The Community Bank Lancefield Gift and Highland Games was again a runway success on Saturday.
The weather was perfect with a huge influx of athletes and visitors from around Australia making the trek to the Macedon Ranges.
The biggest events on the card were men’s and women’s richest 400 metre gift finals in Australia.
In the men’s gift, New South Wales’ Will Adams was impressive and continued his flying start to the season.
Adams looked to be cruising when winning his heat in slick time and that proved to be the case when he went over a second quicker in the final winning in 47.59 with Mitchell Mullens and Sean Davidson completed the podium.
Ashleigh Palmer scored a nail biting win in the women’s Lancefield Gift holding on in a lunge at the line after a duel all the way down the straight with Grace Carter
Palmer went in as a hot favourite after winning her heat 1.4 seconds quicker than the other heats before winning the final in 54.75.
She only recently resumed training after having her second child and Lancefield was one of her first meetings back at the track.
In the new headline event, the Nutrien Harcourts Lancefield Cup, Kyle Hilson claimed the victory in the 800 metre event.
He set the time to beat.
Starting off the front in the final, with a big headstart on his opposition, he decided to exploit his advantage going out with a huge lead.
The crowd waited for the challenges to come but Hilson had a big lead coming off the back.
While he was running on empty in the straight but he had a big enough lead to hold on and win from Robbie Petrie who had given the winner a 114 metre start and Adrian Bender.
In the men’s 120 metre sprint final, favourite Joshua Lotsu, who was the back marker, was deemed to have broken and as a result he was put back a further metre.
Jack Wolff, who had cruised through his heat and semi, hit the front with 30 metres to go and looked home but Lotsu roared home late.
It was a photo finish between Wolff and Lotsum, with Wolff claiming the win from a shattered Lotsu whose penalty for breaking seemed to prove costly with Daniel Sammut third.
In the women’s sprint, only Charlotte Nielsen and Clea Clifford broke 14 seconds in the heats and did it again in the semi finals.
In the final, Georgia Mills was quick out of the blocks and led for a long way before the two favourites challenged.
Nielsen grabbed the lead before storming clear late for a powerful victory in 13.63 from Clifford and Mills.
Organising committee’s Chris Dynon said the second year back of the gift was a great day.
“We had over 500 athletes and their families here, they lined the boundary with their marquees and sat out and enjoyed the sun which they really appreciated after the other meetings this season have been hampered by terrible weather,” he said.
“We were rapt to hear all the feedback from the runners and officials. It’s really encouraging to hear them all comment on how big they think the Lancefield Gift will get in years to come.”
“I couldn’t be happier with the introduction of the Lancefield Cup this year. It got a lot of traction in the lead up and is definitely something that will grow in stature now.
“We also bought in the Highland Games for the first time, that’s something different to what we’ve seen in the past and we’re hopeful that will continue to grow.”
