TEENAGE Wagga speedster Grant Billingham likes the sound of the 8.5m mark he has been given for the $9000 Temora Golden Gift (120m) at Nixon Park on Saturday.Fresh from his most successful meet as a professional runner, Billingham yesterday said the favourable handicap was a fillip for his Temora Gift chances."Wow, (8.5m) sounds good," Billingham said yesterday."That's the same mark I had in the Canberra Gift and I was able to run pretty well."Knowing that, I'm definitely looking forward to it."Billingham's delight at the Temora Gift mark follows a potent performance in the rich Canberra Gift from the same handicap late last month.Running off 8.5m, Billingham finished fourth in the Canberra Gift final before storming to victory in the Novice Gift (120m) at the same meet."It's the best I've done at a gift meet," he said yesterday."It was really pleasing because I've only really started training a month ago."I've been training well and I think I'm in the best shape I've ever been in."Now training in Canberra, the 19-year-old Wagga athletic star will use the Temora Gift as a launch pad for a shot at the Australian athletics championship in Sydney next month."I'm racing every weekend for the next five weeks," he said."Next week I've got the 200m ACT championship and after that 400m at a few places before the nationals."I'm going to be busy."Beforehand, Billingham will make a bid to end Wagga's drought in the Temora Gift, but will face a formidable challenge.NSW Athletic League general manager Ken English yesterday described the Temora Gift field as the strongest in years.English said "vastly increased prizemoney" and a weekend away from other meets had combined to draw a stellar list of runners."There are some top-notch runners, it's a top-notch field."English yesterday rated Jacob Groth, who was second in the 100m Australian championship two years ago, as the athlete to beat, but also has a high regard for several Sierra Leone runners in the field.Groth is back marker for the Temora Gift off 2.25m, while Ali Dady Bangura is closest in the handicaps off 2.50m.With a best 100m time of 10.47 seconds and a victory in the $12,000 Blacktown Gift, Groth has set a goal at making the Australian team for Commonwealth Games in India this year. Canberra runner Brandan Galic (5.75m) has the fastest personal best 100m time in the field of 10.37 secs, but is returning from injury.