month by winning the Adult Male trials this weekend at National Stadium.

De Ste Croix completed the race in four minutes, 57.1 seconds, just half a second ahead of second qualifier Neil Halliday, a former Adult Male champion.

Twenty persons qualified in five categories -- Adult Male and Secondary and Primary School male and female -- after 410 took to the track on Saturday and Sunday. There were only 13 competitors, who all qualified, in the Adult Female race.

Nigel Clewett was the third fastest qualifier in what could be a very competitive Adult Male race come January 14 in International Race Weekend as he clocked 4:59 while Jamal Hart (4:59.6) was fourth and Harry Patchett (5:01.4) fifth.

Jennifer Fisher was the top Adult Female qualifier in 5:17.4 but the singlemost impressive performance may have come from someone several years her junior.

Twelve-year-old Velvet Smith of Bermuda Institute was the first Primary School girl in 5:53.1, which was not only the fastest among female schoolgoers, but was also fourth fastest among all females.

Jane Christie was second to Fisher in 5:33.6 with Sandra Mewett (5:34.1) third and Lesley Caslin (5:54.2) fourth.

Michael Donawa established himself as the person to beat in the Secondary Boys category as he raced home in 4:59.4, which would have been good enough for fourth place in the Adult Male qualifiers.

Berkeley Institute have long been a power in this category so it was no surprise when they placed the first six boys with the ever-improving Collin Anderson (5:03.2), Sharif Taylor (5:06.6), Damon Ming (5:09.5), Garon Wilkinson (5:17.5) and Jelani Scott (5:31.9) trailing reigning champion Donawa.

Jeremiah Smith was tops among the Primary Boys with a time of 5:47 followed by Delmari Scott (5:49.6) and Ricardo Hunt (5:50.4).

Suella Matthews was the leading Secondary Girls qualifier, clocking 6:18.5.

Elisha Miller was second in 6:25.8 and Heidi Madeiros third in 6:32.1.

Back to the Primary Girls, Lyndsay Taylor was a distant second to Velvet Smith in 6:37.3 while Gabriellie Butler was third in 6:38.9.

For a list of all qualifiers, see Page 30.

Full results from the weekend will appear in segments throughout the week.

NEIL DE STE CROIX.