Baxter was the sole survivor of an Ariki team that last won the senior men's 6x1500m title in 2009.
On Saturday, he proved an inspiration to the club's new-look team that included Anthony Trainor, Richard Olsen, Zach Butler, Jesse Gibbs and David Catherwood.
Ben Anderson made no secret of Caversham's desire to win the title for a fourth consecutive year. His strong front-running tactics helped his team hold a handy 25sec lead at the end of the third leg.
Baxter halved the deficit over his first two laps, and snatched the lead from Caversham 200m out from the changeover, handing Gibbs a 9sec advantage going into the fifth leg.
Baxter's individual time of 4min 11sec was second only to Anderson's 4min 9sec.
Gibbs was up against Caversham's Hayden Donnelly, whose run last year turned the tables on Ariki. But any thought of repeating the dose this year was quickly dispelled as Gibbs handed Catherwood an 18sec advantage for the 1500m run home.
It was a run of spirit and determination from Catherwood as he held out the threat posed by middle-distance champion Peter Meffan, crossing the finish line 11sec clear of Meffan to clinch the title for Ariki in 26min 37sec. Hill City-University was third in 27min 28sec.
Baxter was full of praise for his team afterwards, particularly the gutsy run from Catherwood on the final leg.
''That was a huge last lap from Dave.''
''It was a good wee 800m kick at the end,'' he said.
But it was the run from Gibbs which Baxter thought set up his team for victory.
''Jesse's just back from Canada, and he ran really well to hold out Hayden, who pretty much won it for them [Caversham] last year.''
Gibbs' form should have come as little surprise. While he was in Canada, as an exchange student, he contested several races and clocked 2hr 31min for a marathon.
