Athlete Lily Woods breaks 28-year record at North Qld Championships

Teenager Lily Woods is tracking as one of Queensland’s leading athletes, mentored by her mum Melanie, a Commonwealth Games medallist. She is now gearing up for the National All Schools Championships, alongside a host of other Central Qld stars.

Pam McKay

4 min read

November 6, 2024 - 2:34PM

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Rockhampton's Lily Woods is following in the footsteps of her Commonwealth Games medal winning mother Melanie.

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Rockhampton’s Lily Woods is following fast in the footsteps of her medal-winning mother.

The 14-year-old is forging a reputation as one of athletics most exciting prospects, inspired by the decorated career of her mum and mentor Melanie Woods (nee Kleeberg).

She is gearing up for next month’s Australian All Schools Championships in Brisbane, having qualified in four events but opting to contest three - the 100m, the long jump and triple jump.

She is part of a 21-strong Central Queensland contingent heading to the championships (see the full list below).

Lily heads into the event in top form, having recently broken a 28-year-old record in the 100m at the North Queensland Championships in Townsville.

Lily Woods broke a 28-year-old record in the 100m at the North Queensland Championships.

She clocked a blistering 12.17secs in the heats to better the existing time of 12.24secs, the time she then ran to win the final.

“It was just a heat so I wasn’t really expecting to break the record but I was trying to,” Lily said.

“I was just trying to stay relaxed and do what I needed to do.

“I thought I could get it because it was close to my PB.

“It felt pretty good (to do it).

“I was quite confident going into the final. I wanted to try to break it again but I didn’t… but that’s okay.”

Melanie said she could not be prouder of what Lily has achieved after just three years in the sport.

Lily Woods is blazing a trail in track and field. Photo: Jo Harlow Photography

“She amazes me all the time. She is so focused and dedicated and she trains super-hard.

“Sometimes I have to remind her that she’s still young and if you have a setback it’s okay; it’s okay not to win everything and you can’t always get a PB.

“She is very easy to coach. She has very good body awareness and seems to easily be able to take on feedback and change things.

“Many people say when they watch her run it’s just like watching me run many years ago but I don’t really see it.

“Everything she has been taught has been based on what I learnt from all my coaches in my running career so, to some extent, it would make sense that we have similar running styles.”

Melanie enjoyed a successful career after relocating to Australia from Germany at age 15.

Melanie Kleeberg on her way to winning the 200m at the Queensland Athletics Championships. Pic Darren England

She represented Australia at a junior world championships, two world championships, two World Cups and two Commonwealth Games.

She won bronze in the 4x100m relay at the 2006 Commonwealth Games alongside Sally McLellan (now Pearson), Lauren Hewitt and Crystal Attenborough.

Melanie said she is loving the fact that Lily has found her way to athletics but it is not something she actively encouraged.

“I do believe that sport is a great way to keep kids active, confident and healthy, and it teaches them many life skills so I have always had my three kids involved in it,” she said.

“But I never pushed athletics on any of them. I didn’t want them getting into a sport for me, I wanted it to be something that they loved doing.”

Australia's Crystal Attenborough, Sally McLellan (Sally Pearson), Melanie Kleeberg and Lauren Hewitt finished with the bronze in the 4x100m relay at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

A natural athlete, Lily’s first sporting love was gymnastics, something she was involved in and very successful at for six years.

When Covid brought a halt to training, Lily decided it was time for a change.

“I knew mum had done running so I wanted to give that a try,” she said.

“I started with sprinting and later got into the jumps.”

As with gymnastics, Lily proved a natural and success quickly followed.

Melanie loves nothing more than being able to share her expertise with Lily and other rising stars of the Keppel Coast and Rocky North athletics clubs.

Lily Woods with another of her medal hauls.

She said their achievements were more significant given that this region did not have the facilities that others did, and Rockhampton was the largest city in Australia that did not have an all-weather tartan track.

Melanie is passionate about the issue and is leading a campaign to see that rectified.

She believes that the lack of a synthetic track was not only detrimental to aspiring athletes but also the region, which was missing out on millions of dollars in revenue because it was unable to host major athletics meetings.

She is also fearful that athletes around Lily’s age, who would be prime candidates to compete at the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane, could ultimately be lost to the sport.

Ironically, Melanie believes that carving out a successful career in athletics is a marathon, not a sprint.

“It is one of the most competitive sports at national and international level so you truly have to love it to continue in it long-term,” she said.