Veitch (Ariki) leapt to a season’s best 7.81m to claim second in the men’s long jump against a tough field at the Sir Graeme Douglas international meeting at the Trusts Arena in Henderson on Sunday.
Australian Olympian and Oceania long jump champion Liam Adcock jumped a monster 8.21m to claim first place.
It was a nice return to the field event for Veitch, who seldom competed last year due to being injured when he was knocked off his motorbike by a car.
He returned in blistering form to the 100m at the Potts Classic two weeks ago, where he ran a big personal best of 10.34sec.
Dunedin Paralympic champion Anna Grimaldi also returned to the track in Waitakere.
She produced 12.53sec in the women’s 100m as she continues to build through the season.
Otago runner Cameron Moffitt finished sixth in the men’s 400m hurdles with a season’s best 53.61sec.
Christchurch sprinter Tiaan Whelpton came within a whisker of the national 100m record.
Whelpton, who smashed the national 60m record with 6.50sec in Australia recently, finished with a meet record of 10.10sec, the fastest 100m run by a Kiwi on New Zealand soil.
He was 0.02sec outside of the national record of Eddie Nketia.
Rising Kiwi runner Sam Ruthe stamped his name yet again as one to watch in the men’s senior 1500m.
The 15-year-old clocked a personal best of 3min 41.25sec, lowering his previous best of 3min 46.41sec in the distance, to finish second to Japan’s Ryoji Tatezawa.
Ruthe broke the national under-17 and under-20 records and recently won the national senior 3000m title as well.
Paralympian Mitch Joynt also lowered his own T64 national 100m record with his time of 11.82sec. He took 0.04sec off the previous time.
National shot-put champion Jacko Gill pipped Tom Walsh for the men’s shot-put title.
Gill threw 21.85m to win, while Walsh — competing in his first competition since injuring his groin at the Paris Olympics — finished second with 20.86m.
Japanese pole vaulter Lui Kitada and javelin thrower Sae Takemoto set meet records.
Kitada produced a 5.23m vault to win the men’s pole vault and Takemoto threw a personal best of 60.51m to win the women’s javelin.
Athletes will now move on to the Porritt Classic this weekend.
— Hill City-University’s Oliver O’Sullivan won the Otago 10,000m championships at the Caledonian Ground at the weekend.
O’Sullivan was the first eligible Otago runner home in 34min 23.53sec. Jason Van Kempen, who was listed as unattached, finished in 33min 07.09sec.
