ST KILDA midfielder Ed Phillips has unseated captain Jarryn Geary as the club's time trial king after crossing the line first in the club's challenging 3km test.

Phillips won the 3km time trial ahead of emerging defender Daniel McKenzie and Geary as the team returned to training following the Christmas break on Saturday.

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Geary has been the regular winner of the event in his 12 seasons at the club, but after a delayed start to the pre-season because of a knee injury it was the younger Phillips who took the crown.

Jack Newnes finished the race in fine fettle to cross the line in fourth, with Jack Sinclair, Seb Ross, Jack Steele, Jack Lonie, Blake Acres and Josh Battle rounding out the top 10.

Phillips played eight games for the Saints in 2018 and is the younger brother of Collingwood's Tom who holds the mantle as his club's best runner over 2km.

"I was yet to win one (a time trial) so it was good to come across first and be up the front with the group that we had," Phillips told the club's website.

"I tried to go out [hard] at the start and then he (Geary) took the lead for a bit, so I just tried to stay with him because I know that he's a really good gut runner."

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Saints high performance manager Matt Hornsby was elated with the results across the board.

Hunter Clark, Ben Long, Lewis Pierce and Paddy McCartin were among the other impressive performers, while Category B rookie Sam Alabakis shaved more than one minute off his personal best time.

"As a collective, that was as good as I've seen," Hornsby said.

"The condition the group has returned in gives us a great platform to attack training over the next six weeks."