North Shore triathlete Rebecca Spence, 17, outshone her rivals to win the International Triathlon Union Oceania under-23 title near Sydney yesterday.
In just her second Olympic-distance triathlon, Spence, a Rangitoto College student, proved too strong for the Australians to claim the championship in searing conditions at Penrith.
The young New
Zealander, who won a silver medal in the elite under-19 division over the sprint distance in last year's ITU world championships in Japan, came off the bike with the lead pack.
She and leading Australian Emma Moffatt cleared out early on the run, with Spence making her move with 3km to go to win by more than a minute.
Australian-based New Zealander Callum Millward finished second in the men's under-23 race, pipped by Australian Nathan Campbell by 300m.
He was with the other New Zealanders in the third swim pack but they worked effectively on the bike to catch the second bunch, and joined with the lead pack on the 40km bike.
Millward, who has lived on the Gold Coast for the past year, handled the heat better than most to finish in 1h 48m 29s, 30s behind Campbell.
Wellington's Martin van Barnveld was 10th and Sam Mallard, a Wellington triathlete living in Australia, was 11th from the 23 finishers.
The heat took its toll, with several competitors failing to finish.
- NZPA
