Dage Minors and Gayle Lindsay were crowned national cross-country champions at the Botanical Gardens on Saturday.

Competing for the first time since finishing twelfth in the 1,500 metres final at the Pan Am Games in Santiago, Chile, Minors geared up for his Front Street Mile title defence with victory.

The Bermudian clocked a winning time of 22min 33.55sec to finish 16 seconds ahead of Joel Thatcher (22:46.20) with Joe Diedrich rounding out the podium places in 24:29.05.

There was also triumph for Lindsay in the corresponding female race, who crossed the line in 21:19.95, comfortably clear of Rebecca Shepherd (25:57.06) and Florence Sharpe (37:13.44).

The event also consisted of a number of youth age category races, run in conjunction with the Bermuda Challenge series, hosted by the Bermuda National Athletics Association in partnership with the Bermuda Tourism Authority, which featured a field of invited American Secondary School athletes in action.

One such race was the High School Boys 5,000 metres in which Jake Smith was crowned national champion after finishing sixth overall in a time of 18:58.08.

He was slightly less than 40 seconds adrift of race winner Fidelis Osunkwo, of the US, who clocked 17:37.05 to claim victory ahead of compatriots Yishai Trowbridge (17:46.57) and Arjun Bhat (18:00.56).

In the corresponding girls event, Jaeda Grant was crowned national champion after finishing third overall in a time of 21:43.13, ahead of Amaris Munya, who finished sixth overall in 23:05.80 and Azari Jones in 24:38.63.

Sonya Johnson, of Central Warriors Run Club, proved victorious in 20:50.33, comfortably clear of club-mate Lillian Thatcher (21:38.29).

In the Under-10 Boys 2,400 metre race, Mid Atlantic Athletic Club runners claimed the first four positions, but it was Adrian Myers who came out on top in a time of 6:45.68, ahead of Liam Horrobin (6:50.49) with Matthew Hoey completing the podium places in 7:10.53.

In the girls race, Yara Muhammad took top spot in 8:19.59, finishing slightly less than three seconds ahead of Tamae Davis (8:22.25), who in turn was comfortably clear of third placed Tea Scott-Hanley (8:36.36).

In the Under-12 Boys race, As'ad Muhammad was victorious in a winning time of 7:04.31, narrowly ahead of Ajani Trott (7:06.91) with Ronan Davidge 7:14.78 rounding out the top three positions.

Sukanya Jobson was victorious in the corresponding girls race, crossing the line in a winning time of 6:54.44, 30 seconds clear of runner-up Emilee Danser (7:24.84), who just pipped Zaya Zuill (7:24.85).

The under-14 boys raced over 2.1 miles and Chavi Pacheco Hill took the honours in 12:40.31, ahead of Sanchez Smith (12:46.50) with Tahan Eve completing the podium places in 12:58.51.

There was a dominant display from Antoinette Barry, who reigned supreme in the under-14 girls race over the same distance, She clinched victory in 14:50.91, more than a minute clear of Riana Robinson (16:08.00) who was 54 seconds ahead of Kelise Wade (17:02.30).