It was Todd Bates' day when he won his first Otago senior men's title in the hammer throw on Saturday.
Bates (18) won by 46cm from Taieri clubmate Dean Rusbatch at the Caledonian Ground.
Bates threw a personal-best by 4m with his best throw of 47.68m. Rusbatch (18) came close with his last throw of 47.22m. Hamish Finnie (Hill City-University) was third with 42.95m.
The throw ranks Bates sixth on the New Zealand senior men's ranking list this season.
He won a bronze medal in the senior boys hammer throw at the New Zealand secondary school championship in December and will compete as a junior at the New Zealand club championships in Auckland.
Bates is coached by his mother, Raylene, who was third in the senior women's championships with 36.73m.
The senior women's event was won by former New Zealand champion Debbie McCaw (Taieri) with 44.76m. She has lived in England for the past six years and is no longer eligible to claim the Otago title. That went to University of Otago geography student Mayce Ballantyre (18) with a personal-best throw of 38.04m.
McCaw (33) set the Otago record of 54.58m in 2005. She ruptured her calf muscle while competing in England 12 months ago and suffered a blood clot in her leg. This was her first competition since the injury.
McCaw is home for the 90th birthday of her grandmother, Ceila Heineman, of Milton.
Lauren Bruce (South Canterbury), the New Zealand secondary schools junior champion, won the women's 17 event with 51.18m.
She was not eligible to take the Otago title which was won by Libby Jones (Taieri) with 41.43m. Bradley Tarleton (Taieri) won the men's 17 title with 44.07m.
Daniel O'Shea (Hill City-University) won the senior men's 200m in a personal-best 21.60sec from clubmates Andrew Whyte (21.88sec) and Robert Jopp (22.21sec).
O'Shea is ranked second in the country this season and Whyte third. Maddy Spence (Hill City-University) won the senior women's 100m hurdles in a personal best 15.24sec to move to third on the national youth ranking list.
Ben Anderson (Caversham) sprinted away from the field in the last 200m to win the senior men's 800m in 1min 56.30sec from clubmate Lorenz Kissling (1min 57.94sec) and Chris McNoe (Hill City-University, 2min 0.24sec.)
Shaun Markham (Hill City-University) won the junior men's AWD discus with a personal-best 10.23m.
