Hilson had not raced at Cricket Willow before and predominantly focuses on track running, but he produced the goods in the 100m sprint, overcoming a strong field from the backmarker of 5.25m.

After impressing through the heats, winning his and advances to the semi-finals with the fastest time. Hilson cracked the 11-second mark, recording a time of 10.94 seconds to take out his first Gift victory.

The 18-year-old, who spends a lot of time training at La Trobe University Bendigo Athletics Complex, surprised himself with how well he ran.

The nerves were rattling as he entered the blocks before the final, but once the starter fired the gun, it was business as usual.

“I wasn’t sure how well I could go, but I obviously went alright,” Hilson said.

“I did surprise myself getting on top of all those blokes, they’re all very good runners.

“It was certainly nerve-racking

“My heart was racing and I was breathing pretty heavily, but once you get running you forget about everything.”

The youngster thanked his coach and father, and joked he may have to give his Dad a chunk of the winnings, given he paid the entry fee.

Hilson has been focusing heavily on producing his best at March’s National Track Championships, but rated Sunday’s win right up there in his young career.

“In terms of wins, it rates very high. I’ve been aiming for national and state championships on the track, I haven’t been too focused on this but I always try to fit a couple of meets in.”

Hilson will now look to run at the rescheduled Castlemaine meet on January 21 as well as the upcoming Track Country Championships.

Hilson held-off 2016 winner Michael Kember, who finished second while Kevin Brittain rounded out the podium.