THE Seymour Gift was as hotly contested as the weather as the event was successfully held at Lions Park on Saturday afternoon.
Gift organisers sifted through a chaotic day which included a brief power outage across the town, while a car crash just out the front of Lions Park also took eyes briefly off the event.
However, the event brought with it the richest Masters race in the world, contested over 300 metres, which was eagerly awaited as the last event of the day, while the Seymour Running Club would also revel in what was a successful afternoon on and off the track to create what was a memorable edition of the Gift.
In what was a tightly contested race, it was Attila Baranyay who was able to overtake a large proportion of the field, starting from second last off 14 metres, ending up winning by almost two tenths of a second, scoring the win in 35.837, holding off Luke Robertson for second with a 35.996, while Michelle Dean was third with a 36.168.
The most popular victory of the day was reserved for Seymour Running Club vice-president Cooper Lubeck, who was scorching hot in the 1600 metre Open final, winning by just under four seconds.
Starting from the 120-metre mark, Lubeck was spurred on by the tremendous home support and scored a dominant victory in a time of 4:09.540, well clear of Tez Kavanagh-Dando, who was second with a 4:13.256, while Robbie Petrie just missed out in third, finishing in 4:13.266.
The Seymour Running Club had men’s and women’s winners on the day, with Lucy Zotti taking an incredibly popular win in the 400 metre Women’s final.
Starting off 29 metres, Zotti bolted from the turn and made the home straight her own as she bolted clear to win by over a second, finishing with a time of 54.082, while Clea Clifford finished second with a 55.132 and Kendra Hubbard finished third on a 55.266.
Zotti was also successful in the 800 metre Women’s event, cementing her legacy as the dominant longer-form women’s athlete on a day to remember.
Running off 52 metres, Zotti again bolted through and gave the home crowd an enormous reason to cheer as she cruised to victory, finishing with a time of 2:11.659, winning comfortably from Natalie Kennedy, who was second with a 2:13.239, while Lucy Polkinghorne was third with a 2:14.894.
Local Kelfit runners were also in the mix for the under 14 120 metre final, scoring a 1-2.
Cohen Hill was the winner in a time of 14.317, while Mia Brown finished second with 14.511. Mia-Rose Johnson finished third on a 14.567.
The men’s and women’s 120 metre Gifts were thrilling affairs as two of the main races of the day.
In the men’s Gift, just four tenths of a second separated the field in what was an incredibly well-contested event.
Dion Paull was the winner off 9.25m, scoring victory in a time of 12.329, with local Hayden Anderson second with a 12.404 and Ryan Ilett third with 12.427.
The women’s Gift was even closer, with just three tenths separating the whole field, and just 0.054 the difference between winning the Gift and third.
Kylee Drew was the winner, scoring in a time of 13.823, with Georgia Mills second with 13.845, and Jasmine Rowe third on a 13.877.
In the 120 metre under 18 final, Maks Callachor was a comfortable winner, saluting in 12.874, with Dean Balfour second with a 12.967, while Jonathan Marraffa was third with a time of 13.092.
The popular 70 metre final was won by Declan Berne, who was red-hot in a time of 7.589 off 6.5 metres, with Angelina Windshuttle second with 7.62, and Fraser Stott third with a time of 7.673.
A photo finish was required for the 120 metre Over 35 final, with Luke Robertson and Marcus Schafer in a tight tussle.
In the end, the chocolates would go to the former, who won with a time of 13.361, while Schafer was desperately close with a 13.381. Ian Porter was third, running 13.437.
Jack Wolff was dominant in the 400 metre Men’s final, scoring a comfortable win after taking control just before the home straight.
Wolff saluted with a time of 47.133, with speedster Paul Hughes second with 47.388, and Luke Stevens third in a time of 48.474.
Finally, in the 550 metre Open final, Alex Jones scored a comfortable win by just over a second.
Jones ran a 1:11.299 to win well from Julian Morgan, who just held out for second with a 1:12.445, while Connor Callinan pushed him all the way to finish third with 1:12.463.
