The Ariki athlete produced a jump of 7.49m on his third attempt to soar to victory at the Potts Classic in Hastings.
The winning jump was 34cm off the 7.83m personal best he set winning the men’s long jump at the Dame Yvette Williams Memorial Meet at the Caledonian in November.
Despite being under par for Veitch — who struggled through injury woes early last season — it was still well clear of second-placed Aaron Booth, who produced 6.96m.
Veitch had a modest start, jumping 7.28m and 7.33m in his first attempts before pushing forward to 7.49m in his third jump for the win.
Jorja Gibbons jumped 5.10m to place fifth in the women’s long jump.
In the women’s under-20 3000m, which was also the national championship, 19-year-old Central Otago athlete Hannah Prosser came in second to 15-year-old Boh Ritchie.
Ritchie led the pack early before Prosser made the move in the fourth gap to edge ahead and led the group for the rest of the race.
The pair pulled away together, Prosser keeping up the pace with Ritchie tucked in behind her. Ritchie inched ahead in the final lap and took off down the straight to win.
It was still a stunning run from Prosser, who finished with a time of 9min 49.22sec, just shy of her personal best of 9min 48.52sec set in Timaru earlier this month.
