Off 6.5 metres, Browne was able to hold off the fast finishing Fejiro Omuvwie (off 1.75m) and John Evans (off 7.75m) to claim the Gift.

He said it was a great feeling to win, especially in such a tight race.

"It's nice to win a close one over the fronties, it was a nice weekend so I'm glad I came up here," he said.

It took race officials a few minutes to decide the top three such was the tightness of the finish.

Four runners seemed to have a case for claiming the win however, it was Browne that was able to gain the extra couple of inches. Dion Paull and Nicholas Antonio claimed second and third respectively.

Browne said he knew he was close but he wasn't sure until his name was announced.

"I had no idea. All I knew was he had a fair bit on me in the semi-final and I had to pull something out if I was going to get near him and all I knew was I was near him," he said.

From the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Browne said he credited his coach, especially for his work throughout the five-day COVID-19 shutdown and the postponement of the Gift.

"Credit to my coach John and the rest of the guys, we've been able to adapt pretty well and suit training to what we can do, where we can go, what equipment we've got access to," he said.

"It's not an issue really, just business as usual."

The win held extra significance for Browne considering the 2017 Ballarat Gift was his first ever gift. It was there where he was able to witness a stablemate come second. He's been back every year since.

The work doesn't stop however, Browne adding that he's looking forward to the Stawell Gift and any other events that come up to try beat his time in Ballarat.

"I'll have a run at Stawell, see how we go. Hopefully we can improve on running 12.40. Apart from that, we'll see what other races come up, what other opportunities there are to run fast," he said.

TRAINING partners Zoe Neale and Taylah Perry have gone one-two in a thrilling Ballarat Gift, giving coach Shane McKenzie one of his proudest days in athletics.

Neale's win was a fitting conclusion for a weekend where the Ringwood Athletic Club team took all before it as it now heads to Stawell at Easter chock full of confidence.

The 19-year-old was one of the favourites coming into the gift and started the final off 5.5 metres, but had to withstand a fierce final challenge from her training partner off 6 metres.

"Ever since making the final here last year, I knew this was a race that I was keen to try and get ready for," Neale said after her win.

"The last few weeks I've found some form, so it was great to finally get it done.

"I wasn't sure when I got across the line, but Taylah came up to me and put her arm around me and said 'congratulations'. I'll get back and start training hard now for Stawell, and we'll see what happens."

For runner-up Perry, it was almost the perfect weekend after she won the 70m event on Saturday and later backed-up with her clubmates to win the 200m relay moment after the Gift run.

"We knew we were going to be close, we train next to each other every night," Perry said.

"I'm rapt with the whole weekend. It was on Wednesday night last week that I thought, 'yep I'm on, let's do this'.

"I would've been stoked to win, but I'm just so happy for Zoe."

Coach Shane McKenzie said he could not have been more proud of his team.

"They are very committed, very focused, they all want to learn to run better," he said.

"They do all the work away from the training track and they are all just wonderful young ladies that embrace their teammates and their roles and want the best for each other.

"We've had an amazing campaign. This race meet was always in our calculations and we do get some satisfaction coming here to Ballarat and taking on the Pod Squad who are always just so dominant, it's great for us to perhaps get one up on them this time."

Neale's time of 13.90 seconds was the quickest by any females athlete over the weekend.

Heading into the final, front-marker Olivia May had been the only person to break the 14 second barrier. For most of the final, May, in lane eight, looked a likely winner, before being swamped late by the rivals running in lane two and three. May held on for a solid third.

McKenzie said most of the squad would now step up its training in the coming weeks in preparation for the Stawell Gift at Easter.