MOUNT Waverley sprinter Carl Morehouse had a dream start to his season winning the first Warrnambool Gift in 13 years.
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Morehouse turned his opening event of the Victorian Athletic League season into a celebration when he claimed victory at Jetty Flat on Saturday.
He trumped an elite field to win the 100-metre race in 10.877 seconds.
Cam Dunbar was second in 11.027, narrowly ahead of former Pomborneit runner Adam Coote, who has combined running with boundary umpiring in the AFL.
Morehouse was delighted to edge out some tough rivals, including 2012 Stawell Gift winner Matthew Wiltshire, as well as multiple Stawell finalists.
“It was a little bit harder than the semis felt, but the wind was a little bit stronger,” the 29-year-old said.
“The VAL (Victorian Athletic League) circuit is what I train for these days.
“It was nice to actually get an opening run.”
He said the return of the Warrnambool Gift was a plus for the circuit and was the first 100m straight event on the calendar.
“Some early success always helps the season get off to a good start.
“It’s my first run for the season. There’s not many out this way so doing a back-to-back with Terang is always nice.
"If you don’t get up on the first day you can make amends on the second day. The best training is racing, so being able to get a number of races in a weekend makes for a brilliant training session, a brilliant start to competition season.”
