Zoe Hobbs

It was a good evening for the Auckland shot put ace and Kiwi sprint queen at the Sir Graeme Douglas International meet in west Auckland on Thursday.

The Otago athlete was just 6cm off Bob Thomas' New Zealand record of 8.05m set in 1968, and it seems only a matter of time before he hauls it in. "I felt good, and I was really happy to get the PB," said Gill afterwards. So I was just happy to cross the line and have fun with it. "It's pretty crazy," she said of the 11.02. National champion Eliza McCartney won a disappointing women's pole vault competition that rather fizzled out in the rain. "I always want to throw further," he said. She looked in control of the race throughout as she cruised home well ahead of Aussies Bree Masters (11.23s) and Ella Connolly (11.35s). In the warmups I felt like I had a good rhythm. "It was huge," he said. "When I saw he was coming to Waitakere it added extra motivation, so I'm really grateful for him coming up. Walsh 's best throw of 21.79m (1cm off his season's best) also came in the opening round, as both athletes struggled to back up on their first-up efforts. Gill's series was a solid 22.12m, 21.92m, 21.78m, 20.89m and 20.54m before he passed on his last throw.