Jake Walker blew past the competition at Saturday's Butler Road Race — and did the same to the course record.

Walker, 19, of Ellwood City, broke the oldest of the remaining Butler Road Race records, turning in a time of 24 minutes, 34 seconds in the 5-mile event.

On the women's side, Monroeville's Tammy Slusser's five-year winning streak came to an end as Halsey Sinclair, 18, of Silver Spring, Md. won with a time of 31:22, 24 seconds ahead of Slusser.

Walker, who will be a sophomore at Notre Dame, bettered the previous standard of 24:48, which was set by Steve Parker in 1993, the first year the 10K race was switched to its current 5-mile format.

"I saw the record on the form (Friday night) and I thought I could do it," said Walker, who won the 2004 race with a time of 25:14. "It's a good race and I use it as a hard workout."

Walker easily outdistanced Chris Geddis, 21, of Cranberry Township, who was second with a time of 26:02.

Ben Hutterer, 18, of Saxonburg and Artie Black, 18, of Renfrew were 1:42 behind Geddis for third and fourth place, respectively while Al Casagranda, 42, of Lower Burrell was fifth at 28:14.

"(Geddis) was with me for about three-fourths of a mile, but the rest of the way I was on my own," said Walker. "I'd guess there was a 25-second lead about halfway.

"My plan was to go out and relax and see how I'd do. I felt good and I knew I had a chance at the record,"Walker added.

Walker knew the record was an old one, but knew it was a only a matter of time before someone broke it.

"If I ran really good, I figured I could beat that record," said Walker.

Walker's track season at Notre Dame wrapped up in the second week of May, so he was able to prepare for the road racing season.

"I had a little more time to get back," said Walker. "I'll use the races to get ready for cross country in the fall."

Sinclair, who will be a freshman at Radford University in the fall, was visiting her grandparents in Butler and decided to do the race. She took the lead for good with about one mile to go and was able to fend off Slusser.

Bethany Walker, 17, of Ellwood City — Jake's sister — placed third with a time of 31:56 while Sinclair's sister, Ashlyn, 18, was fourth (31:59) and Jennifer Harpp, 19, of Highland Heights, Ohio was fifth (32:28).

"I watched her when she was running," said Sinclair on Slusser. "I thought she wasn't running the hills well and I was catching up to her on the hills."

Said Slusser: "She was in front of me for the first mile- and-a-half. I took the lead until about four miles. I've been struggling in the last half of races.

"That last mile, I just didn't have anything left," Slusser added.

Slusser, whose five-race winning streak (20002-06) is the BRRrecord, also won three consecutive races when it was a 10K (1984-86). She also owns the 5-mile record (29:44) as well as the master's (over 40) record (30:43).

Still, that wasn't enough to hold off Sinclair, at least this year.

"I've been running about a minute slower than last year," said Slusser. "I'm just getting old. I'm not as young as I used to be.

"I've been struggling a little this year. I've run two marathons (Big Sur and Buffalo) and I have another one coming up," she added.

In 1987, Slusser did not continue her 10K winning streak, but she got married that afternoon after running the race with her soon-to-be husband, Don.

This year's race marked their 20th anniversary and the couple was recognized by the BRR committee and received a post-race memento.

Past BRR scholarship winners as well as those from this year's graduating class were also recognized.