on her way to victory in the prestigious America East Conference meet on Saturday.

The 22-year-old, competing for the University of Vermont in Dedham, Massachusetts, beat four runners ranked ahead of her to break the tape in four minutes, 28.21 seconds.

Her effort helped the University of Vermont ladies team gain overall victory in a strong field of Eastern Seaboard universities.

Couper's time easily bettered the previous national mark of 4:29.77, set by Jennifer Fisher at the Pan-Am Games in Mar del Plata, Argentina, in 1995.

And it was proof of the remarkable progress achieved by Couper since she ran a 1500 metres time nearly five seconds slower when competing for Bermuda at the CAC Games in Barbados last June.

In January, Couper won the Front Street Mile by a margin of 12 seconds from Anna Eatherley and a month later she broke the five-minute mile barrier for the first time indoors at the America East Conference Championships in Boston.

Her mother Peggy Couper said yesterday after speaking to Ashley: "She was seeded fifth and she caught up the four ahead of her one by one. She caught the leader on the last lap. I think she surprised herself.''