IN 2015, Ballarat's Grace O'Dwyer shocked Australia's running community by winning the Stawell Gift as a 15-year-old.
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Seven years later O'Dwyer is back and is set to be one of the favourites for Monday's 120m classic after a strong victory in Saturday afternoon's heats.
O'Dwyer, running off 7.75m in the seventh of 14 heats, scored an impressive and hard-fought, last stride win over Ebony Newton in one of the best performances of the day.
O'Dwyer and Newton were side-by-side the whole way with O'Dwyer just getting the better of the battle on the line.
The winning time of 13.72 seconds was .16 under last year's winning time by Hayley Orman.
"I hoped to pick up the front runners as quickly as I could, but I saw her running alongside me and it was a real battle right to the line," O'Dwyer said.
"I was always hoping to get the heat win, but I wasn't expecting to go near that time. I was thinking maybe a 13.8, 13.9, but to come away with a 13.7 I was stoked with that."
The time left O'Dwyer just .08 of a second behind the fastest time of 13.64 seconds on the day.
That time was set by both hurdler Danielle Shaw and the impressive Queenslander Carla Bull, who earlier won through as the fastest qualifier in the 70m.
O'Dwyer said this year's Stawell Gift was a wide open affair, saying she was thrilled to see so many high-class runners.
"That was a pretty tough run, there's a lot of girls that are really competitive out there this year," O'Dwyer said.
"You've just just got to forget everything, forget the time and just start again and run your own race, that will be the key to it."
It won't be just Shaw and Bull that O'Dwyer will have to contend with after the final two heats saw two impressive scratch markers stake their own claim.
The second last heat saw an incredible run from Queensland beach sprinter Bree Masters who stormed past a quality field to win in a time of 13.77 seconds.
Then just moments later another Queenslander, but with a Ballarat connection, Torrie Lewis - who is coached by former Ballarat sprinter Gerrard Keating - showed why the wraps on her are as large as they are.
Lewis mowed down the runners from scratch, including triple-Bendigo Gift winner, Ballarat's Tiana Shillito to score an impressive win in a time of 13.97 seconds and looked to have plenty still in the tank heading into Monday's finals.
Another set to feature heavily on Monday is Geelong Gift winner Jessica Payne who streeted her field to win in 13.69 seconds.
It was an outstanding weekend for Ballarat runners with Holly Dobbyn, Tiana Shillito, Chloe Kinnersly and Patrick Martin all making it through to semi finals as did Ballarat Harrier runner Grace Kelly.
"We have eight POD Squad runners all running over the day, it will be a great day on track," O'Dwyer said.
Asked about the possible change in weather conditions O'Dwyer joked cooler weather would always favour runners from Ballarat.
"There's a few runners from Queensland way that probably won't like the cold," she laughed.
"Seven years ago it rained, so maybe I'll prefer a heavier track. If that's one thing I can take let's run with it.
"It's going to be about 17, so coming from Ballarat, that won't bother us at all."
The women's semi-finals are scheduled to begin at 12.14pm with the final at 1.50pm.
