Jaynae Dillas and Tiffany Eatherley both went under Velvet Smith's record time of 5:58.1 in the primary girls.

Defending champion Dillas sprinted to a new record time of 5:47.8 as she knocked an incredible 11 seconds off the old mark. Dillas was just nine tenths of a second ahead of Eatherley in an exciting finish.

"I feel happy,'' said a breathless Dillas afterwards. "I found it easy a little bit but I thought Tiffany was going to beat me.'' Dillas, a student at Prospect Primary, shaved 17 seconds off her time of 6:04.2 last year when she beat Eatherley of Francis Patton by just seven tenths of a second.

Lawson Williams of Warwick Academy won the primary boys title when he beat Henry Talbot of Saltus, breaking the tape in 5:20.5 while Talbot came home in 5:25.6. Jason Dill of Somerset Primary was third in 5:35.5.

Tyler Butterfield, who won the primary boys in 1994, was back in the winner's circle as he won the secondary boys title vacated by former Saltus student Stephen Fahy.

Butterfield beat Aaron Williams of Berkeley and Kris Hedges of Saltus in a winning time of 4:54.8. Williams finished in 4:58.8 and Hedges in 4:59.2, all well off Michael Donawa's record of 4:27.7 set in 1993.

"At first I planned to go out early because the other guys can all sprint faster than me,'' said Tyler. "Then I just decided to run it and say my prayers. I wanted to break five minutes and to beat my dad's (Jim) time (5:02.4).'' Berkeley's Patrina Swan was dethroned as the secondary girls champion, having to settle for second this year as Jennifer Young took first place in 5:48.1.

Swan ran 5:52.5 and third-placed Jarita Dill 6:06.1.

RUNNING RUN