/p>\n
It was a key reason he opted out of playing quarterback despite making the JV football team as an eighth grader.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dad would also always take us to cool places to train and run, like the beach at Sunken Meadow Park,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of that really made me want to race.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deuces wild\u00a0<\/p>\n
Along with preparing for track nationals \u2014 Vidal gets in a good run just about daily \u2014 he\u2019s also volleying for a personal first on the tennis court this spring.<\/p>\n
Vidal Macchia jumping over a tennis net while holding a tennis racket. Elizabeth Sagarin<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to make the state tournament this year,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are a lot of good players there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vidal was eliminated at the county level in 2025, but has been putting in the work to grow toward another championship-level achievement.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s even starting to hit the ball with little brother Peter to show the mini-Macchia the ins and outs of the game \u2014 minus the conditioning torture Zariel exposed him to in running, that is.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m trying to play a decent amount with him and give as much advice as I can,\u201d said Vidal.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s having fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
When it comes time for college, Vidal is unsure which sport he most wants to pursue \u2014 or whether he will need to choose one over the other since he may get to do both.<\/p>\n
One idea he does enjoy is joining Zariel at BYU.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that would be pretty cool,\u201d Vidal said.<\/p>\n
She agrees.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we were able to be college teammates, that would be one of the most amazing experiences ever,\u201d Zariel said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Vidal Macchia is the ace of William Floyd High School. The towering 10th grader and little brother of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":576034,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[4050,2239,99,428],"class_list":{"0":"post-576033","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-high-school-sports","9":"tag-long-island","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-tennis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=576033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576033\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/576034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=576033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=576033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=576033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}