Anderson (21) went one better than father Geoff, a two-time Otago cross-country champion and national cross-country representative, who finished second in the event in 1988.
The Otago 1500m champion and defending champion Peter Meffan found course conditions hard to read.
The back straight at Wingatui racecourse offered the firmest footing, but the bends and front straight were clumpy and full of hidden puddles.
The two were drawn into a fast pace from the start, with Caversham clubmate Jonah Smith setting a solid pace along with Caden Shields (Hill City-University) and 2006 champion Stafford Thompson.
The first lap (2500m) was cut out in 8min 30sec, impressive given the course conditions.
Entering the second lap, Anderson started to control the pace up front, settling it down to what was the slowest of all four laps, 8min 47sec.
An 8min 41sec third lap saw Shields begin to fall off, leaving Anderson and Meffan to battle out the final lap.
Anderson mixed his pace and applied surges, which had an unsettling effect on Meffan. Despite this, the two were locked together entering the 400m run to the finish, after a slick fourth lap of 8min 29sec.
Anderson dug deep for the final stretch over extremely soft footing to finish in the smart time of 35min 27sec, with Meffan just 3sec adrift in 35min 30sec, and Shields third in 36min.
Anderson said afterwards he ''would have been gone'' if he had allowed Meffan to overtake him on the final lap.
''The idea was to stay in front for as long as possible. Peter was pushing me so hard down the back,'' Anderson said.
Meffan, who will defend his Otago cross-country title in two weeks, was full of respect for Anderson, who will attempt to emulate Meffan's 2012 feat of the Edmond Cup and Otago cross-country double.
''Any time I tried to get past, he'd put a little kick in. I just never made it to the front,'' Meffan said.
Saturday's result sets up an interesting race for the Otago title on July 13 between Anderson and Meffan.
Anderson has swept all before him this season, with fastest time honours in the Lovelock and cross-country relay events, and fastest time in the Barnes cross-country.
Anderson and Meffan set Caversham up for the six-man team trophy at Wingatui. Joined by Smith, Sam Hopper, Kenneth McDonald and Zinzan Smith, the club won the 106-year-old trophy with 53 points.
Louisa Andrew (Leith) maintained her winning form when she won the open women's race over 5000m in 20min 2sec.
Andrew has dominated this year with victories in the Three Peaks, Peninsula Challenge and, last weekend, the Balclutha half-marathon.
The women's team trophy was won by the Leith team of Andrew, Mel Aitken and Jude Patterson, who totalled 12 points.
Sian English (17), a year 13 pupil at Columba College, was an impressive winner of the junior women's title on the 5000m course in 19min 53sec.
Oliver Chignell (15), a year 11 pupil at John McGlashan, equally impressed with a convincing victory in the junior men's event, winning in a time of 18min 28sec.
