A Div 3000m Steeplechase: Karthic of HCI wins gold in 10:20.76

Karthic crossing the finish line. (Photo 1 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)

Choa Chu Kang Stadium, Tuesday, April 3, 2012 — Karthic Harish Ragupathy of Hwa Chong Institution won the A Division Boys’ 3000m Steeplechase race with a time of 10 minutes 20.76 seconds at the 53rd National Inter School Track & Field Championships 2012.

His win comes just one month after he became the first local youth athlete in 25 years to run the 3000 metres Steeplechase in less than 10 minutes when he clocked a time of 9:57.95 at the Singapore Athletic Association Track and Field Series meet in March.

Karthic started the race in the middle of the pack with Victoria JC’s Dion Lee leading the race. Midway through the first lap, he was already making his move and took second place as the runners completed the first 400m. In the second lap, he quickly pulled ahead to hold a comfortable lead over his nearest challenger.

By the second last lap, Karthic had established a 100m lead over second-placed Jonathan Tan from Raffles Institution. He went on to maintain his lead and lapped several runners to finish firmly in first place.

Jonathan finished in second place with a time of 10:33.48 while schoolmate Bryan Yong finished in third with a time of 10:37.70.

Results
1st Karthic Harish Ragupathy (Hwa Chong Institution) — 10:20.76
2nd Tan Hoe En Jonathan (Raffles Institution) — 10:33.48
3rd Yong Ren Wei Bryan (Raffles Institution) — 10:37.70
4th Hui Jia Sheng Jared (Catholic JC) — 10:44.23
5th Liaw Jun Lin Max (Anglo-Chinese JC) — 10:45.25
6th James Iau Nan Hoong (Anglo-Chinese JC) — 10:54.66
7th Aaron Seah Yuhao (Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)) — 11:05.83
8th Tan Jian Da (Anglo-Chinese JC) — 11:17.84
9th Samuel Wong Wen Jun (Hwa Chong Institution) — 11:21.37
10th Vikram Tiakarajah (Victoria JC) — 11:41.70
11th Tan Qing Yu Ivan (Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)) — 11:49.40
12th Hieng Pheak Kdey (Victoria JC) — 12:15.77
13th Lim Hong Yu (National JC) — 12:30.88
14th Lee Jin Sheng Dion (Victoria JC) — 12:38.81
15th Lee Russell (National JC) — 13:52.62