St Bede's student Nick Moulai, 17, won the 1500m race at the Auckland City Athletics track meet with a time of 3:50.73 last Wednesday.
The young athlete was pleased with his result but said he would have liked to run faster.
"I think there's more in the tank considering my third lap wasn't that great"
Moulai beat his long-time rival and New Zealand title holder Isaiah Priddey, who finished in third place with a time of 3:51.35.
Priddey ran a bold race, pulling out a large gap coming into the last 400m. However he didn't quite have the pace to match Moulai down the home stretch.
"I looked up and saw he was 30 or 40 metres ahead at the bell, I put in a surge and somehow caught him," Moulai said.
The time was a personal best for the Cantabrian and also the fastest 1500m run on New Zealand soil this year.
He will line up against some of the country's best 1500m-runners at the New Zealand Athletics champs in Hamilton this weekend.
