Kimberley Geelan breaks through for Burnie Gift wi

By JORDAN ABELL

ACROSS THE LINE: Burnie women's Gift final winner Kimberley Geelan, in the pink, wins yesterday's event. Picture: Stuart Wilson.

IT WAS a case of third time lucky for Hobart sprinter Kimberley Geelan as she led from start to finish to claim the Stubbs Construction women's Burnie Gift (120m) last night.

Entering the final as warm favourite, the front marker off 9m showed no signs of nerves and was never headed, stopping the clock in a time of 14.45s.

Kimberley Geelan (pink) wins the 2014 women's Burnie Gift.

Melanie Purkiss (6m) narrowly finished second with Andrea Sparrow (7m) in third.

A clearly relieved Geelan was glad to have been crowned champion after two finals appearances in Burnie previously.

"I can't believe I won," she said.

"I knew that I had to go hard and finally I've pulled one off after six years. [I'm] so happy.

"It's definitely the biggest [win] I've had.

"I've been trying for quite a while. I've been in three Burnie Gift finals and today it's been my day."

Geelan said after a poor performance in the Latrobe Gift earlier in the Christmas carnival series, she gave herself no chance of banking the $2300 winner's cheque at West Park.

But some timely advice from coach Wayne Mason helped instill the 25-year-old with the confidence she needed.

"I ran terribly but I put it altogether today," Geelan said.

"At Latrobe I lost my form halfway down the track.

"My coach said to me that I had to have my blinkers on and keep going and I did that today."

Geelan said the triumph was "easily" the biggest of her career, trumping her fourth placing at the Stawell Gift last year.

The handicaps of local hopes Morgan Gaffney, a two-time winner, (3.25m) and Brooke Jones (7.25m) proved too great to overcome.