Christmas presents and a European trip for his long-jumping ambition - Angus Gould is putting the $10,000 from his Queanbeyan Gift triumph to good use.
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The 20-year-old from Canberra demonstrated his pace on the grass with a comprehensive win in the men's final at Queanbeyan Town Park on Sunday.
While Melbourne 16-year-old Maddie Coates caused a boilover in snatching a thrilling victory in a photo-finish in the women's race, Gould was largely untroubled in taking out the blue-riband event.
Gould hit the front at the halfway mark of the 120-metre dash to stop the clock in 12.20 seconds, more than two-10ths of a second clear of his nearest rival.
Shaun Hargreaves finished second (12.41sec), with Nathan Riali (12.45sec) third.
But it was all Gould as he secured a handy pay day that will help him go overseas in the quest to qualifying for next year's Commonwealth Games in Scotland.
''First and foremost I'll buy my family some nice Christmas presents and take them out to dinner. Other than that, though I'll put it in the bank and use it to fund a trip to Europe and do some competing,'' Gould said.
''Commonwealth Games this year would be the ultimate.
''I've got a B-qualifier already [but] there's a couple of really good long jumpers in Australia now.''
Gould has a personal best of 7.71m in the long jump and will ramp up his preparations for the Australian domestic schedule, culminating in the national championships in April.
He was the fastest qualifier in the heats and made the most of his generous 7.75m handicap, despite doing little specific training for the event.
''Sprinting is such a large part of long jumping that it's easy to make the transition between the two,'' he said.
''When I got that mark I knew it was a definite possibility.
''The Stawell Gift is a possibility just for the experience, other than that I'll focus on my long jumping.''
The women's final was a nail-biter, as Coates (13.57sec) lunged to win by three 100ths of a second in front of backmarker Ella Nelson (13.60sec).
Coates threw her hands to her mouth when it became clear she had collected the biggest win of her fledgling career.
''It's just the biggest shock to me, I definitely wasn't expecting to win,'' Coates said.
''I was just stoked that I got into the finals. Third would be great, but coming first never crossed my mind.''
More than $40,000 prizemoney was on offer at the Queanbeyan Gift, and the men's and women's winners received $10,000 each.
Canberra athletes and London Olympians Melissa Breen and Lauren Boden missed out on making the final.
