The Otago runner became the 43rd New Zealander to go under the time as he ran 3min 59.77sec at the Cooks Classic.
The race doubled as the national championships, the first time the mile has been run as a championship event in 52 years.
Chignell came up just short of a medal, in fourth place.
It was an impressive run nonetheless, the 22-year-old showing his pace despite being suited to a longer race.
The lead group set off at a fast pace and Chignell did well to stick with the front runners.
They remained close for the first two laps, before Tauranga’s Sam Tanner accelerated during the third.
He and Napier’s Eric Speakman opened a small gap over Chignell and Whanganui’s George Beamish.
Tanner powered away to claim victory in in 3min 54.97sec, lifting him to eighth on the New Zealand rankings.
Speakman followed in 3min 56.66sec, and Beamish finished in 3min 59.13sec.
Tanner took almost 3.5sec from his personal best with his win.
‘‘It is such an honour to win the New Zealand mile title. I had been looking forward to it and I’m really proud of how I performed — I can’t complain with a 3.54 mile,’’ an elated Tanner said.
Camille Buscomb was also a decisive winner in the women’s mile, using her renowned strength to forge clear of New Zealand 3000m champion Kara Macdermid in the final 200m and clinch her 11th national title.
‘‘It’s cool to be the New Zealand mile champion,’’ Buscomb said.
In the men’s shot put, Jacko Gill beat three-time world champion Tom Walsh for the second time since December.
Gill, who recorded his longest throw in New Zealand last week with a 21.33m effort in Auckland, once again demonstrated his form by throwing a stadium record 21.11m in round two.
Walsh, who won last week in Hastings in the absence of Gill, struggled to find his usual rhythm, and his best effort of 20.78m also came in the second round.
New Zealand men’s 100m and 200m champion Eddie Osei-Nketia bounced back from a shock 100m defeat by Tiaan Whelpton at last weekend’s Potts Classic by completing the sprint double.
The 19-year-old won the 100m in a solid 10.54sec. That was 0.12sec clear of his training partner Joseph Millar (Athletics Tauranga) and 0.06sec outside the stadium record set by his father Gus.
Later in the 200m, Osei-Nketia pulled clear of Millar in the final 50m and earned top spot in 21.22sec.
New Zealand 400m hurdles record-holder Portia Bing served notice of her Olympic qualification potential, powering to victory in a stadium record of 56.62sec.
- Two Otago records fell at the Caledonian Ground on Saturday.
Ariki’s Catherine Lund set a record in the women’s 16-and-17-years 2km steeplechase in 7min 25.07sec.
Caversham’s Alison Newall jumped 1.12m to set a record in the women’s masters 60 grade high jump.
