Victorian teenagers Ryan Tarrant and Bella Pasquali have reigned supreme at Stawell - the spiritual home of Australian professional running.
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Each took their turn to own Central Park with wins in the $55,000 Stawell 120m Gifts on Monday.
Contesting a professional athletics meeting for the only the second time, the 18-year-old Tarrant grabbed victory right on the line - edging out a diving Nick Antonino in the tightest of finishes in the Stawell Men's Gift.
Tarrant, of Melbourne, earned favouritism by winning his heat and semi-final in the fastest times, but the 2021 Burnie Gift winner had to work much harder in a dramatic finish.
Pasquali, 16, just found enough to edge out Ballarat's Grace O'Dwyer in the Stawell Women's Gift - the second time the Pasqualis and O'Dwyers have fought out the finish of the feature.
Ironically, O'Dwyer won the 2015 Stawell Women's Gift as a 15-year-old from Pasquali's mother Anna, who as a 37-year-old had to settle for second.
Like O'Dwyer, Pasquali has grown up in professional running - her father Wally was also a Stawell Gift finalist - and the families are good friends.
O'Dwyer was among the first to congratulate her younger rival and full of praise for the performance.
"We love Gracie and the O'Dwyer family, but it's good to get a win that Mum couldn't," Bella, who is a Wangaratta secondary school student, said.
While Stawell marks the end of the season for most runners, Pasquali will press on in the hope of qualifying for the Commonwealth Youth Games.
Tarrant had to dig deep and it took a late surge to secure the $40,000 for first.
He blitzed his rivals in the semi-finals with a slick time of 12.17 seconds off his 3.75m mark.
It was a much different assignment in the final, which featured past winners in Isaac Dunmall and Matt Rizzo.
"Once I got to about 60m I was feeling pretty confident because I got into my stride and it was like, 'I'm there, just take it home'," Tarrant, who is a Melbourne University student, said.
"The 120 metres is the happy medium ... that just works out perfectly for me."
The men's final was full of drama, with the scratching of Saye Morris reducing the event to five starters and runner-up Antonino crashing heavily to the ground after crossing the line.
In addition, surprise packet Kieren Mundine stumbled and almost fell not long after leaving the starting blocks - ending his hopes of causing one of the biggest upsets in the Gift's history.
A first cousin of former NRL star and champion boxer Anthony Mundine, he had everyone scratching their heads after his semi-final as to who he was.
It was his first professional running outing, having been encouraged to give it a try by a rugby league sevens coach.
