"I know I'm not running fast enough to win the Gift, but I wanted to make the semis so that I could show my kids if I can do it, they can do it," Cooper said.

By 'kids', the running coach was referring to his young charges, many of whom have just experienced their first Stawell Gift.

Cooper was thrilled with his win in Saturday's heat, which he ran in a time of 12.76 off a handicap of 11 metres.

"Now that I'm that bit older, I'm not as fast out of the blocks as I used to be," he said.

Cooper said he was swamped by his competitors early and was forced to fight back to earn a spot in Monday's semi final, which was ultimately taken out by John Steffensen.

Cooper said it was difficult to know what to expect at Central Park, compared with other events run by the Victorian Athletic League.

"People come from all over. I had someone from WA, someone from Queensland and even someone from Malaysia I think (in my heat)," he said.

"You're never confident going into Stawell."

Cooper also made the semi finals of the 100-metre Necropolis Florist and Cafe Hank Neil Sportsmans Veterans' Handicap.

"I was handicapped out of that one after I won it a couple of years ago. I stormed home but I needed another couple of metres or two," he said.

"It was really good fun though. After I ran it I wanted to do it again."

Along with his personal success, Cooper was also extremely pleased with the performances of the rest of his stable.

Both Sarah Blizzard and Julia Boatman made the semi finals of the State of Victoria Strickland Family Women's Gift over 120 metres, which was won in spectacular fashion by Olympic sprint hopeful, Melissa Breen.

Blizzard (10.5m) finished second to Breen in her heat on Saturday, recording a time of 14.24, while Boatman (13m) placed fourth in her heat in a time of 14.19.

Both Boatman and Blizzard lined up for the third semi final on Monday, which was won by Alee Whiteman (9m) in 13.81.

The Ararat competitors finished fifth and sixth respectively.

"I was really impressed with Julia's semi. She nailed the start, she just ran out of steam over the last 20 metres," Cooper said.

While Blizzard did not get off to the best start in her semi, Cooper was impressed by the way she backed up to contest the final of the 400-metre Endura Sports Nutrition Lorraine Donnan Women's Handicap.

"It was a totally different race, she did really well," he said.

Cooper said Blizzard led early but was overran and checked late in the race before fighting back over the final 100 metres.

Cooper said both girls would benefit from their second Stawell Gift experience after failing to progress to the semi finals in 2011.

"You can see how much they've improved." he said.

"Now they've just got to be willing to put in the work to go even further next year."

Other athletes to impress Cooper at Stawell included Corey Heard and Brody Taylor.

"Corey ran well to claim third in the under 17 final and Brody Taylor finished fifth," Cooper said.

"I'm really happy with Brody's running. It's his first year and he ran really well."

Tayla Notting, Ruby Klemm and Phoebe Brady all performed strongly in the 1600 metre women's and veterans' race.

"They ran some good times. For Phoebe it was the best she's ran all year. She's really improved," Cooper said.

"We also had two finalists in the women's 800 metres. Ruby Klemm finished seventh and Tayla Notting finished third - She ran out of her skin."

Cooper said Lachie Malloy was unlucky to miss out on the semi finals of the 100-metre Keith Hayes Memorial Bill Howard Handicap,

"He missed out by one one-hundredth of a second. He was very nervous, which probably cost him a spot in the final, but he made up for it in the Sportz Biz Series race," Cooper said.

Malloy finished just shy of a top-three finish, placing fourth in the 400 metre race in a time of 47.74.

Cooper said Malloy also raced in the final of the RACV 120-metre Series (VAL), but finished seventh after he broke.

Tiffany Boatman and Jake Robinson also performed well, with Robinson placing second in the Stawell Times News Wimmera and Horsham Football Leagues' Gift over 120 metres.

"Altogether it was a fantastic weekend. We made lots of finals and had a lot of fun," he said.

"Everyone was really pumped. They can't wait for next year!"

Cooper said his runners were already looking forward to pre-season, which begins at the end of May.