With persistent rain in Dunedin for the majority of the day, the soon-to-be-replaced Caledonian Ground track was dotted with puddles.
Chignell, who is preparing for the national secondary school championships in Wanganui early next month, led from start to finish to win in 9min 17.05sec.
''That was probably the worst conditions I have run in, to be honest,'' Chignell said.
''There was wind and rain - it was horrible. It was absolutely shocking conditions.''
While the John McGlashan College pupil's time was well short of his personal best - 8min 59sec, which ranks him seventh nationally in the under-18 age category - he was happy enough with the result.
Andrew Smith (16, Caversham) finished second behind Chignell in 9min 44.56sec, while Aaron Anderson (17, Ariki) was third in 9min 50.48sec.
The weather, which was bad enough to cancel all cricket and softball in Dunedin on Saturday, saw a significantly depleted field at the weekly athletics meeting.
However, it was not bad enough to keep Christina Ashton (17, Taieri) away.
Ashton, who will compete in the 110m hurdles at the national secondary school championships next month, won the women's 15-17 years 100m sprint in 12.81sec.
Winds as strong as 5.8m per second last weekend were beaten by 7.5m per second gusts on Saturday, as Joccoaa Palmer (15, Taieri) finished second behind Ashton in 13.47sec.
Ruby Coers (17, Aspiring) was third in 13.51sec.
Rory O'Neill (17, Ariki) continued his winning form in the men's 15-17 years 100m race, crossing the line first in 11.30sec.
With a 4.3m per second wind for a second straight week, he shaved 0.5sec off his time from the previous weekend.
Schuyler Orr (16, North Otago) finished second in 11.88sec, barely edging Nathan MacDonell (17, Caversham) by 0.2sec.
By Robert van Royen.
