A Div 1500m: Belle Tan of ACJC hangs on to just beat Romaine Soh of VJC in 5:14.88

Belle Tan of ACJC finishing just ahead of Romaine Soh of VJC in the A Div 1500m final. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)

Choa Chu Kang Stadium, Wednesday, April 4, 2012 — Belle Tan of Anglo-Chinese Junior College won gold in the A Division 1500m when she came home first in 5 minutes 14.88 seconds. She was followed closely by Romaine Soh of Victoria Junior College in 5:15.24.

Neo Hoon Suan of Hwa Chong Institution was third in 5:22.65.

Belle had clocked 5:23.46 in the 2011 race of the same division and finished third behind Romaine in second. The 2011 race was won by Berenice Lian, then of Raffles Institution, in 5:09.14.

Belle set a strong pace at the start because she needed to build a big enough lead to hold off the strong finishing kick of Romaine in the final lap.

By the second lap, Belle had built up a 50m lead. Heading into the fourth and final lap of the race, Belle continued to hold that lead while Romaine was running in fourth place behind the two HCI runners, Hoon Suan and Ling An.

Romaine made her move with 250m left, overtaking the two HCI runners and all eyes were now on her to see if she could reel Belle in.

By the final bend, Belle’s 50m lead had shrunk to 15m and the race was now on. With their respective supporters egging them on, Romaine almost caught Belle and finished just 1m behind.

Results
1st Belle Tan Xin Yi (Anglo-Chinese Junior College) — 5:14.88
2nd Soh Rui Min Romaine (Victoria Junior College) — 5:15.24
3rd Neo Hoon Suan (Hwa Chong Institution) — 5:22.65
4th Ling An (Hwa Chong Institution) — 5:23.26
5th Janielle Lim Yan Han (Raffles Institution) — 5:31.43 4
6th Clara Poon Jia Xin (Raffles Institution) — 5:32.65 3
7th Quek Qian Ying Jolene (Raffles Institution) — 5:33.35 2
8th Koh Yi Qi Esther (Anglo-Chinese Junior College) — 5:34.10 1
9th Linn Yun Ying (National Junior College) — 5:36.27
10th Ho Yee Tin Theodora (Victoria Junior College) — 5:48.32
11th S Roobini (Serangoon Junior College) — 6:00.24
12th Lim Xing Hui Charlotte (Victoria Junior College) — 6:00.34
13th Janine Quek Ziquan (Anglo-Chinese Junior College) — 6:14.62
14th T Kirthikaa (Yishun Junior College) — 6:23.78
15th Loy Ern Wei (National Junior College) — 6:24.07
16th Sharlene Danielle Quah (St Andrew’s Junior College) — 6:29.03
17th Lisa Gay Xue (Yishun Junior College) — 6:52.83
Lim Yu-Han (Hwa Chong Institution) — WDL