By Barry Irving OAM
DESPITE a very warm day Rye’s premier event, the 49th running of the Rye Gift, drew a record number of entries. There were 99 juniors who contested the junior gift with competitors coming from clubs as far away as Warrnambool. A record number of 736 VAL registered athletes contested the day’s events with clubs coming from Victoria-wide and including one international competitor from Scotland.
Mornington Peninsula Shire prepared an excellent surface for competition; the running track was cut and rolled a number of times as was the 400 metre surface for all the distance runners. The event is hosted by the Rye Sports and Social club that consists of the six member clubs that work together to make the Rye Gift a huge success for the past 49 years. The events are conducted by Victorian Athletic League using electronic timing to determine winners. The competition was so fierce that one final event was decided by a one hundredth of a second.
The Rye Gift welcomed a number of new major sponsors this year including Kia Mornington who sponsored the 120m Mens Gift along with Rye Hotel for the 120m Women’s Gift. Community Bank Southern Peninsula continued as club sponsor. The Rotary Club of Rosebud- Rye jointly sponsored the Junior gift with long-time supporter Maw Civil.
The community relay remains a crowd favourite with both the junior and senior events. The junior relay competing for the David Keech Memorial trophy was won this year by Southern Peninsula Little Athletic Club. The senior community relay was won by the Rye Football Netball Club who proudly now hold the winners shield. Each of the clubs that compete in the community relays receive $500 for their respective clubs.
Results
Womens 120m Gift:
1st Jessica Payne: H’cap3.25m, Time 13.7
2nd Alexia Loizou: H’cap 3.5m, Time 13.336
3rd Ilana Grandine: H’cap 4m, Time 13.688
Mens 120m Gift
1st Maki Loukeris: H’cap 5.5m, Time 12.267
2nd Aidan Green: H’cap 5.5m, Time 12.191
3rd Chris Vi: H’cap 7.25, Time 12.357
Save the date 10 January 2026. This will be the 50th year of this event and promises to eclipse all the previous years. Become a sponsor or just bring the family along for a great day out.
First published in the Mornington News – 14 January 2025
