The upset of a Carifta champion and the dominance of three familiar faces highlighted the junior segment of last night's Front Street Mile Races.

Young Trey Simons bade goodbye to Under-12 competition with a near flawless performance to repeat in that division while the promising Taylor-Ashley Bean strode to easy victory among the Under-12 girls in five minutes, 59.99 seconds.

In the Under-18 division, the well-known Deanne Lightbourne outclassed her rivals to win in a comfortable 5:43.19 ahead of Ashley Berry (5:50.48) and Alexis Bean (5:52.83).

However, the Under-18 boys provided the evening's shock as Bermuda College's Chayce Smith emerged from the shadows of Carifta gold medallist Taijaun Talbot to wrest the crown in 4:44.61.

Talbot, who had beaten the 17-year-old winner in their last two Front Street outings, finished in 4:48.62 while Aaron Evans placed third in 4:49.67.

"I feel pretty good. I stuck to my game plan. I said I would stay behind Talbot and then, with 800 metres to go, give it all I got," said Smith of Mid-Island Striders.

"I thought he was going to catch me but after I passed Customs I knew he wasn't catching me."

A gracious Talbot applauded the new champion's strategy.

"It really wasn't an upset. He just came out with the better game plan. I was going to make a kick just like him but he got to it first ? smart man. I performed well but somebody got the better of me tonight," noted the runner-up.

Lightbourne, 14, was thrilled to conquer for the first time at the Under-18 level, having won as an Under-12 competitor.

"I ran a good race and I thank the Lord that I came first," declared the breathless Whitney Institute student.

Berry, in her maiden showing among the Under-18s, termed the race "hard" but was pleased with the outcome. She had won at Under-12 level last year and has her sights set on being the best Under-18 girl in the future.

Meanwhile, 11-year-old Bean said it felt "good" to claim the Under-12 girls' title, beating Kerri Furbert (6:05.98) and Michaela Eberly (6:22.08) into second and third respectively. It was the Warwick Academy pupil's first win in the Mile races.

Simons, one of the young darlings of Bermuda athletics, was never threatened by his opposition and had only the clock to challenge him in his quest to break Spencer Butterfield's 1993 record of 5:14.7.

However, despite a blistering sprint to the tape, he was a few seconds off the Under-12 landmark with 5:22.16.

"I wanted to break the record of 5.14 but I think I did all right. I was trying to run less than one minute, 15 seconds for every 400 metres to get the record but I couldn't get it," said the 11-year-old from Bermuda PacersTrack Club.

Already he is looking forward to battling the Under-18 boys next year.

"It's going to give me more of a push," said the rising star who has four Mile titles.

Ten-year-old David Lunn was a creditable second in 5:29.64. He had modest ambitions of reaching top five but his triathlon training clearly paid dividends.

"This is really a surprise to come second. I am not in a track club but I do a lot of running in triathlon," said Lunn of Somersfield Academy.

Birthday boy Peter Merritt placed third in 5:30.30.

"I tried to run hard. I was trying to get second but I set a personal best so I am pretty happy with the way I ran," said the 11-year-old.