The 28-year-old Cromwell runner claimed a convincing victory in the feature race of Saturday’s Lovelock Classic in Timaru.
His time of 4min 13.40sec left him nearly 6sec ahead of second-placed Ieuan van der Peet.
It was the third time Balchin, who continues to represent the University of Canterbury, has won the title.He previously went back-to-back in 2014 and 2015.
Hill City University’s Caden Shields ran 4min 21.60sec to finish fifth.
Elsewhere on the track, HCU’s Fiona Centers claimed the women’s 200m title and was third in the 100m.
She ran an impressive 24.73sec in the 200m to finish ahead of Canterbury’s Fiona Morrison and Maia Broughton.Her time of 12.15sec left her 0.01sec behind Morrison in the 100m.
North Harbour Bays’ Portia Bing showed her class in that race by running a rapid 11.78sec.
In the men’s 100m North Otago’s Schuyler Orr and HCU’s George Vare tied for second in 11.16sec.
Marlborough’s Alex Dawson was the victor in 10.88sec.
Ariki’s Sarah Langsbury was another to impress, the 15-year-old claiming second in the open women’s long jump.
She pulled out a distance of 5.38m with her fourth jump and held on. South Canterbury’s Christina Ryan challenged with 5.37m on her final attempt.
Three-time national champion Kelsey Berryman won with 5.80m.
Langsbury also took victory in the under-18 women’s 100m hurdles with a time of 14.59sec, edging Taieri’s Tara McNally.
McNally got one back over the longer distance, though, claiming victory in the 300m hurdles in 47.16sec.
HCU’s Cameron Moffitt won the under-18 men’s 300m hurdles title, while Taieri’s Christina Ashton came in third in the senior women’s 100m hurdles.
Todd Bates (Taieri) was the best of the Otago throwers, winning the men’s hammer with 50.01m, while Mayce Ballantyne, also of Taieri, was third in the women’s event with 46.58m.
Taieri also featured well in the high jump, as Rosie Elliott cleared 1.63m to finish second behind Papanui Toc H’s Kate Davies.
Queenstown’s Gareth Harcombe recorded 2min 11.40sec to finish second in the men’s 800m.
