On a day when the rain just refused to let up, a number of scheduled events had to be postponed for the next day as the conditions worsened progressively.

Mukesh Kumar, seizing the opportunity in the morning inspite of a steady drizzle, began slowly, but picked up momentum as the race entered the third lap. With Santosh, also of North, in hot pursuit, Mukesh completed the five-lap event in a record time of 5:38.8 seconds, erasing the mark of 5:41.58 set by Rajesh Chauhan of Uttar Pradesh. Santosh finished second in 5:41.1, which was better than Chauhan's time. The bronze went to East's Anil Kumar, who timed 5:42.5.

Unlike Mukesh, Yadav had to overcome heavy odds for his record. The North Zone boy, who equalled the existing record(6.95m) held by Mukesh Kumar of East in the Allahabad zonals 10 days ago, managed one big leap in his third attempt, which hoisted him to the pedestal. Incidentally, North made the event their own as the silver went to Adarsh Yadav in 6.71 and bronze to Naresh Kumar, who cleared 6.59m.

Earlier, Ishwar Singh of West claimed the discus gold with a throw of 46.65m while Sukhbir made the second spot, clearing a distance of 45.22m. The bronze went to Arun, also of North.

The girls (under-20) 400m saw Rajini of North Zone taking the gold in 55s flat with Vinita Tripathi finishing behind her in 55.6s and R Sukumari of South, trained by OM Nambiar, came third in 55.9s. South Zone took the relay gold medals in both under-16 and under-18 sections.

Results Boys' (under-20) long jump: Satish Kumar (NZ) 7.10 metres, Sujoy Paul (EZ) 6.95, Bhagwan Singh (WZ) 6.89; 10km walk: Gurudev Singh (WZ) 44:42.2, Vijay Gahlot (NZ) 45:05.8, Kinocha Singh (EZ) 46:16.6; Discus: Ishwar Singh (WZ) 46.65m, SukhbirSingh (NZ) 45.22, Arun (NZ) 44.51.

Under-18: 5,000m: KS Ashok (SZ) 15:39.15, Rajesh (NZ) 15:39.37, Sangam Patel (NZ) 15:43.27; 400m: Ajay Singh Chauhan (WZ) 50.1, P Shankar (SZ) 50.4, Narinder Singh (NZ) 50.8; Discus: Sandeep (NZ) 50.33, Deepak (NZ) 49.89, Naresh Kumar (WZ) 45.01.

Under-16: 5km walk: KH Ratan Singh (EZ) 23:42.4, Daljinder (NZ) 23:57.5, Madan Gopal (NZ) 24:39.7; 2,000m: Mukesh Kumar (NZ):38.8 (NR), Santosh Kumar (NZ) 5:41.1, Anil KUmar (EZ):5:42.5; 400m: Tej Sing Shemall (WZ) 51.0, Ram Pravesh (NZ) 51.2, Tipu Hembram (EZ) 51.3; Long jump: Shiv Shankar Yadav (NZ) 6.99m (NR), Adarsh Yadav 6.71 (NZ), Naresh Kumar (NZ) 6.59; 4x100 relay: North Zone 43.6, South Zone 44.4, East Zone 45.0.

Girls (under-20): 5,000m: Vinita (NZ) 17.10.8, Amarjit Kaur NZ) 17:42.7, Geeta (NZ) 18:02.3; 10km walk: Y Bala Devi (EZ) 54.58.7, L Tombi devi (EZ) 57:51.9, Rajdeep Kaur (NZ) 58.58.2; 400m: Rajani (NZ) 55.0, Vinita Tripathi (NZ)55.6, R Sukumari (SZ) 55.9.

Under-18: 3,000m: Preeta Sareedhavan (SZ) 10:27.25, W Kamala Devi (EZ) 10:51.31, Pooja Pawar (WZ) 10:55.0; 400m: S Geeta (SZ) 55.9, Bindu Rani (SZ) 56.4, Sutapa Das (EZ) 58.4; 4x100 relay: South Zone 47.3, North Zone 50.8, East Zone 50.9.

Under-16: 2,000m: Rutuja Londhe (WZ) 6:51.3, TH Nanaobi Devi (EX) 6:52.8, S Subbukakshmi (SZ)6:54.1; 400m: Veena Yadav (NZ) 1:00.8, Joythi (SZ) 1:00.9, Esmatara Khatoon (EZ) 1:01.1; Shot put: Pooja (SZ) 9.85, Monika Joon (NZ) 9.70, Shobhy Ghose (EZ) 9.38; 4x100 relay: South Zone 50.7, West Zone 51.4, East Zone 51.5.