Three wins, three Otago records - Raylene Bates had a weekend to remember at the national masters track and field championships in Dunedin.
Bates (50), who already owned a bunch of masters age-group records, added the women's 50-54 years shot put, discus and hammer throw records to her name.
She was dominant on her way to winning all three field events, particularly the hammer throw, where her 42.09m effort was almost 11m clear of second-placed Tina Ryan, of Auckland.
Bates' winning distance was well clear of Winifred Harding's 2006 Otago record (35.42m).
The Athletics New Zealand high performance manager was also too good for Ryan in the shot put and discus, comfortably winning both events with 12.12m and 31.48m efforts respectively.
Her dominance in the throwing events was exemplified by her performance in the throws pentathlon, which she comfortably won with 3458 points.
Bates was one of 51 Otago athletes competing in the championships, which started at the Caledonian Ground on Friday night and finished yesterday afternoon.
It attracted 199 competitors in total, who were treated to perfect weather conditions during the meeting.
Bates was not the only one wearing Otago colours to impress.
Fiona Harvey (56) won the weight throw, discus and hammer throw, and broke her own Otago 55-59 years record in the discus.
She added 37cm to her year-old record, winning with a 24.45m heave. Harvey also finished second in the javelin and third in the shot put.
Liz Wilson had a dominant weekend on the track, winning the women's 50-54 years 60m (8.47sec), 100m (13.41sec), 200m (27.44sec) and 400m (1min 1.88sec).
Wilson, who won gold in the 100m, 200m and 400m at the masters world championships in France last year, was pushed by Wellington's Petra Stoeveken in the 60m and 100m, but cruised to victory in the 200m and 400m.
Wilson also won the long jump (4.09m).
Tony Tan (50) set Otago men's 50-54 records in the 60m and 100m, winning both races in the process. He won the 60m in 7.91sec and the 100m in 12.48sec to break a 21-year-old record.
Masters records can be sketchy, but records show B. Baxter, then 52, set the old mark (13sec) at the 1995 Otago championships.
Tan also came within 0.06sec of winning the 400m, but was pipped on the line by Bruce Solomon (53), of Waikato-Bay of Plenty.
He also had to settle for second behind Solomon in the 200m, when his rival beat him to the line by 0.14sec, to win in 25.65sec.
Other highlights
●Stephen Bloomfield (54) won the men's 50-54 years 1500m in 4min 49.22sec.
●Peter Fitzgerald (55) won the men's 55-59 years 1500m in 4min 39.68sec.
●Alan Davis (76) won the men's 75-79 years 1500m in 6min 17.46sec.
●Gene Sanderson (62) won the men's 60-64 years 2000m steeplechase in 8min 51.36sec.
●Noni Callander (68) won the women's 65-69 years discus (18.01m), shot put (7.27m) and weight throw (8.90m).
●Keith Hutton (66) won the men's 65-69 years javelin (36.07m) and shot put (9.45m).
●Paula Cotter (36) won the women's 35-39 years shot put (8.02m) and discus (21.72m).
●Claire Giles (59) won the women's 55-50 years 100m in 15.70sec.
●Graham Murphie (53) edged fellow Otago runners Bloomfield and Robert Homan to win the men's 50-54 years 800m in 2min 17.53sec.
●Vivienne Harvey (53) won gold in the women's 50-54 years javelin, beating Auckland's Tina Ryan with a 21.31m throw.
●Kim Blackwood (40) had no problem winning the women's 40-44 years javelin, dishing out a 33.52m best to win by almost 30m. She also won the hammer throw (35.53m), shot put (8.41m), discus (33.05m),
●Michael Scholten (38) won the men's 35-39 years hammer throw (40.58m).
