Just when it seemed that this year's National Championships for Youths and Cadets were to end without a record, Nicole Gatt saved the day by slicing another seven hundredths of a second off her previous best in the 300m set in March.
In truth, this annual event was a tale of near misses, with Gatt herself denied the honour in the 1,200m run, in which she had to settle for a Championship record instead.
Thomas Farrugia, also representing Starmax, again missed out by a hair's breadth at the 200m - by two hundredths of a second - and was once again near in the 100 metres.
In the meantime, Eric Borg Saywell (Allcomers Aloysians) actually clocked a better time in the 100m for cadets, but as happened in previous outings, the following wind was over the legal limit.
The weather was more of a protagonist on the second day when morning rains kept some athletes away with the result that participation this year was down by some 25 per cent overall. The conditions did not affect the resolve of the youngsters who turned up.
In fact, a personal best obtained by a large number of athletes provided just reward for their efforts.
Thalia Massa (Pembroke Athleta) was one, when she registered a personal best time in winning the 100m, just as she did the previous day in the 200m.
Another was Daniel Gauci, of Savio, where a reputation earned over recent years of producing throwers saw the lad improve in both the shot putt as well as in the discus, emerging winner in both competitions.
Other female future stars to shine - and win - in more than one event were Rebecca Fitz and Carla Micallef, both of Allcomers Aloysians, Rhea Gavin, from the Starmax club, Emily Jane Garrett (St Patrick's) and Clarissa Cremona of Pembroke Athleta, besides Gatt.
Among the boys, Benji Fenech Salerno, of Pembroke, Farrugia and Borg Saywell, triumphed in more than one event, but of course, credit is surely due to the many other athletes who carried away top honours in their preferred speciality.
Athletics Malta also acquiesced to put up a number of extra events for the senior athletes to get 'match practice' and in the hammer throw, Antonella Chouhal, of AS Libertas, again bettered her record when, on two occasions, she raised the mark, eventually settling for a distance of 31.55 metres.