Luke goes the distance

NOOSA Athletics member Luke Giacca, 16, is one of seven Queensland athletes who have been selected to represent Australia in a 26-strong athletics section at this year’s Commonwealth Youth Games in Samoa.
Luke will contest the javelin event at the games, which will be staged in the capital Apia, from 5 to 12 September.
The Year 12 St Theresa’s Catholic College student is juggling training and school work in the lead-up to the games in September, training five days a week with Noosa Athletics coach Ash Brice.
“Luke began training with me three years ago, determined to improve on his efforts in previous championships,” Ash said.
“I’ve worked on combining strength-training sessions with video analysis of Luke’s throwing techniques which have produced great results for him this year. It’s great to see that all the effort and the hard work he’s put into training has paid off.”
Luke’s selection on the Australian team has come at the end of a successful season with Noosa Athletics.
In March he won a gold medal in javelin at the Little Athletics Queensland state championships with a distance of 63.19 metres, which is now a Queensland Best Performance. Also in March, Luke claimed a bronze medal in javelin with a throw of 66 metres at the Australian Junior Athletics championships.
It was, however, his performance at the Queensland Athletics state championships in February this year with a personal best throw of 68.12 metres that secured his place on the Australian team bound for Samoa later this year.
“I’m really looking forward to competing at the games in September,” Luke said.
“I’ve represented Queensland at Australian Juniors and Little Athletics championships but this is the first time I’ve represented Australia, which is really exciting.”