The event marked the 90^th anniversary of Roy Northeast's victory at the gift, the first and only Terang runner to win it.

The significance of the day wasn't lost on the Roy Northeast 120m open handicap winner Luke Houlihan.

"To have his grand children here shaking all the finalists hands before the race was very touching and they're clearly very connected to the community here," he said at Terang Recreation Reserve.

"It was a huge honour and great to see them out here today."

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Northeast's grand children, Luke Northeast and Rachael Burns, presented Houlihan with his sash and trophy.

"It's a huge honour to be come and be in the place where my pa ran so many years ago," Luke said.

Burns added her father would have been proud.

"We wish our father Michael Northeast, who was Roy's only child, was still here but unfortunately he passed away three years ago," she said.

"So he would have loved to have been here and been very proud to have had all the grand children and great grand children here."

Houlihan, who hails from Flinders Athletics Club in Adelaide, took out the men's race in an adjusted time of 12.671 seconds off a handicap of 5.5 metres ahead of scratch.

"I flew over from Adelaide yesterday (Saturday) to have a crack and I'm absolutely stoked with the result," he said.

Houlihan finished ahead of Pakenham's Jason Bailey and fellow South Australian Brett Richards.

The 28-year-old said he was a late-comer to competitive running.

"I started my career when I was about 21," he said.

"I came over from a bunch of other sports growing up.

"I never took sport very seriously until I found running and I instantly fell in love with it."

Houlihan was runner-up in the Stawell Gift in 2015.

Meanwhile, history was made in the Jill McKenzie 120m women's gift.

It wouldn't be too often that sisters take first and second in a gift.

But the Fighera sisters from Brighton did just that.

Sienna, 19, edged out her older sister Sophia, 21, to claim the top prize.

Ballarat's Tara Domaschenz was third.

Sienna, who won in an adjusted time of 14.235 seconds off a 5.25 metre handicap from scratch, said it was special family moment.

"It's really exciting because my sister and I have been running together forever," she said.

"It just so much fun running with my sister.

"We train together so I'm just so relaxed when I run against her."

Sophia echoed that sentiment.

"I feel because we train together, race together and live together.

"Even if she wins it's still a win for me.

"It's so exciting to take one and two because we're like a team, we do it for each other as well."

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