Photo finish

THE 102nd running of the Wangaratta Men's Gift couldn't be decided by the naked eye Saturday night, with just nine hundredths of a second separating winner Matt Rizzo from training partner Jack Newman in a thrilling finish. The backmarker of the race off 3.25m, pre–race favourite Rizzo stormed home in the final 25m to clock 12.429 and snatch what looked like certain victory for Newman (8.00m) with third placed runner Jack Lacey (8.25m) not far behind. Rizzo said he needed every bit of energy running as the backmarker for the third straight heat to chase down victory and be one up on good mate Newman. "I'm pretty stoked, it was a bit of bragging rights tonight, I thought he [Newman] might have just got me, but obviously did not so it was good to get the win," he said. Novocastrian Rizzo said a lull in results after claiming the Stawell Gift in 2017 had him ready to call it quits on his running career. But the 23 year old was inspired into running again by coach Bruce Gulliver who set him on the path of success in Wangaratta. "I had run here once and I didn't run that crash hot and Wang has a lot of history for me, it's always about the sash and the history of it so I had to pencil it in," he said. Wangaratta Sports Club president Paul Hughes said despite the disappointment of having to push back the start of the carnival to 6pm and losing the Little Athletics events due to extreme heat, the operations of the event ran smoothly. "The night ran well, the weather was great, the venue for athletics at the Norm Minns Oval is an asset for Wangaratta, the facilities are second to none," he said. "The racing was good; the quality of the gift finals was quite high; I think the Victorian Athletics League should be happy with how the event was run. "But we definitely want the involvement of Little Athletics and expose the young kids to that sort of event." The 300m women's event was won by Ruby Crisp (30.00) who clocked 38.781 to win comfortably, while the Ken Eales memorial 400m men's race went to Alex Jones (37.00) who held off fierce competition from second placed Jack Colgrave (30.00) and third placed Lachlan Milligan (38.00). Among the standout local runners throughout the night was 11 year old Isabella Boulton who won the under 14 mixed 120m final, Taya McPhan who competed in seven events including a placing in the 120m restricted final and Bella Pasquali who ran fifth as a backmarker in the 300m final. Hughes said it was fantastic to see local runners gain exposure to big events, and found joy in watching young runners such as Sibel Primerano rise to the occasion. "Young Sibel ran second in one of her races, she trains with us and she almost never speaks to me, I'll give her a tip at training every so often and she looks at me like she doesn't want me to come near her," he said. "But after running second last night she was so excited, she came running up to me and was really excited about the race, she didn't win but she got in and amongst it and raced really well, so that's a personal highlight for me. "On the whole the locals all had a go, especially for people like young Aggenbach and the O'Sullivan boys, to get that exposure and realise where you're at and where you've got to strive to and where you've got to get to for a bit success in athletics." Hughes thanked all local sponsors for their generous support during the event. Woodchopping results and reports, including other highlights of the carnival will be in Wednesday's Chronicle.