'Happy to be in the final again': Warrnambool teen runs in Stawell Gift

PROMISING runner Layla Watson will turn her attention to the Athletics Australia championships after a gutsy performance in the 2024 Stawell Gift final.

The Warrnambool teenager finished sixth in the women's 120-metre sprint at a rain-soaked Central Park on Easter Monday.

"I knew coming in to it I probably wasn't in the winning field but was a chance to make the final again after last year," she told The Standard.

"I was just really happy to be in the final again. I was off 8.75 metres last year and I was off 7.5 this year.

"I probably didn't do my best performance but it's still two finals in two years so I am happy."

Watson, who won her semi-final to advance, and her opponents were forced to wait upwards of three hours to race the final after a heavy deluge saw many parts of the oval under water and power outages across the Wimmera town.

"The track was under water, it was really wet and it just kept raining so we were just kind of hoping it would stop raining and we could get a run in," she said.

"It is my last Stawell (before going to college in America) and I didn't really want to make the final for the second year in a row and not be able to run it.

"It is like a little joke that every year the Monday is terrible weather. The Saturday and Sunday could be 40 degrees and the Monday would still be raining and cold."

The 18-year-old finished sixth in a race laden with teenage talent.

Back-marker Chloe Mannix-Power (4.25m) - one of the more experienced competitors in the field - put in a special performance to win, with the Queenslander collecting a $40,000 cheque for her efforts.

Watson had the second-toughest handicap (7.5m) in the six-runner field.

"It wasn't a bad run, it just wasn't one of my best," she said.

"I got to run two Stawell Gift finals in two years with my two best friends so I can't ask for more than that."

The Southern Illinois University-bound athlete, who runs for Warrnambool stable DPS, was full of praise for Mannix-Power.

"She did really amazing. She is a beach sprinter so being a heavy track after all the rain probably didn't affect her too much," Watson said.

"I was very happy for her to take home the win."

The Athletics Australia championships start in Adelaide in 10 days' time.

Watson will contest the 400m. She has already posted one world junior qualifying time in that distance.

EARLIER:

IMPRESSIVE Warrnambool athlete Layla Watson will race for a $40,000 cheque after making back-to-back Stawell Gift finals.

Watson, 18, won her semi-final at Central Park on Easter Monday to book her place in the women's 120-metre final.

Watson, running in yellow off a handicap of 7.5 metres, told Channel 7 post-race she was happy to be in the final after finishing fifth 12 months ago.

"It is really special. I have been feeling good and training consistently so we'll see what happens," she said.

"I am just happy to be in the final again."

The women's final was scheduled for 1.45pm before a deluge put much of Central Park under water.

The program has been delayed.

Watson, who runs for Warrnambool stable DPS, will move to America later in 2024 to race for Southern Illinois University.