Jake Walker had just come off an impressive sophomore track and field season at Ellwood City High School.

Now, with the outdoor road-racing season ahead, he looks to keep that momentum going. That definitely showed on Saturday.

Walker, 16, won the 29th annual Butler Road Race 5-mile run with a time of 25 minutes, 14 seconds.

He defeated last year's winner, Jed Christiansen, 17, of Greenville by 11 seconds.

In the women's race, Monroeville's Tammy Slusser, 39, captured her third consecutive title with a time of 29:59.

Slusser also won the Butler Road Race 20 years ago when it was a 10K (6.2 miles) race.

At the PIAA Championships last month in Shippensburg, Walker placed third in the Class AA 3,200 run and was eighth in the 1,600 run.

"My goal coming into the race was to break 26 minutes," said Walker. "I ran great. That's the best I've done here, so I'm real happy."The downhill start to the race is tempting to take advantage of, but Walker wanted to be smart about his plan."I didn't want to go too fast," said Walker. "I ran the second half faster and anytime you run the second half faster, you'll have a great race."Walker had also placed ahead of Christiansen in the 3,200 finals. Christiansen was fourth in that race."This race gets me prepared," said Walker. "If I can run five miles, then I definitely can do a 5K."Chad Hartzell, 21, of Butler, was third with a time of 26:13. Rob Flatt, 24, of Butler was fourth (27:03) and Edward Rosporski, 20, of Homer City was fifth (27:27).

Slusser won by nearly one minute, defeating Jesi Christiansen, 19, of Greenville, who finished with a time of 30:57.Jesi's sister, Jacy, 11, was third at 31:43, followed by Ruth Mick, 20, of Zelienople (33:05) and Leslie Kramer, 27, of Slippery Rock (33:24).Last year, Slusser won with a time of 30:15. Two years ago, she set a women's course record with a time of 29:44."I'm starting to get back into shape," said Slusser. "I was telling a friend it was 20 years ago I won this race, back in 1984. I knew I'd still be racing, I just didn't know I'd still be winning."Slusser had run the recent Buffalo Marathon, but still didn't feel very motivated this season."There was no Pittsburgh Marathon to train for, so my motivation lagged," said Slusser."I wasn't in good shape. I ran Buffalo last month and didn't do as well as I wanted. That was kind of a kick in the butt to get going," she added.Slusser finished 18th overall in the race and having no other women nearby to push along, she tried to stay with the men."I felt in better shape this year than last year," said Slusser."There are a lot of young high school guys out there. I was trying to keep up with them."