Paraparaumu College student Stefan Przychodzko convincingly won the College Sport Wellington senior boys cross-country at Trentham Memorial Park this month.
The 17-year-old, who is in Year 13, cleared away from the field in the second of three laps and crossed the finish line a clear winner.
Przychodzko said the start, featuring about 50 runners, was fast, as expected.
In the second lap he tried to put pressure on the leading group by increasing the pace.
"When I got to the front nobody went with me so I just kept going for the last two laps and hoped nobody would catch me."
He finished the 6km course in just over 20 minutes and won by about 19 seconds.
It was Przychodzko's best results in a regional cross-country event.
"It was awesome and the best feeling ever.
"I've been wanting to win this race for years and never really quite got there.
"Preparing for the race I just kept telling myself that I would win it, but even with that, it was a huge surprise to actually get there."
Przychodzko takes place in the national schools cross-country championship to be held in Rotorua later this month.
He's a bit nervous about the event [he was 10th in last year's event] because "there's quite a lot of pressure on me now" but is looking forward to the challenge.
He wants a good placing so he can qualify for the Australian championships later in the year and also enable some of the funds needed to be paid for him.
Przychodzko, member of the Kapiti Running and Tri Club, started competitive running in Year 9.
He trains six times a week and is on a training programme created by Mark Harris, from Masterton, and gets advice from Murray Ashley, from Raumati Beach.
"I've only really been doing a training programme for about a year, before that I'd just go for a run when I felt like it."
He said the specific training had "made a lot of difference".
Long-term he would like to compete in a world cross-country championships.