A gift at Stawell

By Lachlan Ellis

A finals appearance at last year’s Stawell Gift lit a fire in her belly, and this year a Bacchus Marsh Little Athlete has earned herself a coveted winner’s sash.

Fifteen-year-old Emma Stewart won in the Powercor Little Athletics Victoria Handicap 400 Metre Final last Monday at Stawell with a time of 51.879 seconds, almost a whole second clear of second place Luke Rollinson at 52.706 seconds.

Ms Stewart, who is a Centre Captain at the Bacchus Marsh Little Athletics Centre (BMLAC), said it was an exhilarating experience to secure the win.

“It was pretty surreal, just the opportunity at Stawell was amazing. To take the win over the line was just such an amazing experience honestly,” she told the Moorabool News.

“My handicap changed a fair bit going into finals, so I knew it was going to be a pretty tough ask. I just ran as hard as I could pretty much, the whole time. There were a lot of back markers, so I knew they were going to be coming hard at the end, so I had to make as much of a gap on them as I could early on and just keep running.”

In the lead-up to the Stawell Gift, Ms Stewart said she juggled her running training with playing and training with the Greater Western Victoria Rebels football team.

“I didn’t have a lot of training as I was playing with the Rebels at the time, so I wasn’t able to overload too much. Once we finished up there, I had a couple weeks in between, so I had a fair few sprint sessions two or three times a week, then I tapered for four or five days prior,” she said.

“I was so eager after last year, I was so bummed that I got pipped [finishing in 5th place in the 100 Metre Final in 2022], so I knew I had to run my guts out this year and fingers crossed I’d be able to win.”

As for the future, Ms Stewart said she believes she’ll be competing again next year but isn’t too sure, and will also finish Little Athletics in 2024.

She thanked those who had supported her throughout her athletics career.

“I’d like to give everyone at home a bit thank you for all their support over the weekend and throughout my journey,” she said.