Otago is unstoppable.
The men in blue and gold won their fifth consecutive national 4x100m relay title to cap off a blistering opening day for the region at the national track and field championships in Auckland yesterday.
Schuyler Orr, Hayato Yoneto, Cameron Moffitt and John Gerber smoked the field to finish in 41.13sec to wear gold yet again — and finish nearly 1sec ahead of runners-up Wellington.
Orr got the team off to a strong start, allowing Yoneto and Moffitt to put their foot down through the second and third length and Gerber left the rest of the field in his dust, holding up five fingers as a salute to their success as he crossed the finish line.
Otago have held the title since 2022 and won the memorable event in front of their home crowd at the Caledonian last year.
Otago’s other team of Toby Martin, Luke Moffitt, Matthew Bolter and Cole Gibbons finished fifth in 44.04sec.
Caleb Dobier won the men’s under-16 2000m in 6min 31.69sec — 17sec ahead of second-place — and Thomas Weatherall won bronze in the men’s under-18 2000m in 6min 24.72sec
Sylvie Haig won silver in the women’s under-16 100m with 12.69sec, Luke Moffitt won silver in the men’s 400m hurdles in 55.74sec.
In the field, William Evans won gold in the men’s under-18 javelin with a throw of 53.44m, followed by Auckland’s Otis Neely with 52.55m and Otago team-mate James Miers won bronze with 51.36m.
Elikai Manuel, of French Polynesia, technically won the event with 53.67m but does not qualify for a medal.
Otago athletes will be back in action on the track and in the field today.
