Mok Ying Rong wins 3000m B girls’ title at national inter-school championships

By REDintern Colin Tung

Choa Chu Kang Stadium, Friday, April 17, 2009 – In a determined display of front-running, Mok Ying Rong of Raffles Girls’ School won the B Division 3000m race in a time of 11:25.43 with Ranjitha D/O Raja of Anderson Secondary coming a close second in a time of 11:26.49. Wan Zahrah Bte Ahmad Alif Lim of Cedar Girls’ Secondary finished third in 11:45.53.

Running in her first B Division 3000m race, Ying Rong opened up a significant lead in the opening laps of the race, in a bid to run the legs off anyone who dared keep up with her.

Her strong pace kept the rest of the trailing pack led by Ranjitha trailing. But entering into the final lap, Ying Rong’s small, quick shuffle-like movement was visibly slowing down as the early effort began to take its toll.

In marked contrasted, Ranjitha’s big, looping strides cut seriously into Ying Rong’s lead as they headed down the final bend.

Fortunately for Ying Rong, her strategy and her effort paid off as Ranjitha found the finish line coming up too quickly for her to overhaul Ying Rong.

Ying Rong shared after the race: “Her kick is very strong so going hard early in the race was good as it helped me to drain her energies.”

Though Ying Rong said that she was ‘very happy’ with her first win at the Inter-School Track-and-Field Championships, she indicated a tinge of discontentment with her time as she said that her training times ‘were much faster’.

In the C Division girls’ 3000m race, Cheryl Chan of Cedar Girls’ Secondary and Janielle Lim of CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ School went head-to-head again in a repeat of the Cross-Country Championships where the two of them had finished first and second respectively.

Once again, over 3000m on the track, the result was no different as Cheryl Chan won in a time of 12:18.57 while Janielle Lim clocked 12:20.89. In third was Dionne Hwang of CHIJ (Toa Payoh) in a time of 12:30.93.

When asked how she felt coming in second yet again to Cheryl Chan, Janielle Lim replied nonchalantly that it ‘doesn’t matter’ to her.

When asked why, she said: “It’s just fun, running. Competition motivates me to run,” and added that the race was ‘one of (her) best races ever.’

Cheryl Chan, having won, was also equally, if not more, ‘happy’.

She shared her thoughts running down the home-stretch challenged by Janielle.

“I told myself I had to come in first as my coaches had put in a lot of effort and I did not want to let them down.”

Results (Top-Eight Only)

3000m C Division Girls
1. Cheryl Chan Xue Rou Cedar Girls’ 12:18.57
2. Janielle Lim Yan Han CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ 12:20.89
3. Hwang Jing Wen Dionne HIJ 12:30.93
4. Tan Wan Xin Raffles Girls’ 12:50.93
5. Nur Syafiqah Bte Muhd Shamir Cedar Girls’ 12:55.99
6. Tan Li-Linn Elizabeth CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ 12:57.36
7. Rachel Yeung Zhi Xin Methodist Girls’ School 12:57.82
8. Carmel Teo Henderson 12:58.65

3000m B Division Girls
1. Mok Ying Rong Raffles Girls’ 11:25.43
2. Ranjitha D/O Raja Anderson 11:26.49
3. Wan Zahrah Bte Ahmad Alif Lim Cedar Girls’ 11:45.53
4. Soh Rui Min Romaine Cedar Girls’ 12:02.44
5. Teh May Yong Singapore Sports School 12:12.44
6. Li Ying Si Winsy CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ 12:19.26
7. Janell Tan Shi En Methodist Girls’ School 12:20.13
8. Chua Wan Ping Jurong 12:26.94

For full results, please refer to www.schoolsports.sg.