Gift carnival high on class

A SPRINKLING of Olympians and national representatives headline the entries for next week’s Bendigo Gift meeting at the Tom Flood Sports Centre.

The elite bunch are among 730 entries for the two-day carnival to be held over the Saturday and Sunday of the Labour Day weekend.

They will compete for $23,000 in prizemoney across a range of events and distances, with the added lure of a gold nugget to the winners of the men’s, women’s and under-18 400m finals.

Acquired a little under 12 months ago for $3000 combined, their total value has since appreciated to about $4000.

Among those eyeing the gold are Tokyo Olympian Kendra Hubbard and fellow green and gold reps Harrison Hunt and Luke Stevens.

South Australian Hunt, who has a season best 47:08 for the 400m and a career-best 46:24, was a member of the Australian 4 x 400m at the World Athletics Relay Championships in the Bahamas in 2024.

He should prove hard to stop in Bendigo.

Victorian Athletics League board member and Athletics Bendigo president Craig Burnett said the calibre of athletes making their way to Bendigo was a testament to the event’s standing.

“The Bendigo Gift, in its various forms, has been a pretty happy hunting ground for Olympic athletes,” he said.

“You have Kendra and Luke, who have run the 4x100m relays.

“Ebony Lane is in the Australian relay squad and has run here a couple of times.

“Torrie Lewis (200m and 4 x 100m relay) ran here a couple of times as a junior and ran in the Gift as a 17-year-old.

“So there’s definitely been some quality athletes come through here.

“(National 400m champion and 4 x 400m relay team member) Cooper Sherman is another great athlete to have run here in recent times.”

It is expected the Gold Nugget 400m events will include heats, a repechage and finals.

The carnival is the second to run as a standalone event since the demise of the iconic Bendigo International Madison, but unlike last year’s one day spectacular, will be spread across two days.

 

“It was a long carnival last year, so we’ve extended it over two days and added a 550m race and a women’s 800m, which is exciting,” Burnett said.

“We did run a couple of smaller (standalone) events during COVID at the Lar Birpa track (Flora Hill), but this year and last year have been the first standalone meets for the VAL.

“Last year was very successful, we were nominated for (VAL) meeting of the year, which was a nice reward for the effort.”

Always a chance for the locals to pit themselves against some of the nation’s best, leading Bendigo contenders should include Jake Hilson in the invitation 200m and 800m, and Jamie Cook and Nathan Stoate in the invitational 3200m, which will round out the first day.

Not locals, but two of the likely favourites in the race, Ed Marks has posted a 3km personal best of 7:57, while Zayd Al Sayd has a PB of 7:59.

Stoate boasts a 5km PB of 14:15.

Always an athlete of interest, speedster Jesse McKenna – the son of former West Coast Eagles champion Guy – will contest the 70m.

He is trained by Tom Morehouse, who will bring with him a strong contingent of Sandringham club runners.

“We’ve got great support,” Burnett said.

“We’ve had runners from New South Wales, up as far as Sydney, come in the past and a lot of South Australians come across as a warm-up for Stawell, just to be seen by the handicappers.

“It’s a good chance to have a good hit-out before Stawell.”

Action on day one starts at 3pm and runs until 9pm, Day two runs from noon to 6pm, concluding with the women’s 400m final.

The Gift has attracted sponsorship from Jarrod Larkin Concreting, Strategem, Simcon Bendigo, MCG Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Bendigo Gold Run Squad, Zenith Lawyers and Lactalis.