Story by REDintern Colin Tung. Pictures by Koh Yizhe and Lai Jun Wei.

Gombak Stadium, Saturday, March 28, 2009 – The Singapore Sports School 4x400m Under-17 girls’ team, competing one category up in the A Division, set a new championship record of 4 minutes 08.95 seconds as they broke the old mark of 4:09.45 set in 2007 by their Sports School seniors at the Singapore Press Holdings’ (SPH) Schools’ Relays.

They led from start to finish to win with a nine-second cushion over the Singapore American School who were second in 4:17.24. National Junior College were a further eight seconds back in 4:25.33.

The Sports School boys did not do as well as the girls though in the A Division 4x400m. They came up third in a time of 3:35.08 as Victoria Junior College won with a time of 3:31.03 with Anglo-Chinese Junior College a whisker behind in 3:31.77.

The first day of the SPH Schools’ Relays saw races in the 4X400m and 4X200m for both the boys and girls across the A, B and C Divisions.

In the C Division 4x400m races, CHIJ Secondary (Toa Payoh) won with a time of 4:21.91. They pipped the Singapore Sports School who ran in a separate heat by just five thousandths of a second with CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ third in the same heat in a time of 4:27.05.

Victoria School triumphed in the boys’ races rather comfortably in a time of 3:47.90. Ang Mo Kio Secondary were the runners-up and Hwa Chong Institution were third in times of 3:55.52 and 3:57.25 respectively.

The SPH relays, which is being used by most if not all schools as a tune-up for the upcoming Nationals, is no different for Victoria School. Coach Mr Tan Chong Kiat shared about what he expects to build from the team’s win saying, “the aim would be to better the (Victoria) school’s record of 3:41 though it’ll be more difficult this time. The team who achieved the current record had more time to do it as the Nationals then were in July but there is less time now as a result of the pushing forward of the Championships to April.”

In the B Division, the girls’ 4x400m race was won by Nanyang Girls’ High with Cedar Girls’ Secondary and Raffles Girls’ School in second and third respectively. Both the Nanyang Girls’ and Cedar Girls’ had won their heats convincingly but it was Nanyang who posted a faster time of 4:15.51, three seconds faster than the Cedar Girls’ time of 4:18.65.

In the boys’ category, Zachary Devaraj anchored the Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) team to a three-seconds win over St. Joseph’s Institution. ACS(I) clocked 3:32.92 while SJI clocked 3:35.30. HCI were third in a separate heat in a time of 3:39.60.

When asked to comment on the team’s performance, Mr Loh Chan Pew said, “They trained very hard. Three of them are cross-country runners so they have had to adapt very fast to track running. Though they have speed endurance now from their cross-country running, they still lack the speed that track requires.”

On 2008 C Division 800m schools’ champion Zachary, he added that his aim for him would be “under 2:00 in the 800m to qualify for the World Junior Championships.”

He also echoed the concerns that many in the track-and-field scene has for middle-distance runners in holding the Nationals for track so soon after the National Inter-School Cross-Country Championships saying, “A lot of 800m and 1500m runners are also cross-country runners. In training for cross-country, they lose speed and require more time than they are afforded now to acquire the speed needed for track.”

“I hope the SSSC will reschedule the track competition next year to a later time in the year or (if that is not possible as a result of the Youth Olympic Games) bring the cross-country competition forward to January,” he suggested.

After the wrap-up of the 4x400m races, the 4X200m races got underway. The most exciting race of the 4X200m came with the gun-start of the final race of the day which was the A Division boys’ race.

Not only was the winner not a junior college, neither was it the team from the Sports School as Seng Kang Secondary served up a surprise, edging the Sports School into second place in a courageous performance. Seng Kang clocked 1:31.47 with the Singapore Sports School timed, a thousandth of a second behind, in 1:31.48. Anglo-Chinese Junior College was third in 1:33.09.

Aaron Foo, the anchor-man for Sengkang Secondary, recounted his effort chasing down the Sports School runner in the dying metres.

“I told myself not to give up. I wanted to create history for Seng Kang and also not to waste the efforts of my teammates who put me in that position.”

In the other 4x200m races, the Singapore Sports School and Victoria School won in the C Division girls’ and C Division boys’ categories in times of 1:52.65 and 1:39.89 respectively. CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ and SJI won in the B Division girls’ and B Division boys’ categories in times of 1:53.31 and 1:34.04 respectively. The A Division girls’ race was won by the Singapore Sports School in a time of 1:47.07.

Related Stories

Singapore Sports School girls break A division 4X400m Championship record on first day of the SPH Schools’ Relays.
CHIJ (Toa Payoh) breaks 4×800m C-girls record in SPH Relay

Results (top-three only)

4x400m

A Division Boys
1. Victoria Junior College 3:31.03
2. Anglo-Chinese Junior College 3:31.77
3. Singapore Sports School 3:35.08

A Division Girls
1. Singapore Sports School 4:08.95 (Championship record)
2. Singapore American School 4:17.24
3. National Junior College 4:25.33

B Division Boys
1. Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) 3:32.92
2. St. Joseph’s Institution 3:35.30
3. Hwa Chong Institution 3:39.60

B Division Girls
1. Nanyang Girls’ High 4:15.51
2. Cedar Girls’ Secondary 4:18.65
3. Raffles Girls’ Secondary 4:24.71

C Division Boys
1. Victoria School 3:47.90
2. Ang Mo Kio Secondary 3:55.52
3. Hwa Chong Institution 3:57.5

C Division Girls
1. CHIJ Toa Payoh Secondary 4:21.91
2. Singapore Sports School 4:21.96
3. CHIJ St. Nicholas Secondary 4:27.05

4x200m

A Division Boys
1. Sengkang Secondary 1:31.47
2. Singapore Sports School 1:31.48
3. Anglo-Chinese Junior College 1:33.09

A Division Girls
1. Singapore Sports School 1:47.07
2. Hwa Chong Institution 1:49.89
3. Victoria Junior College 1:51.17

B Division Boys
1. St. Joseph’s Institution 1:34.04
2. Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) 1:35.69
3. Catholic High 1:37.87

B Division Girls
1. CHIJ St. Nicholas Secondary 1:53.31
2. Cedar Girls’ Secondary 1:54.49
3. Singapore Sports School 1:55.24

C Division Boys
1. Victoria School 1:39.89
2. Singapore Sports School 1:43.94
3. Ang Mo Kio Secondary 1:44.04

C Division Girls
1. Singapore Sports School 1:52.65
2. Nanyang Girls’ High 1:54.11
3. CHIJ Toa Payoh Secondary 1:56.19

More pictures in the gallery.