Cooktown’s Isla Winton and Max Giese impressed by both breaking personal bests at the Little Athletics Queensland State Championships in Brisbane. Photo: Supplied.
It has been less than a year since Max Giese started Little Athletics, but he has done himself and Cooktown proud after high achievements at the state championship level.
The 12-year-old competed at the Little Athletics Queensland State Championships in Brisbane on 21-23 March alongside Cooktown teammate Isla Winton, where they both set new personal bests (PB) despite the challenges of being remote athletes in their off season.
Max, who is quite the footy star in Cooktown, said he originally started Little Athletics to strengthen for football, but found he really enjoyed the new sporting challenge.
“[My favourite thing is] just hanging out with friends and keeping fit,” he said.
With Cooktown’s Little Athletics season finishing in September 2024 when the pair qualified for states at the FNQ Little Athletics Championships in Cairns, mum Kim Giese said the athletes were deep in their off season when the competition in Brisbane came around.
“The fact that they’re in their off season, and the results that they did actually get, it’s a reflection of their dedication to their sport,” she said.
“These guys have been training at 6:30am every morning with running, and then their own individualised programs to build up a bit of strength for the jumping side of things.
“Isla got a PB in her 200m, and Max got a PB in his 100m, so that’s fantastic.”
Ms Giese also said it was challenging for the athletes to train during the Cape’s wet season, but they did whatever they could to keep their fitness up.
“These guys haven’t done a jump in six months, purely because the jump pits were just mud,” she said.
“Rain, hail or shine, they were running.”
After an eye-opening experience at the state championships, Max said he was proud of the challenges he overcame, adding that having to adapt to difficult conditions was making him a tougher athlete both physically and mentally.
“I’m probably proud of getting a jump on the board at states, because we haven’t jumped in six months, it’s pretty hard to get your run up and everything for long jump,” he said.
Max and Isla were the only two of nine Cooktown athletes who qualified for the state championships who were able to go, thanks to the dedication of their parents and the support of local groups, including the RSL Memorial Club, Endeavour Lions Club, Cooktown Little Athletics, and Cooktown and District Youth Association.
“It really came down to finances and availability for the families, because the club wouldn’t be able to financially support all of them to go,” Ms Giese said.
“Being so remote, giving the children opportunities to explore different events and chances was the biggest thing for us going down there.
“If it wasn’t for the sponsorships, we wouldn’t have been able to get there, and the fact that there was actually nine that qualified was really great, and a big effort for Cooktown.”
